bavelaw hide

 

30th Jan. An excellent day at the bird hide at Bavelaw. 

I had seen several posts on Lothian Birdwatch facebook group with various photos of bramblings, nuthatches, woodpeckers, a jay and a water rail. I wasn't that bothered about the last 2 as Cammo provides regular interactions with jays. Maybe my opinion of water rails will change once I see one but so far they seem like dunnock-coloured moorhens who don't like photographers. I'm not that bothered about them either. However I had never seen bramblings (above) and they looked really attractive. But how to get there?!

The thought of cycling more than an hour in Baltic conditions, then having to change out of damp clothes was enough to get me to opt for the bus. Or rather a bus up to Waterloo Place and then the 44 heading West to the terminal at Balerno. (All free of cost for oldies!) I had intended to do the early bird thing and get there crack of dawn, however the best laid plans and all that. The forecast was excellent all day and there was no real need to get up early which was exactly the excuse I needed. I did make sandwiches and pack my bag the night before but failed to get up when the alarm went off. I eventually got off the 44 around 11.40 which left just 25 minutes of hiking up the hill to the Hide. The road is pavementless and therefore not ideal but there wasn't much traffic and it was a lovely day for it.

blue tit singing about how special a day it was

You go up to the Threipmuir Reservoir car park then keep on as if going up Beech Avenue into the Pentlands, however just before the avenue starts uphill you take a right at the gate and follow it two hundred yards to a small shed; the Hide. There was a warm welcome from a couple of goldfinches at the fence who flew just ahead of me. I already had the camera out and was carrying it clipped into my harness in case anything of note appeared. Goldfinches were the most numerous bird of the day so this was very apt. Dozens of them in the trees surrounding the water and landing on the feeders at the hide. 

warm welcome from a pair of goldfinches
who sat very nicely for photos!

goldie looking pair on the fence along to the hide

I entered the hide with slight trepidation. I had wondered if the great forecast (and Lothian Birdwatch advertisements) would result in there being a queue out the door. Not quite, but I was never alone for the next couple of hours. There were several people when I arrived although it thinned down to just four of us then later three. There was little to nothing out on the water - some too distant mallards and tufties, nothing particularly worth a photo. So mainly my attention was out the right hand side looking at about a dozen feeders that were filled with fatballs and sunflower hearts. In attendance were goldfinches, blue tits, chaffinches, coal tits, reed buntings, siskins, a few nuthatches and bramblings. The latter being the least bold - they would hang back until a group of chaffinches and goldfinches were gathered on the boardwalk and then gingerly they'd appear. There was also a solitary female woodpecker and an occasional treecreeper. With passing long-tailed tits and a few great tits. Quite a crowd of small birds and always something to point the camera at.
(Dividing my total number of images by minutes spent there gives and average of about one photo taken every 8 seconds for the best part of 2 hours; never a dull moment!)

reed bunting

coal tit

nuthatch

coal tit

siskin

siskin

siskin

I presume f and m siskins

blue tit

goldfinch

brambling

siskin, chaffinches, brambling

brambling

nuthatch

brambling - a very pretty bird

reed bunting

passing long-tailed tits

treecreeper

great spotted woodpecker (f)

the woodpecker regularly returned to these fatballs

like a fish out of water - woodpecker on flat surface
drawn down from its usual tree (and fat balls) by peanuts

goldfinches

finches!

siskin

brambling

the goldfinches were excellent for sitting nicely
on nearby branches to have their pics taken

of course there were plenty inducements

the nuthatches also enjoyed the peanuts

The hide provides much of the food that ends up in the feeders, which is really generous of whoever supplies it. I supplemented this with the peanuts I'd brought along - I wasn't sure if there would be food provided or empty feeders so I took along sunflower seeds, bread and peanuts. I had hoped to lure the jay down with peanuts but either it wasn't in the area or the hide was too busy with people.

I did wonder how strict the etiquette might be - I am not used to visiting wildlife with other people and tend to do this sort of thing solo or just with Mary. And so I wondered if there might be unwritten rules like turning one's camera to silent mode (nope), whispering rather than talking normally (nope) or not bragging about rare and spectacular sightings and where you could see them easily (sadly not!) Plenty of all of that going on although I mostly sat quietly wondering if I should turn my camera to silent mode. It is not as noisy as a full frame and nobody else seemed to be concerned about being particularly quiet including the birds who flew within a couple of metres and sat on branches untroubled by the gentle clicking of my camera. The humans were generally good company and not too noisy!

