We went up Corstorphine Hill today. It's a lovely place to walk and usually offers some good birdwatching (along with moments of great anticipation of seeing something rare as you can hear the animals and birds in the nearby Edinburgh Zoo!).
Today's birding treat was a kestrel! This used to be the most common bird of prey in the UK, when I was growing up, any motorway trip in my parents car would have at least one kestrel hovering alongside the motorway. These days they're much more unusual, and buzzards have increased in number and are now our most common bird of prey.
This kestrel really put on a show for us. It sparred with a buzzard, got into a long and exciting chase with a magpie and hunted some long tailed tits. I'm glad it didn't catch a long tailed tit while we were watching, as those are a particular favourite of mine (and we got some lovely views today!).
Later, a buzzard flew very close over our heads, and we got a real sense of how big a bird it really is!
Crafty Green Boyfriend said he saw what might have been a green woodpecker in a scrubby area of trees. If I'd seen that it would have been an extra bird for my year list, and exciting too as I haven't seen a green woodpecker for a few years and rarely see them at all in fact. However I was very pleased to see a great spotted woodpecker high up in some trees and all in all it was a lovely day of birdwatching.
Especially as it didn't start raining until we had left the hill....
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
The Year in Birds 2011
Inexplicably, this has been the first year that I've kept a year list of all the bird species I've seen. It's been a great year, I've seen 95 species (I had originally counted 98 but this had included recording one species twice and two unconfirmed species). I've seen a number of birds for the first time this year (tree sparrows near Cammo Country Park near Edinburgh; a shoveller at the Figgate Pond in Edinburgh and a greenshank at Cramond, Edinburgh). I've also seen a few species for the first time in many years (including wonderful sightings of spotted flycatchers at both Biggar in the Scottish Borders and in the beer garden outside the Arran Brewery on the Isle of Arran and lots of redpolls on the feeder in my parents' garden in Manchester.) I've also had some very special encounters with birds that perhaps I see quite often but not in such number - I was stunned this summer by the numbers of swallows and house martins flying over the River Esk in Musselburgh; also in Portobello and Dumfries.
One of the most notable features of my year list is that most of the birds have been seen in or very close to Edinburgh.
So, what have been your favourite bird sightings this year?
If you're in the UK, remember that the Big Garden Birdwatch is coming up soon, and I'll be blogging about that in early January.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
One of the most notable features of my year list is that most of the birds have been seen in or very close to Edinburgh.
So, what have been your favourite bird sightings this year?
If you're in the UK, remember that the Big Garden Birdwatch is coming up soon, and I'll be blogging about that in early January.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Today along Water of Leith
The weather was wet and very windy today, but that didn't stop us from walking along the Water of Leith as I do every week and Crafty Green Boyfriend joins me when he can. There were lots of fungi on display today, this one being the most beautiful, thanks CGB for the photo!
Part of my task as a volunteer with the Water of Leith Conservation Trust is to collect litter. I regularly collect two carrier bags full on my trip round Colinton and Craiglockart Dells. I think there is less general litter than there used to be when I started doing this a couple of years ago, though there are possibly more large collections of litter, eg from barbeques (which I report rather than try to collect myself, in the same way as I don't run up or down the steepest banks by myself to collect litter, river patrollers are advised on health and safety considerations after all!).
At this time of year, with the undergrowth dying back, litter appears that has been hidden for the past six months, in amongst the branbles etc. Today, I found just about the most disgusting thing ever (and believe me, given the number of plastic bags full of dog poo that stupid people hang in the trees, this has to be pretty disgusting). I picked up a discarded beer can with my litter picker and turned it upside down to get rid of any rainwater that had gathered in it and out fell the partially decomposed remains of a drowned mouse. Yuck!
What an awful way for a mouse to end its life and a buzzard or fox was deprived of a snack too. Really, it isn't that difficult to carry litter to the nearest bin or to take it home.
If you want to be distracted from the image of the decomposed mouse, I posted some moody photos of the wonderful architecture on Edinburgh's Calton Hill on my Over Forty Shades blog here.
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Trollhunter
This Norwegian film was part of this years' Edinburgh International Film Festival and I hadn't gone to see it as it didn't immediately appeal to me. However, Crafty Green Boyfriend saw it on it's first release after the festival and told me it would be a film I would enjoy. "It's got a strong conservation message" he told me, which is perhaps stretching a point but it is a film worth seeing.
Trollhunter follows a group of Norwegian students as they film a mysterious hunter who slowly lets them into his life as a troll hunter. They find places where trolls have caused devastation, destroying forests and killing tourists. The hunter is contracted to kill all trolls that have escaped their territory and are disturbing humans. The Government Wildlife Services, although they fund the hunter, publicly deny all possible knowledge of the trolls and bringing in obviously fake bear carcasses that they then leave in the area so that the bears can be blamed. The local bear hunters (who know their bears much better than do the bureaucrats) are not at all convinced!
