best part of the day: cammo & almond

Monday 24th March

I try to moderate the number of trips to Cammo. Partly because it is on the opposite side of town and partly to keep it special. I love the enthusiasm of the small birds when I arrive and they gather as I unpack bird seed and bread and then dive in even before I have retreated to take photos. It really lifts my spirits. I tend to keep it a Winter treat as I am busy elsewhere in the Spring and Summer chasing butterflies. This was perhaps going to be the last trip of Winter although since the butterflies were out (in small numbers) I think we can just about call it Spring.

First thing as I was walking up the side of the curling pond this comma dropped out the sky and landed in front of me. A butterfly on the ground is almost impossible to make look magnificent and I didn't have long to make the photo as a dogwalker was coming in my direction. She was good enough to apologise, however I was in great spirits so didn't mind. After all, the sun was out, the birds were peeping and I had photo-ed a comma. It was already going fantastically well. And all this on a Monday morning!

nuthatch

The birds were delighted to see me and the place was a-flutter within minutes of me arriving. The coal tits seemed even more relaxed than the last couple of times and were more visible and in greater numbers. The nuthatches were also out in force although they all looked so similar it was impossible to tell whether there were 3 really active birds or up to 9, returning constantly to the place I'd put out food. Nuthatches, like squirrels and crows will stash food when there is extra to requirements. They will take seeds and jam them in nooks and crannies, for later. They may not remember all the places they left stuff but it is a wiser move than leaving it for the crows, magpies and squirrels who will hoover it all up on the spot.

coal tit

I don't know anywhere that has more nuthatches,

that are happy to perform like this, and unafraid of company

buzzard

This buzzard flew into a tree 60 yards off. I was tempted to ninja up the field towards it but knew it would fly off before I got much more than a record shot. They are big cowardy custards and do not like human proximity.

ambitious appetite

great tit

boing

honey bees

The comma had set my mind wondering if there might be other butterflies around. Normally I'd decamp after a spell at venue 1, to venue 2 across the water, but I thought I'd change the routine and go there via a walk round the walled garden. A local group are growing lots of interesting things there; a small orchard of trees, some beehives and other flowers and shrubs. If there were butterflies anywhere then here was a good place to look.

Alas no butterflies. Pleasant enough but not so much that I made the effort to change to a smaller lens and take some scenery shots. I returned to the watery bit and set up camp at venue 2. Normally I'd be fishing for jays but I had the feeling there weren't going to be any today. On the previous two visits I'd seen jays near venue one and got the feeling they were watching proceedings. Back then it was cold, grim weather and they were very keen about snacks and handouts. Today I didn't see so much as a flash of blue or beady eye. Either they were off on their holidays or were too well fed to be tempted in to the food I put out in the usual places. Just magpies and squirrels then, and of course more nuthatches and coal tits.

nuthatch stashing surplus seeds

coal tit

Most of the time I was there,

there was a heron fishing in the water nearby

song thrush

great tit

I can't remember what inspired me to get the camouflage poncho out. It normally travels with me in the base of my back pack, but stays tightly wrapped in its sleeve. Last worn in Monymusk and served next to no function. I think I was a little bored and wondered if this amazing cammo cloak of invisibility would make any difference to the distance the birds allowed between us. (To be fair they are really tame at Cammo and used to human traffic so I don't really need to get any closer.)

I got it out and felt a bit self conscious, especially with the hood up on a sunny day. It wasn't so warm it generated condensation, but it wasn't far off. I was glad there were few other spectators about and I didn't keep it on for long. However at one point while I was wearing it a coal tit picked up a seed from the pile nearby and then flew over to the tree right beside myself (wearing the cloak of invisibility) and stopped there to eat or hide it. (Photo below.) I was quite surprised as it was almost within arms length and wouldn't have taken much of a stretch to reach out and poke it. It did something of a double take but didn't fly off immediately. I didn't poke it but took a couple of photos. It was on the shaded side of the tree so the images didn't come out as well as the ones taken in bright sunlight, but it suggests I should continue to carry the poncho and maybe one day it will come into play. (Other than using it as a waterproof cape.)

coal tit - up close

a couple of folk have mentioned there are good numbers of thrushes
about this season - they are lovely birds

I finally remembered to try out the slo-mo setting on my camera. It is such a long time ago I can't remember which settings it allowed me to use without installing an SSD drive which is required for certain large file recording. But it seems to be really good quality and super smooth visuals. Downside is no audio. I must investigate recording music from my keyboard, otherwise the clips can be a bit lifeless without sound. And/or I should shoot some audio on the scene and run that over the top of the slo-mo. Anyway it is all work in progress and at least I remembered to try out the setting. Obviously with tiny skittish birds it is hard to know when they are about to do something worth recording. So there is quite a bit of hit-and-miss and trial-and-error. Results at the bottom of the page as the short video was quite large and I can't upload anything larger than 100mb directly to this blog without going through youTube and then embedding it from there.

goldfinch

great tit

lots of trees with blossom out

The heron was out on the path when I came to leave
It looked out of place and quickly returned to the water when it saw me.

Since it was still sunny I decided to leave Cammo and head North onto the River Almond. With the idea of trying to see dippers, goosanders and kingfishers. None of the latter but I managed a couple of distant dippers and a whole load of grey wagtails. Must've seen 6 or 7 by the time I got to Cramond. And I managed to get really close to one without freaking it out. It seemed not to mind me creeping up on it over the rocky riverside, although it kept an eye on what I was up to. I think it was waiting for me to finish fishing that part of the river so it could return to feeding on insects and wee bugs where I was.

dipper on the far side

grey wagtail, the first of many

just a few feet away

dippers and wagtails

a couple of male teal I spotted hiding out behind one of the islands

a fallen tree near the weir

goosander (m)

goosander (f)

robin shouting

the hoverflies are back out

Inchmickery

I walked along the foreshore and esplanade for a bit and then up Silverknowes Road to catch the number 16 from Silverknowes Parkway. The drivers of a couple of buses were out their vehicles (texting and vaping) enjoying the sunshine and warmth at the bus terminal. I got on the 16 and enjoyed a tour of Granton before it dropped me off at the end of my street. A rather fine day out!