warriston wanders

 

14th March
A day of occasional glimpses of sun and warmth. I throw on a jacket and run along to Warriston. The riverside robins now come to my hand most times I go past. 

Doesn't this blue tit melt your heart with its gammy foot?
It was getting about fine though.

this bee looked like it was sleeping 

or maybe just regretting going out into the world too early

how many is too many?

great tit

coal tit

great to see one or 2 dunnocks (this one with cigar!) around the secret garden
(braving the wrath of the radge robin)

I went for a wander and specifically to search out wrens. There is a couple of areas where I hear them regularly although not the same areas they were to be found last year (around the East Gate for instance.) I got close to one but less than perfect images. They are challenging: when they see you they give off an alarm call then dive into the undergrowth. It is too cold to stand around hoping they will reappear. 

titter ye not!

dunnock!

radge robin

bullfinch

a bullfinch day is a good day

Meanwhile back at the riverside area and this giant rat shimmied down the branch before diving into the ivy. It was pretty big - probably the largest I had seen there and just into the so-big-I'm-slightly-alarmed category. The camera had trouble focussing on it - maybe due to the fur being blurry at the edges or maybe it was using a Romulan cloaking device.

I put down some food at the far end of the riverside area and pretty soon word got round and all the birds were popping by for a snack. Great to see a second pair of bullfinches. Often the females are bolder than the males and are first to the food. The male hung back for a while before joining in. I love their calls and their colours. 

I'm so tall, I'm so tall!

On this occasion they chose to sit at the squirrels' stash.

chaffinch

And the wood pigeon said time for bed!
Or was that Zebedee?