The weather remained about as good as it gets - an occasional cloud would pass over the sun but moments later the light would return and I'd take more photos. After a while I realised I was only taking duplicates and felt it was time to give up my seat to someone else. The basic wooden benches warm up after you have been there some time! I also wanted to do a quick once around the Red Moss boardwalk as someone had reported seeing redpolls there and I wanted to go while there was still plenty light about. I was stoked to have seen and photo-ed the bramblings and plenty of the other delights - siskins, finches and nuthatches. The awol water rail was no big deal and I can regularly find jays at Cammo.

Since I only had so long to process nearly a thousand photos before heading North for the weekend, I decided to head off in plently time to check out Red Moss (alas no redpolls or indeed any birds whatsoever, but some beautiful lichen) then walk back down to the bus stop and get home in time to pack for the weekend and process the day's pics. I was pleased with the results which were largely so good due to the light and choosing the right day to visit. 

just the one male blackbird

on the way back past Threipmuir these wigeon were keeping their distance

tufted duck pair

lichen at Red Moss

what a fabulous day!

3.86miles in 3hrs

after the storm pt 3

 

A trip along to Warriston on the 29th Jan. I went in from St Mark's bridge at Powderhall so I didn't see the signs at the main gates saying the cemetery was closed. I bumped into a forestry guy near the tunnel and he said to watch out for broken branches which they were clearing over the North side.

defo giving me the stink eye

When I arrived I put out food for the storm survivors in the usual places along the East of the riverside area. There weren't many of the small birds about and my eye was caught by a larger bird high up in the nearby tree. Nice out of ten times this happens I think that'll be the sparrowhawk and it turns out to be a pigeon. This time I thought that'll be a pigeon and it turned out to be the sparrowhawk. It is hard to tell until I look look through the telephoto lens.

It looked a bit dishevelled. (Breast feathers looking matted.) It may be it had just taken a bath and its feathers were drying out. But it might also have had a hard time in the high winds and be neglecting grooming if hurt or disorientated. I tend to think of these apex predators as invincible, or I did until I found a bedraggled corpse of one here, a few years back, lying in the ivy.

tempting fate

I saw a squirrel run across the branches a bit lower than the sparrowhawk. I would have thought this was tempting fate if the hawk was in full health and hungry. However as I have pointed out before, squirrels seem to have oddly specific vision. They can jump from one tree to another and run at break neck speed along thin branches, but if you throw a peanut to 4 inches away from their nose, they pad back and forth like a blind man trying to find a golf ball. I don't understand how they struggle to see stuff under their noses but can gallop through the trees like they do. Presumably an evolutionary necessity. Which you would think would include noticing when a large bird of prey was sitting a couple of yards above. Maybe there were too many intersecting branches for it to swoop down for squirrel pie? The same branches were certainly making my job of looking for a clear line of sight to the bird considerably more tricky. But nice to see it, and I hope it survives the Winter.

a large and heavy limb hangs over the riverside path

the tunnel wagtail

the fence above the crypts could do with a stake or 2 to prop it back up
I was surprised there were so few casualties in the wake of the storm

as noted in previous blogs the stock doves are now regulars

or maybe even residents here

always a pleasure to see the tunnel grey wagtail

friendly blue tit

great tit

stock dove - becoming less afraid to approach for handouts

blackbird (f)

friendly squirrel also realising the benefit
of the human with the peanuts

I was along at the 1859 stone when Paul appeared. He works for the council and was putting up notices to announce the cemetery would be closed until it is cleared of potentially dangerous tree limbs. He pointed out a damaged tree, and right enough there was huge potential for it falling on visitors and dogwalkers.

We always chat about what wildlife we have come across, although I don't envy him the job of reminding the dogwalkers that although they are welcome, they must keep their dogs on a lead. Not everyone responds politely to being told how to behave. He is a dog-owner himself and is only enforcing council regulations. It is surely a happier resolution than an outright ban on dogs which could so easily have become council policy if they had wanted to clamp down on dogwalking here. And if it is not enforced, it is meaningless. But of course there are always those who feel the rules need not apply to them.

I will respect the closure and not return until there is an all clear announced which could be a week. There are plenty other places to explore meanwhile. And plenty local green spaces for dogwalkers to exercise their doggos.

grey wagtail, blue tit, sparrowhawk video clips, click twice