The film is shot using hand held cameras to very good effect, the shaky camerawork adds to the atmosphere and tension in the film (though it can make for slightly queasy viewing at points!). Although the plot is simple, it moves along very well. The beautiful Norwegian scenery adds a lot to the film, being dramatic and often mist shrouded.
Despite the troll hunter being very outspoken in warning the students that trolls aren't like they are in fairy tales, the fairy tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff is incorporated into the film very effectively.
Conservation minded viewers will find themselves thinking about the way we treat large predators, should in fact the trolls be conserved despite being so dangerous? Are there ways that the local human populations could co-exist with the trolls?
But mostly its a well made and entertaining safari into the dark and scary Norwegian Woods.
Trollhunter follows a group of Norwegian students as they film a mysterious hunter who slowly lets them into his life as a troll hunter. They find places where trolls have caused devastation, destroying forests and killing tourists. The hunter is contracted to kill all trolls that have escaped their territory and are disturbing humans. The Government Wildlife Services, although they fund the hunter, publicly deny all possible knowledge of the trolls and bringing in obviously fake bear carcasses that they then leave in the area so that the bears can be blamed. The local bear hunters (who know their bears much better than do the bureaucrats) are not at all convinced!
The film is shot using hand held cameras to very good effect, the shaky camerawork adds to the atmosphere and tension in the film (though it can make for slightly queasy viewing at points!). Although the plot is simple, it moves along very well. The beautiful Norwegian scenery adds a lot to the film, being dramatic and often mist shrouded.
Despite the troll hunter being very outspoken in warning the students that trolls aren't like they are in fairy tales, the fairy tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff is incorporated into the film very effectively.
Conservation minded viewers will find themselves thinking about the way we treat large predators, should in fact the trolls be conserved despite being so dangerous? Are there ways that the local human populations could co-exist with the trolls?
But mostly its a well made and entertaining safari into the dark and scary Norwegian Woods.
Monday, 26 December 2011
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
How could I resist a novel called When God was a Rabbit? It's well worth reading too, though make sure you have a hanky ready as it's a very emotional experience.
The first part of the novel follows Eleanor Maude as she grows up with her family in the south of England (starting off in Essex and moving to Cornwall). The second part sees her as an adult. All through the novel, the details of Ellie's life are set against the events of the time, many of which impinge on her life (the Queen's Silver Jubilee in terms of the street party she attends, the falling of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in a far less benign way). A lot of Christmases are celebrated in the novel, which make it an ideal Christmas read.
While she is a child, Eleanor has a big rabbit, that she calls god. Given the title of the novel I had expected god to be more of a central character than he is. I also felt that god was banished too much to his hutch and not given enough attention, for example I suspect that his hay wasn't changed as often as it should have been.
Aside from my lagomorphic concerns though, this is an excellent novel, about loneliness and fitting in and about how life can change unexpectedly, giving second chances where you might not have expected them. Winman has a great eye for detail, there are some lovely descriptions for example of the river near Ellie's home in Cornwall. Ellie is also a character who is very much at home in the natural world.
So definitely a book I would recommend, just don't expect the rabbit to be centre stage!
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman published by Headline
The first part of the novel follows Eleanor Maude as she grows up with her family in the south of England (starting off in Essex and moving to Cornwall). The second part sees her as an adult. All through the novel, the details of Ellie's life are set against the events of the time, many of which impinge on her life (the Queen's Silver Jubilee in terms of the street party she attends, the falling of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in a far less benign way). A lot of Christmases are celebrated in the novel, which make it an ideal Christmas read.
While she is a child, Eleanor has a big rabbit, that she calls god. Given the title of the novel I had expected god to be more of a central character than he is. I also felt that god was banished too much to his hutch and not given enough attention, for example I suspect that his hay wasn't changed as often as it should have been.
Aside from my lagomorphic concerns though, this is an excellent novel, about loneliness and fitting in and about how life can change unexpectedly, giving second chances where you might not have expected them. Winman has a great eye for detail, there are some lovely descriptions for example of the river near Ellie's home in Cornwall. Ellie is also a character who is very much at home in the natural world.
So definitely a book I would recommend, just don't expect the rabbit to be centre stage!
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman published by Headline
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Christmas Special!
I wouldn't normally blog on Christmas Day, but I'm totally delighted to have one of my poems chosen as the Christmas Special over on Sabotage Reviews. You can read it here.
Hope you're all enjoying Christmas!
Hope you're all enjoying Christmas!
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Happy Christmas!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
There's a seasonal poem over on Bolts of Silk today. You can read it here.
The photo above is from two years ago, we're having a very mild winter this year so far!
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