Winter Walks

 With the lockdown restrictions we have been under for the last two months my normal Winter Walks have been limited to places I can readily walk to from my house. This hasn't however stopped me from taking my little camcorder with me and capturing any wildlife I see on the way.

Here are some of the places we have walked to over the last six weeks and some of the wildlife (birds really) that we have seen:

Walk to Dundas Parks Golf Club (about 2.5 miles return)

Not a long walk by any stretch of the imagination, and a good part of it is alongside the B800 road, however there can be some wildlife to see. In my last blog I had been moaning about the lack of winter thrushes (and finches), but a cold snap and easterly winds at the end of January brought in a few winter birds. We had only walked a few yards and were still in our street when we saw this Redwing on the ground:

Redwing on the ground (honest)

Okay not the greatest of images, but as I said I had my trusty camcorder with me:

Not a bad start to our walk. we carried on up the B800 (aka A8000) until we reached the entrance road to the Golf Course. This road doesn't boast the most dramatic of scenery, but you do have a nice view over the open fields to the South, and there is a strip of woodland that runs along the Northern side:

Road to Dundas Parks Golf Course

Open Fields to the South

There isn't usually too much in the field, Wood Pigeons, Crows and the occasional Pheasant, but the little wooded area can throw up a few interesting birds. First up was this Great Tit hopping about in the bushes looking for something to eat:

Seen a lot of Great Tits this Winter, must be a bumper year for them. Next to make an appearance was a little Robin:

Very quiet for a Robin, they usually have something to say for themselves. The following bird we heard before we saw it and I instantly recognised its call. It was a Nuthatch, becoming more common around Central Scotland but a familiar bird to me from my time spent in the Scottish Borders:

We did see other more common birds such as Blue Tit, Blackbird and Yellowhammer but no great videos of these. On our way back home we did see this Grey Squirrel sunning itself on a log:

We headed back home along the B800 with no other significant sightings to report; but I thought we got a reasonable bag of wildlife on such a short walk from our home.

Walk along old Railway Line to Pepper Wood (about 6 miles return)

The old railway line I am referring to runs from Port Edgar to Newbridge and is now a cycle/walkway for most of its length. I joined it at Dalmeny Village, where the path runs alongside the main Edinburgh to Dalmeny (and all points north) railway line, and I headed south towards Kirkliston:

Path alongside existing Dalmeny Railway Line

After negotiating the tunnel under the existing railway line I headed back on to the line of the old track, here I was pleased to see a couple of birds that I hadn't seen recently. Firstly there was a Reed Bunting in the bushes at the side of the track:

A few steps further along the track there was a Fieldfare hiding in the branches at the top of a small tree:

Sorry if the video is a bit fuzzy in places but the camcorder struggles to focus when there are so many branches in front of the subject. Nevertheless I am sure that you can see that it is indeed a Fieldfare.

I carried on along the track which runs alongside the perimeter fence of the Royal Elizabeth Yard:

Track past the Royal Elizabeth Yard

Structure housing old well beside track

I don't know if the old well (as shown on old maps) beside the track had anything to do with the railway line but I could still hear water running through it. One thing that was definitely related to the original railway line was the siding and associated gate that took the rail track straight in to the Royal Elizabeth Yard premises:

Siding Gate Entrance to Royal Elizabeth Yard

Back in the late 19th/early 20th Century any industrial business wanting to get ahead had a railway siding straight in to there premises. Whether you were transporting castings, coal, engineering products, timber or (in the case of this yard) food supplies for the Royal Naval bases at Port Edgar and Rosyth you needed a railway siding so that locomotives could come straight in to your premises to drop off and pick up what you wanted delivered. 

This railway line (like so many others) closed in 1966 and the siding was then redundant. By then the goods from the yard (known as a Royal Naval Victualling Depot) were being transported by road which was more flexible. Port Edgar ceased being a Naval Base in 1970 and although the yard remained in armed forces ownership until 1996 it use was greatly reduced. Royal Elizabeth Yard is still in use but as an industrial estate with various units for lease.

