A very sunny and beautiful day in Edinburgh which produced a decent garden bird list including the 3 main tits, only 1 of each but I was still happy with that!
This weeks Bird Guides photo of the week is a great pic of a crested tit ā Bird Guides ā Crested TitĀ ā a fantastic shot of a very startled looking bird.
Today started off slightly white, pretty sure itās the first snow for just over 2 weeks and then finished very wet. Ā The birds were loving a left over vegan pancake from yesterday. Ā The bad weather brought out the birds today and one of the longest lists Iāve had in a few days:
Hopefully get Robins nesting in the garden this year, below is a photo of one that was collecting my hair that Iād had cut and put out for the birds:
Robin collecting hair for nest building
Not sure why but colours have washed out a lot on export.
Sadly when moving the website to a new server I lost a lot of internal links, sorry that the links on here do not work.
My bird list isnāt as exciting as Wesās (A good day at Rainham Marshes) but I have a new one for this years bird list and the Tawny Owl was back last night, there was also a Song Thrush in the front garden today, very happy with that! Ā There were roughly 20 geese flying east to west over the Pentland hills ā photo of Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh today, strangely they were flying in one straight line and not the VĀ that weāre all so familiar with, wasnāt sure what species of geese they were so havenāt added them to my list.
As well as the Dunnocks āĀ Dunnocks showing mating behaviour, my garden bird list.Ā ā showing mating behaviour the other day, the two woodpigeons I saw today were also getting ready to nest, it has been a very mild winter here in Edinburgh. Ā Hereās my garden bird list that I saw today:
This list below is from Wes, you can see his latest updates on:Ā https://twitter.com/WesDonze
A good day at Rainham Marshes
Visited the RSPB site at Rainham Marshes today and had a good visit there for about 3 hours ā 42 species in total
So here is the list in order seen
Magpie, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Robin, Dunnock, Lapwing, Blackbird, Coot, Shelduck, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Starling, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Shoveler, Dunlin, Reed Bunting, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Kestrel, Mute Swan, Marsh Harrier, Herring Gull, Golden Plover, Canada Goose, Little Grebe ( heard only), Cormorant, Pachard, Cettiās Warbler, Stonechat, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit,Blue Tit, Common Pheasant, Black Headed Gull,Lesser Black Backed Gull, Redshank, Greenfinch, Wood Pigeon
Best ever view of Cettiās Warbler ā previously only had fleeting glimpses but today the one i saw was showing well
Yesterday Iād forgotten to add a Robin to my list, it wasnāt in my garden and i hadnāt written it down when I saw it, so edited the post and all up to date now. Ā Today all seen in the garden or flying over, first time thereās been a great tit for a while and the dunnocks are displaying a lot of mating behaviour. Ā Hereās the list of birds I saw today:
Thatās right I saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, not in my garden but a tree opposite my house, so very pleased with that one! Ā The rest of the list is from my garden today:
Another very quiet day in my garden, just 3 types of birds, I added a robin to yesterdayās list as I saw it just before midnight in Tescos Corstorphine hanging out in the bakery section of the store, photo, sorry poor quality from a camera phone:
Robin in Tesco bakery section, enjoying the croissants.
As well as my garden bird list:
I managed to take a walk down toĀ Saint Margaretās Park in Corstorphine and saw:
Just after midnight last night I heard a Tawny Owl, first Iāve heard since moving into my new place a bit further down Corstorphine Hill than I used to live, a bit of a surprise as thereās a lot less trees around here. Ā Thanks to Edinburgh Hawkwatch for their page on ā Tawny Owl ā EdinburghĀ for a little more detail about Tawny Owls in the area. Ā Whilst watching the Rugby I noticed a very large bird arrive on the horizon I thought thatās too big to be a gull it has to be something else, it continued to fly straight towards me and it was a heron, another first for the year, hereās the garden bird list Iāve seen today:
Had a very quiet day in the garden today, however an hour before sunset about 60 carrion crows flew overhead, a great sight! Ā Tonight I got to see the talk by Laurie Campbell about his photos over the years and his new ones from the Isle of Harris, thanks so much to Jane at the SOCĀ ā follow on twitter: ScottishBirdingĀ for arranging the tickets for me after I missed out on the sales! Ā For more info about the photo exhibition head to: Laurie Campbell SOCĀ ā now onto my garden bird list for today:
A very quiet day in the garden today, didnāt get to see a lot of birds at all, but nice to see the Coal tit back, there were about 70 gulls flying overhead but I couldnāt tell you what type they were as they were caught in a massive gust of wind and went by very fast. Ā Would love to be out seeing cracking birds such as the Water Rail that was photo of the week on Bird Guides –Ā Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)Ā – Hereās my list of birds I saw today:
On the gust of wind –Ā about 70 gulls, but not sure what type.Ā
The wind has really picked up here in Edinburgh, even with the massive amount of wind about there were a lot of insects in the air today and few birds, I gather the insect prey is too great of an attraction than the seed I put out for them. Ā Strangely not a single coal tit, thatās a very rare situation! Ā Hereās the bird list for today:
