warriston wanders

 

Look I know there is a finite number of robin photos most people can enjoy before they say ENOUGH! However I'm putting this down here as a record so next year as I wade through the November and December blues I can see the survival tactics I used last time to get me through the arse end of the year. So far it is going okay but all it takes is a week of really overcast dull weather and light drizzle and things (mentally) can take a nose dive. So it is for my benefit rather than yours. I've got my SAD lamp on while I type this - and no that isn't a euphemism or a metaphor. If your robin (and squirrel and great tit) cup overfloweth then just skip quickly through, although the sunny photos at the other end are probably better than the first ones here. Up to you. I have condensed several days worth of pics and cemetery trips into one post. Ahh, look at their little faces! 

First up the 18th Nov and it looks like I missed the sun if there was any about. I watch the forecast like a hawk and arrange work around sunny days. I am a mile away from Warriston - a 10min jog at worst - so will often run out the door if the sun suddenly makes an unexpected appearance. It might only be for an hour but can really lift spirits. Especially when I get such a welcome from the coal tits, the great tits and the robin in the secret garden area. They are by far the most prevalent species there. I usually wear the same jacket and carry the same brightly coloured Hoka backpack (carries the camera and birdfood) so they are quick to recognise me. They will hop onto the tables while I am still putting out stuff. Only the robin is bold enough to hop onto my hand to feed. 

dunnock

Dunnocks are kind of brown and dull until you get close enough to see the beautiful patterns in their feathers. They also have good songs and don't scare off at the drop of a hat. This makes me appreciate their company and give their photos higher priority than many of the garden birds. They are quite scarce currently in Warriston, and the robin gives them a hard time, but I keep an eye out for them and drop food on the ground as they prefer that (being ground feeders) to the tables.

this chap is becoming a regular on the steps
loves bread and seeds, and quickly becoming tamer

great tit

I was filming this squirrel when this rat popped out from between the stones. I think it must have reckoned the squirrel was a good marker of no immediate danger and only when it had continued some way did it spot me and turn tail, dashing back between the stones. I  feel a warmth towards the rats because they seem to know very well how much humans hate them and have an intelligence and resourcefulness that requires respect. Also I think they are cute and have neat little hands. And they are one of the hardest creatures in the cemetery to get close enough to get a decent photo of. A day with a rat photo is a success! 

Other irregular but welcome visitors are the woodpeckers. They are most active around the mating season when they use their drumming skills to communicate as well as find food. Which makes them easier to hear and track. This female (no red on the back of the head) was my first photo/encounter of the season. You have to keep your eyes high up in the trees to catch sight of them, although I have heard there have been a few sightings recently. I saw a male within days of this and thought there might suddenly be loads about but then nothing for ages. Long lens mostly required!

19-11-21

I love the coal tits. They are tiny and not very spectacularly coloured but they are tenacious and big-hearted and return again and again to the feeding tables despite the bullying robin constantly chasing them. They develop tactics and strategies, working like a tag team to distract and bamboozle the robin while dodging his claws and temper, quickly turning smaller circles and sitting close by him in the same tree branches, disregarding his threats. It is hard to believe so much life is compactly fitted into such a miniature costume - about the size of a feathery thumb. And when you see them close up, tiny eyes and wings, and they zip by faster than a thrown stone, you are left wondering how on earth is that possible? And how can they survive a big storm with heavy downpour and huge winds. Trees are torn down but there they are next day tweeting and cheeping "the bread guy is back, everyone battlestations - to the bricks!"

I was excited to see a treecreeper turn up while I was at the feeding tables. I see them intermittently but usually over on the North side above the crypts in the tall trees there. Often they will be close to a small group of finches. I think they might regard numerous other birds' company as a safety indicator and so will be slightly drawn towards them. Possibly the fluttering around the food platforms brought this one closer although it never flew down from the trees nearby, preferring to find food - tiny insects and butterfly eggs! - on the trunks and branches it hops up. They are a great looking bird with curved beak and proportionally huge talons, like crampons, for holding onto overhanging tree bark searching for grub(s). I was so excited I failed to get any decent photos of this beautiful bird at unusually close quarters. I took about 20 photos in quick succession but they were all quite dark and full of movement blur and tail feathers leaving the frame. Disgraceful!

Wandering aimlessly around I came across this crow. Most carrion crows are all black. This one had the lighter markings of (but not quite as light as) a hooded crow. Until recently they were thought of as the same species. They are similar enough to allow interbreeding and I reckon this was such a hybrid offspring. It was hanging out with a large group of the carrion crows.