The next part of my walk took me under an ivy-clad bridge carrying the Royal Elizabeth Yard road and through to a high-sided railway cutting.

Old railway track beyond Royal Elizabeth Yard

Ivy-clad Bridge

The deep railway cutting after the bridge does not get much sunshine, especially in the winter months and this makes for a very damp micro-climate, as indicated by the moss and lichen growing on the trees:

Muddy path through cutting

Moss and Lichen on Trees

Lichen

After a hundred yards (or metres) the cutting opens up to a tree-lined path, starting with small Hawthorn and Rowan trees and then graduating to tall Scot's Pines:

Track leading out of cutting

Track lined with Scot's Pine

At this point I noticed something moving on the track ahead of me:

No it wasn't the ghostly image of a steam train, it was a Grey Squirrel.

A short distance later I came off the old railway line and on to the road leading to Pepper Wood, a hundred (or so) yards later and I was at the entrance:

Pepper Wood Entrance Sign (needs some work)

Entering Pepper Wood

The thing I like about Pepper Wood is that it is a very low maintenance wood. If a tree falls over or a branch falls off it is basically left where it fell, unless of course it is blocking the path, then it might be moved a bit. The paths themselves can be hard to find, they are muddy in the winter and overgrown in the summer, but that is how I like it, and it's how nature likes it too.

Pepper Wood Trees

Fallen Tree

Muddy Path and Bridge

When I say nature loves it maybe I was a bit hasty as very little showed itself when I was there. I did see a friendly Robin and a couple of Blackbirds:

I carried on through the woods, past the pond, over the other bridge, past other fallen trees and back to the entrance.

Pepper Wood Pond

Another Fallen Tree

The weather was starting to close in and rain was threatening, so I decided to make my way home. I took a different route on the way back which took me up Standingstane Road and along Royal Elizabeth Yard road. On my way back I saw some evidence of other wildlife, which looked very much like a Sparrowhawk kill. 

View of Edinburgh Airport and the Pentland Hills

CSI Sparrowhawk

Looking down on track from Ivy-clad Bridge

Royal Elizabeth Yard Road

I had a really enjoyable walk that day, despite not seeing too much wildlife, well there was the Reed Bunting and the Fieldfare at the start of the walk.

The week after this we had a reasonable amount of snow falling, so it made for a few different Winter Walks

Walk along Home Farm Road (about a couple of miles or so)

This was planned to be a slighter longer walk in the Winter snow, but the snow wasn't finished with us quite yet. We started our walk by heading through the grounds of Ove Arup (an engineering consultant firm) as we knew it would be relatively un-walked on snow, and it was very pretty:

The Snow-covered Grounds of Ove Arup

Snowy Tree

Just Like a Christmas Tree

Very Pretty Snow Scene

Dressed for the snow

We then trudged on up the B800 before turning off into Home Farm Road. The woods at the side of the road were covered in snow, but we did see a Pheasant picking its way through the trees:

Snowy Woods by Home Farm Road

The wee wa' wis laden wi sna' anaw! (the little wall alongside the road was well covered with snow as well):

The Wee Wa'

We did see some other wildlife in this area, including this tree full of birds (well one Blue Tit and one Great Tit):

We continued along a snowy Home Farm Road:

A Snowy Home Farm Road

We had only walked a few hundred yards further along the road when we noticed the weather was closing in and the snow was on its way. We hurried along to a little wooded copse where we could take some shelter:

Where we Sheltered from the Snow

Love these snow-coated trees

Once the snow shower passed the skies brightened up again and we started to walk further along the track:

Heading along Home Farm Road (now a track)

The Skies were looking brighter

We were lulled into a false sense of security by the little bits of blue sky. No sooner had we started along the track when another snow shower started up. We decided at this point to turn around and head home:

Weather closing in, again

More snow heading our way

By the time we got back to the Home Farm Cottages the snow was quite heavy:

Battling through the snow

I had to put my camera away and concentrate on getting home before we turned into a snowman and a snowwoman. that was the end of our walk for that day.

