birds and Bs

 

6th Jan

So until the butterflies return in the Spring I am taking more of an interest in the birds. It gives me a wildlife based reason to get outdoors and something to chase once I'm out. They are even more frustrating than butterflies which is why I don't take more interest in them all year round. But as a substitute hobby they are about as good as it gets. There is often something unexpected turns up and usually it's not the thing you'd hope to see. So quite like butterflies in that respect. And they have a really bad habit of flying off. But they do signal their presence with chirrups and calls. Which helps. And can be cheerful.

a tragic loss - let's hope they were re-united with their owners

Mary tells me this has been here for years.

I posted this photo without a caption on facebook and it wasn't long, right enough, before remarks about robin redbreasts and great tits flew in. Even scarlet boobies! I can't properly remember where about on the cyclepath it was. Plenty of smaller birds in the bushes and trees along the cyclepath and I'd fall way behind Mary as she kept running when I stopped to get photos. Often the small birds are bustling about, constantly moving from one twig to another and make very tricky subjects for pics. 

The number of empty branches photos that a second ago held a bluetit or redwing outnumber the amount of decent shots. Also they nearly all prefer to put a branch between themselves and the camera, a pretty good anti-predator strategy - always have an object between yourself and a potentially pouncing predator. All very frustrating. Often I come home hoping I have lots of shots of birds only to find the branches are in focus, the subject, not so much. Well at least it keeps my eye in over the Winter till the butterflies come back in the Spring. And more importantly gets me out the door and heading off to places where I've seen specific birds already, and feel I could return and get the shot I missed last time. And when they are shouting cheerfully, peeping away, they are truly uplifting. I can see the attraction of being a birder.

blue tit and robin

bullfinch

I found a tree with bullfinches. The males' vermilion chests are amazing as they perch eating seeds and new shoots. So I stopped for quite a while to take photos, ambling like a drunk on the cyclepath to get a decent angle through the branches. Then higher in the same tree a small gang of goldfinches. Another favourite for those flashes of red on their faces. A few more pics still then I set off at 5.25min/miling to try and catch Mary before the next junction when I will have to try and remember did she say to head to Blinkbony or D Mains? Pretty sure it was D Mains but until I turn the corner and see her ahead on a long straight I am a little worried.

redwings not playing fair
Lots about but difficult to get next to.

under-bridge graffiti 

lined up this pigeon-on-wire photo then click - too late!

There has been noise on social media about these bollards and why they have been placed here on Silverknowes Rd. I am uncertain of their purpose and what problem they address, but a lot of money has been spent on what seems like a bit of an answer to a problem that doesn't exist.

Inchmickery

Inchkeith

There is something about running along the esplanade that is utterly soul-less. I'm not sure if the parkrun horrors have spoiled it for me or if it was always fairly dull and windy and with too many long views to ever enjoy plodding along here. Anyway my mind got occupied with some other runners and it was a welcome distraction. I often feel the urge to compete with other runners when they overtake Mary and I. Mostly I try to rise above it and didn't bother to respond to the dude who overtook us going down Silverknowes Rd. Clearly he was doing some sort of intervals or workout. He stood catching his breath at the bottom of the the road. Another runner was also making quite an effort to go at top speed and before I thought about what I was doing I was busy going past at least a couple of other runners to show them what running briskly was really like (in case they mistook their quasi-jogging for proper running!) The trouble is you can't just overtake and then stop, it might look like you have thrown in the towel. So I had to run on at the same tempo pace for a while. I then came upon another runner who I also had to teach a thing or 2! I realised I could possibly end up racing the whole way home, overtaking folk and having to keep up the pace right up the tenement stairs. I also realised I'd left Mazza quite a distance behind. Not that she misses or enjoys my company much on runs. I had my camera in my hand so realised the best disguise would be to find something worth a photo. That way I could stop to take a pic and let those losers go past without losing face. Hence the photo of these shrubs below. Although I quite like their spaced out look. 

now where did I leave Mary?

I've often wondered about this mansion-looking building in such disagreeable surroundings. A quick google suggests it is Caroline Park, near the ruins of Granton Castle and very nice looking from the other side. But well hidden away from the industrial warehouses of West Shore Road. Almost right next to the large blue gasometer. There is apparently an old walled garden in the remains of the Castle.

I spied a gang of goldfinches in a tree along West Shore Rd. It seems an unlikely spot right enough but that's what I thought last time. They seem unperturbed by the grisly industrial surroundings. Mary disappeared into the distance while I tried to get a clear shot of a bird in sunlight, showing its red face. An almost impossible task. Mary said she might go up the road from Granton Sq. I'd said I would probably prefer the cyclepath up from Trinity Rd, on account of the birding opportunities. So I was surprised to catch up to Mary along Lower Granton Rd. Probably about as close to romantic as this run was going to get.

Winter at Wardie Bay.
Who could resist the charms of sewage and scenery?

this flowering shrub seemed very cheerful

Somewhere along the cyclepath I told Mary I was going to have a quick look round Warriston Cemetery. It only has one official entrance that is off the beaten track but sadly is still quite well attended by dogwalkers. I don't hate dogwalkers and dogs but they do scare off the birds and I'd question the need town-dwellers have for keeping a dog. Mary, curious to see what she was missing came most of the way but then realised there wasn't a through way to head directly home (not strictly speaking true, but mostly,) so headed back onto the cyclepath while I had a cold fingered walk round the cemetery. There were a few birds about but it wasn't quite the spectacle I'd hoped for and after a bit of fun with a squirrel who was poised on the end of a well berried branch and judging if I was bad news or not, I headed back too. Obviously I was hoping the day would produce a last gem or 2 and took the long way round St Marks Park to check out the birdfeeder's spot on the WoL. 

When I arrived I said hello to David from Elvis Shakespeare, walking his 2 greyhounds. He owns the 2nd hand music and bookshop on Leith Walk. He said it was his chillout spot and I did consider this might be a polite way of saying I should F off! Hopefully not! There was only some Mallard action (where have the gooseanders gone?) so I threw some bread and beat a retreat. Nice to get home for some late lunch.

12.6 miles in under 3hrs