There is a lot of chat about sparrowhawks in Warriston. (They even make the info board.) I believe I saw one swooping through the riverside area once, but it was just a blur and I didn't even get the chance to raise the camera. (And I found a dead one in the long grass back in March photo 19 but also good w/pecker shots!) Like most birds of prey around this heavily crow and magpie area, they will be instantly mobbed if they saunter across the skyline. So when I saw 3 or 4 corvids pestering something I hoped it was the sparrowhawk (and that it would land on a perch nearby for me to photograph, haha no chance!). I fumbled the camera and only got a couple of distant shots from which I cropped these 2 images. It was far larger than a sparrowhawk which is about crow size but leaner, and underwing markings suggest a buzzard. It flew over and away. There used to be a warriston buzzard but haven't seen it again since it left. Possibly too many corvids.

long tailed tit

These small and sociable little birds are very tricky to photo. You hear gangs of them twittering their way through the trees but they rarely stop long for a photo. So I was taken aback when 2 landed on the dead tree trunk I was only a yard or 2 away from, to collect moss, presumably to line a nest somewhere nearby. They ignored me while I nearly choked on this LTT freebie and nearly blew it. After pulling up a beakful of moss each, they were off. Everyone loves a snug bed as the Winter begins to bite.

bathing bullfinch

There is a stream or drainage puddle near the tunnel that connects the riverside area with the rest of the cemetery. Other than the Water of Leith next door there is little in the way of water sources. That said, I have seen squirrels drink rainwater from indentations in fallen gravestones and blue tits taking baths in similarly horizontal monuments. The ditch near the tunnel is a pretty good spot to catch birds having a dip and splashing about. Or a drink. Unfortunately the tall trees all around mean there is very poor light and the camera(man) can struggle to get a decent photo. Also every dog walker that passes through, and there are many, disperses all the bird action for the next 5 minutes.

I continue to rehearse our patter every visit

I don't usually try to photo the birds that drop to the ground below the feeding tables as the leaf litter is distracting. But the cool colours of this great tit are nicely contrasting with the warm leaf colours.

contrasting scale

On the way out on the 19th I came across this little gem nestled in a cranny of a gravestone. Because I'd seen Alan post a photo of similar, I knew it was a Rosemary beetle. These are smallish and ladybird like in shape but with a colourful metallic sheen. What an amazing looking bug! They tend to be found on rosemary, lavender and thyme. Gardeners aren't keen but they don't do much damage and I was stoked to find one. Where have they been all my life? Well according to wikipedia (see link above) they only became known in the UK around 1994 and have become widespread since. Since they "do not present a major problem to the host plants and damage is barely noticeable" I am totally in favour of this non-native species and really look forward to seeing and photographing them next Spring. Fantastic new beetle! And very beautiful.

26-11-21

Oopsie - the waterdish was upside down on the ground again. No doubt a bouncy dog leaping up looking for food was responsible. I took it along to the stream near the tunnel to refill it. I have to take off my gloves to avoid soaking them, then carry the cold metal pan back without slopping water over my fingers, shoes or camera. It is enough to make you dislike the dog walkers who could easily avoid the secret garden area but instead traipse through saying "oh sorry, did I spoil your picture" (if you're lucky) while all the time not giving a flying one, dog off the lead; smelling food but unsure where, jumping up on the bricks. If they banned dogs from the cemetery I'd be very pleased but it would spoil a lot of folks' pleasure, so I suppose we should all just be as considerate as possible. 

brave wee dunnock you know about the robin...?

yes well that was inevitable

not bothered!

very lovely and yet also a nightmare

"if you listen closely you can hear them screaming in hell!"

corvid book group meeting
big Iain Banks fans - not so much Harper Lee

fly cemetery

look chaps, we've been infiltrated

I like the crows and regularly throw them food. They are appreciative but stand offish. They also have some bad behaviours and can gang up on (and kill) young of other species. Mary saw some separating a baby rabbit from the parents and it wasn't so they could all be pals. Nature can be pretty cruel. And certainly crows aren't alone in this. I think it was during this visit I was paying some bread wages to a friendly crow who had sat patiently for photos, possibly that one above. Moments later I heard some terrible cawing noises and returned to find said crow upturned and on its back with a larger silverback crow pinning it to the ground, claw on its chest. Like some kind of gangster (one of the Krow twins?) remonstrating with a lesser gang member for not paying his/her dues. I went over to ask if they would desist (or at least wait until I was out of earshot,) and with reluctance the bigger one hopped off. It was pretty ugly and although I like crows (they are smart) I don't love them.

robin in holly tree near crypts

great tit
back at the secret garden

the friendly wren

the next door robin

great tit standing up to robin

the curious thrush
likes to see what's going on but keeps its distance

the moment before take off

this sad crow sat on a branch, tempted by the food below
but just couldn't allow itself to join in

sunshine on Leith blue tit
loving the brick, loving the bird

bullfinch
- incoming alert!

manic wee robin torpedo heading directly towards target!

boing!

hah, that robin doesn't scare m....

aaayyyeeeeeee

just looking, not buying

Thought this might be the sparrowhawk. (At the time I was sure because it was much smaller than the buzzard and looking really sleek and streamlined flying through the sky.) Zooming in to the photos I later reckoned it was a kestrel, and a very handsome one. Unfortunately it did not swoop down and land beside me yet again! One of these days!

Yet more dogwalking daftness. I hear a woman calling "Peter, Peter". (Down at the riverside bit.) I don't recognise the voice but see a small dog running towards me. Ahh that'll be Peter. He is trailing 20' of pink lead which I catch. I tell the owner my name is Peter too, as I return her lead/dog. She seems stressed and tells me it is "Pizza" not Peter. And I thought Peter wasn't a great name for a dog. I have also been unable to think up any really good pizza / dog puns but feel there should be some out there. (Does he go out in all four seasons?) Well at least I deliveroo-ed her dog back to her. 

WoL dipper!
Great finish to the day!