A Stroll Along The Cycle/Walkway (again about a couple of miles round trip)

The cycle/walkway I am referring to is the section of old railway line that runs from Port Edgar to Dalmeny, and for most part it is tarmacked. We joined this walkway just west of Ferry Glen (basically behind the bowling club). The Ferry Glen is where the Ferry Burn leaves its culvert and cascades downhill before entering another culvert under the old railway embankment, after which it flows into the Forth.

Ferry Burn Cascades Through Ferry Glen

There was plenty of water coming down the burn as there was a bit of a thaw on. This little video probably gives you a better impression of the gushing water than a photo:

Okay it's not Niagara Falls, but it is only a little burn after all.

The walkway was reasonable busy in places, but it is wide enough to safely pass each other and keep the recommended 2 metres distance (although some folk are completely oblivious to who is around them and walk four abreast down the middle of the track?  ..........sorry about the rant!). Here are some folk on the walkway sensibly spaced out:

A Stroll along the Cycle/Walkway

No it's not me and Moira!

A few hundred yards along the walkway towards Dalmeny there is a gap in the trees which provides a commanding view of all three bridges:

Forth Rail Bridge

Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing

All Three Bridges

Really nice on a sunny day and a little snow still on the roofs of the houses. We carried on towards Dalmeny.

Heading along the Cycle/Walkway

Moira on Cycle/Walkway

Me with a nice backdrop

We carried on under the railway line to the Forth Bridge and up a slight slope towards Station Road. At this point we stopped to watch a little Wren busily searching for something to eat along the edge of the water running down the drainage ditch.

Looking back down the track we saw it was getting quite busy:

Looking back down the track

And looking ahead of us also looked quite busy, so we decided to come off the cycle/walkway at Station Road and head home via Dalmeny Station, rather than continue on to Dalmeny Village. I was quite surprised to see how quiet Dalmeny Station car park was:

An empty Dalmeny Station Car Park

I know we are in the middle of a lockdown and it had been snowing, but on a weekday such as this it is normally heaving. Not complaining, better than dodging cars driving around trying to find a parking space. Fifteen minutes later we were back home with the kettle on, a really enjoyable little walk.

A Walk on Down to The Waterfront and back (about 3miles or so)

I enjoyed the previous walk so much I decided to get up the next morning and head on beyond the cycle/walkway, down to the waterfront at South Queensferry. Any snow-melt from yesterday's slight thaw had re-frozen, making some of the paths downhill quite icy and treacherous: I proceeded with care:

Heading Down to The Waterfront

Slippery Path Downhill

After negotiating the slippery downhill paths I reached the level ground of the Esplanade and took in the views:

Rail Bridge

Road Bridges

South Queensferry

Looking out to the river I saw the familiar shape of a Grebe on the water, but which type of Grebe? I zoomed in with my trusty camcorder:

I am pretty sure that it is a Slavonian Grebe (also known as a Horned Grebe) the birders among you should be able to confirm this. They are known to over-winter in the Forth Estuary before returning to their breeding grounds. I have seen them in the Spring on inland lochs in the Highlands and their breeding plumage is spectacular.

A little further along the esplanade I watched this Curlew foraging amongst the seaweed and probing the sand for invertebrates to eat:

This dapper Oystercatcher was also probing for worms and other invertebrates on the sand nearby, with the Forth Rail Bridge serving as a dramatic back-drop:

I moved along the esplanade until I reached the Hawes Pier, here I went down on to the little beach area under the Rail Bridge:

Heading under The Rail Bridge

Beach Area under the Forth Bridge

From here you could look out over the estuary towards the Fife coast;

Looking along the Bridge to Fife

It was here that I saw this Redshank busily searching the shoreline for something to eat.

There were still a few patches of snow on rocks along the beach, an ideal photo opportunity.

