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 spent most of my day in bed,Ā succumbedĀ to one of these winter colds, the small chance I did get to see any birds this is my count
It seems Iām not the only one noticing that spring seems to be starting, this was from Jim on the Lothian Bird News Yahoo group:
It felt as if Spring had sprung at Gosford this morning:
2 pr Heron on nests
2 singing Chaffinch
3 drumming GSW
4 Nuthatch (2 singing)
lots of singing Song Thrush, tits, Dunnock, Stock Dove etcā¦
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
Another very quiet day in the garden, but I did see 21 Carrion crows flying overhead, there was also a flock of what looked like starlings, 9 birds however I could just make out silhouettes and at a distance, so not 100% sure, also 5 gulls flew over, but once again not 100% sure what type they were. So Iāve left it as my garden list and the crows:
Young Starling begging for food in my old garden, so far not had any starlings at my new place:Ā
Feed Me ā Starling Chick ā feeding time
Pretty sure this was taken with a Canon 20D and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
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:
It was another very quiet day in the garden today, a few carrion crows flying overhead and the tawny owl was out and about last night but very little else so Iāve added some photos from the balcony of my old flat in Sydney Australia:
Rainbow Lorikeet at the flat in Sydney.
Rainbow Lorikeet takes a bath
Rainbow Lorikeet shakes after a bath.
Our flock of Rainbow Lorikeets
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:
