best part of the day: dreaming of spring

Thursday 2 February 2023

dreaming of spring

20th January

And you could almost mistake some of these scenes for being Spring-like. But don't let the sunlight fool you. Still a frost on the ground. And the pond at the Botanics was frozen solid. But great to get a long day of sunshine. Makes the photos so much better. But too cold to be standing around in a frosty cemetery blowing on gloved hands.

Mary came too!

never gonna happen

Again we had fun just South of the tunnel. I suspect we weren't the only people putting food out for the birds at that point. The birds appeared quickly and enthusiastically took turns flying to the flat stones. Chaffinches, robins, blue tits, great tits, coal tits and blackbirds. With bullfinches and others hanging back but nearby. And when there's nobody about, pigeons, squirrels and crows move in and hoover up the remains.

chaffinch

young crow

mrs bullfinch

daffs pushing through

snowdrops are sprouting

Mary has discovered the joys of birding. She has recently changed from a somewhat reluctant accomplice to an enthusiast. I'd like to think it is my influence but I suspect it is the joys of interacting with the birds and appreciating their beauty, more than just falling in behind my step. There was even one occasion recently when she went along to Warriston and the Botanics on her own with a slice of famous homemade birding bread chopped up into cubes the way the birds like it. I was so pleased and proud to have been a small part of this transformation. Although I think the joy of having a robin sit on your hand and take a piece of bread - the tiny grip of his wee claws, the frrrrippp of wings - would melt anyone's heart.

Anyway I am delighted to have a willing accomplice on my adventures. Even if some of Mary's photos are better than mine! She will often see something I won't - a good example being the bullfinches bathing in the botanics - video below - which she spotted and pointed out. The only downside is sometimes the chat and laughter might scare off a flighty specimen we haven't noticed.

backlit doodle

saw this snagged feather and was rather pleased the way
the camera focussed just where required

frozen pond (nae kingfishers)

even though I failed to focus on this pair of bullfinches

I really like the ambience

bullfinch bath
(as spotted by Mary)

Mary had need of the facilities by the cafe so I spent more time experimenting with the Reg Butler in the pond nearby than I might have otherwise. Nice to have all that sunshine to add lens flare and distortion. Mary (seeing the results) said something about chakras that I didn't really hear properly. You get to a certain age and ears don't really respond to certain sounds. 😉

Then off up the Water of Leith. We anticipated being too late to catch the light or the kingfisher but knew it would add 5 miles to the day out so worth it anyway. The small bridge upstream of the Belford Bridge had deteriorated considerably and now looked much less crossable. We retreated, crossed the Belford Bridge and through the Gallery grounds to get back down to the river. I spent some time bribing a female goosander with bread to come closer for photos. It half worked - the light was gone from the river but the reflections of trees and shrubs on the riverbank were still catching the light and nearly making for bright reflections.

goosander

light fading fast

reflections of the orange house

Although the river had lost the light it was still sunny and we decided to hike on to Rosebank and Murrayfield where there is a corner of the river that is pretty busy with birds. There are a gaggle of goosanders (about 20) hang out there, a heron, a few ducks and pigeons and sometimes a rat! Mary was fairly keen.

I thought this was a song thrush but its eyebrow
suggests a redwing

pied wagtail

goosander (f)

starling

goosander (m)

Always about 20 goosanders here - not sure why

plus plenty mallards and pigeons

and a line of gulls

and a disdainful heron

The pigeons would gather round a pile of seeds laid out for them on the ground. Then every sudden noise they would retreat to this wall, where they would edge to the drop off and descend again to the seed pile. There was also a roof-full across the road, basking in the sunshine.

We went home via the cyclepath which we turned off at Craigleith and popped into my mum's. She has been deteriorating recently (92 years old) and we have been keeping an eye on her. Afterwards we photographed the curlews in the fields next to the Police HQ in Carrington Road.