Hound Point Oil Terminal and Fife Coast

The Rail Bridge and Snowy Rocks

All the Bridges

Whilst I was taking that last photograph a train came over the Rail Bridge so I caught it on video. It really demonstrates the enormity of this structure when you see a train passing over it; it looks like a toy train!

I moved a little further along the beach until I came to a point where rocks and seaweed prevented me from going any further (safely that is). Here I had a good view over the water to Hound Point Oil Terminal (used for pumping crude oil from ships up to Dalmeny Storage Tanks) with the coast of Fife in the background.

Looking Towards Fife

It was at this point I noticed another Grebe in the water. This time it was a bit further away, however it was instantly recognisable as a Great Crested Grebe:

I made my way back along the beach, under the Rail Bridge and headed round the back of the Hawes Inn to take the stairs (Jacob's Ladder) back up to the cycle/walkway. Because it is in the shade the sun had not melted the snow on Jacob's Ladder and it was treacherous, like trying to climb up a toboggan run, luckily there was a banister (of sorts):

Jacob's Ladder Toboggan Run

I finally made it to the top and stopped for a short rest under the Rail Bridge, which gave me a slightly unusual perspective of this fantastic structure:

The Forth Rail Bridge

With that photo (and all the others) safely in the bag I headed home.

Wildlife back at Home (no miles done)

We are quite fortunate (especially during lockdown) to stay in an area that has short walks of interest nearby. Sometimes I think we are also lucky that we have a decent range of wildlife (particularly birds) that choose to visit our garden and the surrounding green areas, so that we can enjoy them without even going for a short walk. Here are a few examples of the less common birds I have seen from our windows:

First up is a beautiful Song Thrush in our back garden:

Not in our front garden but in a nearby tree was the Song Thrush's close cousin, the Redwing (also featured at the start of this blog, but this one was a few weeks later).

Moving away from the thrushes, here are some buntings, namely a pair of Yellowhammers in our back garden. The video features a male first then a female, which is slightly less colourful but still a nice bird to see.

Well that's about it for my local winter walks and local birds out the window, I will leave you with a little video of a pair of Jackdaws on our garden fence. They just want to be friends, which I found quite amusing; I was tempted to do some dialogue with the video but I will leave that up to your imagination:

Take care out there,

Cheers

TeddyEdward

Local Winterwatch

 About this time of year I usually do a blog about the wildlife I have encountered over the Winter months; my version of Winterwatch I suppose. Well this year is no different other than my travels have been curtailed somewhat so it will in effect be a very localised Winterwatch.

Since last March I have been taking part in the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) Garden Watch Project, which requires me to submit weekly counts of the different species of birds I have seen in our garden. Over the last couple of months I have also been taking photos and videos of some of the birds I have seen in my garden, so I at least have some material for my Local Winterwatch.

Why don't we start with the Finches, seldom seen in our garden in the Summer months, they visit in substantial numbers in the Winter, especially if we get a cold spell and there is seed in the feeders. In Winter our most numerous Finch visitor is the Goldfinch:

Patiently Waiting for a Great Tit to Finish

Goldfinches fending off a Greenfinch

This little video probably best illustrates the frenzy of some Goldfinches fighting over the feeder, it starts off relatively peaceful then builds to all out war:

The only bird that usually keep the Goldfinch off the feeder is the Greenfinch; this Winter has been good for Greenfinch here, I know that's not the case throughout the UK in recent years. Unlike the Goldfinch there is a distinct difference between male and female Greenfinch as you can see from these photos:

Female Greenfinch

Male Greenfinch

As you can see the male is much more 'green' than the female. These are powerful birds with strong beaks and very few other birds keep them from the feeder, especially if there is a bunch of them:

The Greenfinch are hard to shift when they are on the feeder, but they all scatter when Cathy next door comes out to her garden!

