August turned out to be a month of highs and lows! Weather conditions were perfect throughout the month for photographing, I had a lot planned and I was out most days. However, the ambitious plans for the month didn’t quite work out!!
Over and above 16-17 days on the Water of Leith in August, I had several visits booked around Scotland – firstly up to Doune to Argaty Red Kites to photograph red squirrels, then the Trossachs Osprey Hide, then on to Balgone Estate in East Lothian to photograph sunflowers and finally 4 days on the Isle of Bute. Unfortunately, despite the lovely weather, I never achieved what I wanted to achieve on any of these trips. I even decided to return early from the Isle of Bute & cut my 4 day trip, on the island, down to 2 days. I still managed to get plenty of shots, on each visit, but not quite what I was looking for…..& I know I can’t blame anyone else, other than myself for that!!
Whilst I was back in Edinburgh there was a lot of video / trail camera work to do on the Water of Leith. One particular location had taken me a lot of time to set up and adjust, over 3-4 weeks. However, the footage I got in August, of a mum & cub playing away, whilst a male otter came to visit them, was worth the time invested – click HERE to view the clip. Hopefully, I’ll manage more clips from this location over the coming months.
The otters were out at dawn and dusk quite a lot over the month. Kingfisher numbers are still down but I am currently monitoring a pair of kingfishers that are on their second brood of the year. Hopefully we will have another 5-6 kingfisher fledglings, at the end of the first week in September.
Whilst I hate to say it, water levels have been low for some time, so I am looking forward to September for a bit more rain and eventually less foliage along the riverbanks.
Here are some images that I took during August – not many osprey images from the Trossach Osprey Hide but I did get 15 minutes or so with a kingfisher, perched directly in front of me! You can also see some more of the flying red squirrels shots, amongst others creatures, from Argaty Red Kites woodland hide here – Argaty Red Squirrels
…And finally here is a link to August’s 2 minute video of the wildlife on the Water of Leith – HERE
CLICK ON ANY OF THE PHOTOS BELOW TO ENLARGE THE IMAGES
