rail journey

 

20th & 22nd Feb.
There were several encounters with the recently arrived water rail near Warriston on the Water of Leith. It has taken a while to document this, because sitting at the computer has been limited to ouch minutes per day due to ongoing sciatica issues. Things have been slowly improving but we are still a few days away from anything like a cure or the next run. Meanwhile here is the update on the rail.

We go back to the 17th Feb for a day when I went along to the botanics, with a visit to the water rail first. It seemed to be there most days but often required a bit of hanging about for it to come out into the open; its preferred state to be hidden deep within the scrub and long grasses of the riverside foliage. 

local heron

stock doves

thar she blows

Every now and then the rail (gender not known but I suspect male) would appear for a paddle in the river or to beak through the muddy leaves in search of invertebrates. Occasionally it would have a splash about followed by retreat into the grasses where it would preen and then peep like a maniac for 5 minutes. I have seen youTubes of them making squealing pig calls known as sharming but this one hasn’t yet done that while I’ve been there.

Then along to the botanics hoping for an early sighting of a butterfly. The flowering rhodies can be good for admirals but no joy and not really warm enough - double digit temps work better with sunshine and there’s not been enough of either lately.

Went to the Chinese pond but no kingfishers. Nice encounters with robins and great tits.

not confusa but hookeriana - but same heavy fragrance
(this was to be the site of my first 2026 butterfly on the second March)

22-02-26 My sister’s birthday. Anne has really impressed and surprised me by taking up running as she approached her 60th. She did a bit of couch-to-5k training and has done a parkrun and a trail race. She is looking younger and fitter than in a long while and is really enjoying the process and feeling the benefit. It takes the edge off entering an otherwise potentially downhill decade. 

stock doves at St Marks

The 22nd was a great day for photos. The sun came out and lots of birds appeared while I stood shooting the breeze with Dan, waiting for the water rail to strut his stuff. 

I worried slightly that a couple of dudes with cameras would attract a larger crowd (most assumed otters or kingfishers) and this would chase away the rail. However it was across the river on the far bank and that 20 yards seemed to be enough distance for it not to mind or notice the small crowd that would occasionally form. The absence of anything obvious of note meant most left after a short while of seeing nothing impressive!

When we’d been there a short while things improved dramatically. A kingfisher, which had been flirting with us, settled in the area and caught a few fish while we took its photo. It was never right beside us and tended to stay on the far bank trees but it was fairly sunny and made for pretty decent photos. A heron was stood in the shallows directly in front of us and when the grey wagtail from Warriston appeared on the raft of grass directly below, I felt we were seeing a splendid selection of spectacular local wildlife. At times I didn’t know where to point the camera. 

We put all this down to Dan coming out with a dead battery in his camera. He used to have a couple of fast dying batteries he recharged daily but then bought a new reliable one which went longer between charges. And of course led to him forgetting to charge it on this occasion. I was really grateful for him jinxing out so much wildlife which he was unable to photograph - singularly the best day of the water rail season. He graciously accepted his role and said (through slightly gritted teeth) he was happy to take one for the team and hoped I’d do likewise on subsequent occasions.

breeze ruffling feathers

video of water rail splashing and dashing (and peeping)

soundtrack Yellow Jacket by Kent Nishimura

arboreal heron

some of the best images of the day 

were of the Warriston grey wagtail in sunlight - a delight!

Although a bit drab in general if you study this photo above closely you can see why it is one of the most impressive of the day. The kingfisher (top right) perched above the water rail (left of centre at the bottom). The chances of a water rail and kingfisher in the same frame is astronomically unlikely. Albeit not as spectacular to look at as a close up! This could be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

grey wagtail, kingfisher, goldcrest, long-tailed tit
with water rail audio at 1m30s

light beginning to fade

I didn’t get further than Powderhall today but it was a great day for pics

Mary realised this alternative to walking back up MacDonald Rd

taking a short cut through Shrubhill Walk