A more timid finch is the Chaffinch. They are usually content with picking up fallen seed and other scraps from the ground but will occasionally eat from the feeder. Once again the male and female are quite different, with the male being more colourful. I don't have great photos of them this Winter but here are a couple:

Female Chaffinch

Male Chaffinch

Chaffinches are quite a common bird and often overlooked, despite the fact that a male Chaffinch in full breeding plumage is a stunning bird. One Chaffinch that has been visiting our garden over the last few weeks appears to have a deformity/growth on one of its claws, which makes it very difficult to perch, but it does manage it somehow:

Talking about stunning finches, the male Bullfinch must be quite high up the ranking. We have had some in our garden this Winter but I failed to get any photos of them. I did however get this short video of a male Bullfinch whilst out for a walk to Dalmeny a couple of weeks back:

The only other finch we normally see in our garden in the Winter is the Siskin, however I haven't seen any so far this winter. It maybe hasn't been cold enough for them to come out from the coniferous woodlands, they must still be finding enough to eat there; often you get an influx from Scandinavia if the Winter turns particularly cold over there.

The one bird that regularly chased the big finches off the feeder in the past was our resident Blue Tit 'Psycho'. He roosted in our bird box over winter for the last 3 or 4 years and would defend his territory viciously, no matter the size of the other birds. Unfortunately we haven't seen him this winter so it has been relatively calm.

We still get Blue Tits and other tits visiting, but not Psycho, so lets have a look at those in our garden this winter:

Blue Tit in the Tree

Blue Tit on Feeder (with House Sparrow)

There seems to be two or three Blue Tits visiting our garden and they sometimes check out our bird boxes. Here's hoping that they nest in the box which Psycho use to occupy as it has a camera in it. Here is a little video of a Blue Tit (and a Great Tit) in the snow:

A pair of Great Tits have been visiting the garden quite regularly this Winter; in previous years Great Tits were only seen on the odd occasion. There is one female and one male so here is hoping they pair up and squeeze into one of our bird boxes.

Female Great Tit

Male Great Tit

I am making the assumption that they are male and female based on the fact that a female Great Tit has a paler yellow breast than the male. It maybe that they just have different colouration from each other because one is Scottish and one is Scandinavian; any thoughts you birding experts?

Here is a slowed down video of both Great Tits in action:

Another little tit that visits our garden is the Coal Tit; their visits are fleeting and infrequent so it is very difficult to get a good photo of them. I did however capture one such visit by a Coal Tit on video:

Some people have been lucky enough to have a whole flock of Long-tailed Tits in their garden this Winter (well done Alan!) but not us. Pity they are great little birds to watch.

Moving on! 

What about the Pigeons I hear you say! .............. probably not top of most people's favourite bird list, but they can be quite funny at times. Let us start with the most common pigeon we see in our garden any time of year, the Wood Pigeon:

Wood Pigeon

What a beauty! I reckon if we ran out of chicken in this country I could make a substantial meal for four from a Wood Pigeon and a few vegetables (apologies to any Vegans), and there would be no 'food miles' to add on. 

I suppose we must be considered semi-rural as we hardly see any Feral Pigeons in our garden, I think they prefer the city life. We did get one our two this winter:

Feral Pigeon

Feral Pigeon with Wood Pigeon

Never sure if they have come out of the city or whether they are actually Racing Pigeons having a pit stop. The pigeon in the video below definitely looks like some hybridised Racing Pigeon although it isn't ringed. The Wood Pigeon wasn't sure what it was:

Told you that they could be funny!

If you want a prettier looking pigeon then look no further than the Collared Dove. It maybe didn't arrive here until the 1950's but it has since become very well established: 

Collared Dove in the tree

Crows!     Not everybody's favourite.     Intelligent.......Yes!    Oportunists......Yes!      Predatory........Yes!        Successful.......Absolutely!!

There is very little that Crows don't eat and they know where to find food no matter where they are; that is why you get Crows on the beach and Crows on the mountain tops. Why we even get Crows in our gardens, here are a few that visit our garden:

Duncan the Carrion Crow

Duncan is our resident Carrion Crow who visits our garden every day in search of any scraps we throw out. He is also well known for dipping his bread in our bird bath and occasionally bathing in the same soup he eats from. Here is Duncan surveying his domain and bathing in relatively clean water:

 Another crow that visits our garden and occasionally takes a bath is the Magpie. Sometimes we get 3 or 4 Magpies visiting at the same time.

Magpie having a bath

Where's my towel?

 Magnificent bird with striking colour scheme, but not welcome by some, especially if you have little birds nesting in your garden. Here is a video of one sitting on the fence trying to eat a grape:

I love how the Magpie nonchalantly walks away as if to say "I didn't really want that grape anyway".

We sometimes get a Rook in our garden but not over the last few months. We never get any Jays in our garden, but live in hope. Don't expect to see any Ravens or Choughs anytime soon, but never say never.

That leaves us with our final crow visitor............ the Jackdaw:

Jackdaw walking the tightrope

Our neighbour two doors down always has lots of noisy Jackdaws in her garden squabbling with each other. Sometimes one our two will come over to our garden, usually when Duncan is not around. I love the bright blue eyes that Jackdaws have and that they always look like they are up to some mischief.

Jackdaws often fly about in small groups and are not afraid to gate-crash somebody else's party, as illustrated in this video taken out our front window:

That leads me nicely on to some of the other birds that visit our garden, starting with Starlings.

Starlings are always flying around our estate in the Winter, possibly because of the number of people that put seed or scraps out for the birds. So sometimes you can get one our two birds visiting the garden, other times you get a whole mess of them; which I don't mind as I enjoy watching their antics.

Starling on the Garden Fence

There's food here chaps!

We're on our way!!!

They have also taken an interest in the pond I put in the front garden this Summer. 

Glad to see it is being put to good use as a Starling bath.

Sparrows also use the pond a lot, for drinking and bathing. They sometimes come to our back garden to visit the feeder but are mostly seen in our front garden:

Male House Sparrow on feeder

House Sparrows at snowy pond

This is because they generally feed in our neighbours garden, who not only provides food for the Sparrows but has a nearby prickly hedge providing all the protection they need from predators. Here you can see them using the hedge for cover in my neighbours garden:

Another common visitor to our garden are Blackbirds. These are very much ground feeders, they sometimes perch in the tree or on the fence but never seen one on the feeder before. maybe I need to make a bird table?

Male Blackbird

Female Blackbird

Recently we have been visited by a male Blackbird which has a white wing feather, making it very easy to recognise (provided that it is facing the right direction):

White-winged Blackbird

No Blackbird video, but I am sure you have seen plenty of them.

A rather low-profile visitor is the Dunnock, with it's streaky brown plumage and grey head it is often over looked (and often mistaken for many other species as it skulks about in the vegetation). It is however worth a second look as it has some intricate patterns on its plumage (and it is a very good singer):

Dunnock side view

Dunnock rear view

Dunnock

The total opposite to the shy, reserved Dunnock is the Robin. It is bright, bold and colourful and certainly likes to pose:

Robin on the Ground

Robin on the Feeder

Robin on the Planter Handle

Robin on the Giraffe's Head?

No problems getting a photo of a Robin in the garden!

So what happens when the Rockin' Robin and the Dull Dunnock meet in the same garden? Well it goes a bit like this:

Not the best of buddies it would appear.

Another relatively timid bird which occasionally visits our garden is the Pied Wagtail. Although it is basically black and white it is still a stunning bird and a welcomed guest when it makes an appearance:

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Pretty little bird.

One bird that fleetingly visits our garden in Winter, but doesn't dwell long enough for me to photograph, is the Wren. Luckily I did manage to capture a Wren on video during a recent walk to Dalmeny, so you can see (and hear) it in all it's full glory:

A very territorial bird methinks!

That's about it for the birds in and around our neighbourhood.

I can give you a little video of the only mammal (apart from the collection of cats) that we have seen in our garden over the last couple months, namely a little Wood Mouse:

 

Lastly, do you want to see a Carrion Crow snow-bathing? Of course you do:

Crazy! .........and I said they were very intelligent!

That's all folks!

Take Care Out There

Teddy Edward