What A Difference A Month Makes!
From the high(ish) water levels on the Water of Leith, at the start of February, the position was reversed in March, to very low levels. What this meant, was that the kingfishers, that moved out in February, due to the high and fast water levels, slowly returned during March, just in time for the breeding season.
The Otters
The otters moved into a nocturnal phase at the start of February and I can confirm that this has continued throughout March. I had planned to start placing trail cameras along the length of the Water of Leith, in anticipation of breeding season but my plans had to change because of the otters. The new Plan B got underway mid-February, to try and track down the otters, as they weren’t coming out during daylight hours.
Had they moved to the canal or further afield? Had they moved downstream and into the Firth of Forth?
I spent 2-3 weeks moving the cameras about, in areas where I have spotted the otters frequently before. I was making progress (slowly) and eventually, I was able to leave 10 cameras out during March, to capture footage of the otters. What I didn’t anticipate was the results!
The Results
Firstly, the footage from the cameras confirmed that the otters were still on the Water of Leith but actually there was 3-4 more than I had thought I’d find!! The cameras managed to capture footage of one mum and her two cubs, another mum with one cub and at least 2 single otters (but it could be as many as 4 single otters). In total the cameras captured 121 videos over the last 4-5 weeks. Of these 121 video clips, 116 of them captured the otters at night and only 5 video clips captured them during the day! I suspect this will start to change, as day light hours get longer but I’m not predicting anything & I’ll wait to see what April brings!
Springtime
My focus has predominantly been on trail camera footage in March but I have ocassionally been able to photograph some of the wildlife on the Water of Leith. At the start of the month my main aim was to photograph the dippers, as they are one of the first creatures to get the Water of Leith breeding season underway. It was good to see one or two kingfishers returning and also hearing great spotted woodpeckers drumming.
BBC Scotland
At the start of the month (literally…6:30am), Sat 1 March, I was on BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors programme. Rachel Stewart kindly added a piece from the previous Wednesday’s Scotland Outdoors podcast to her show with Mark Stephens – the full Scotland Outdoors podcast can be heard HERE – BBC Radio Scotland link. Thank you to Rachel for this!
As a result of the above (I think), Angie Brown, a journalist from BBC Scotland got in touch, asking about some of the wildlife video work that I have been doing. This conversation ended up turning in to an article that ended up on the BBC Scotland website a few days later – link HERE – BBC Scotland website link. Many thanks to Angie for putting this piece together!
And Finally….!
Two of my photos made the final stages of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 – one was of a dipper on the Water of Leith ‘Buffet Time’ which was shortlisted & the other was of a weasel ‘Weasel at Rush Hour’ which was amazingly Highly Commended!! Both pictures ended up in the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 winners book!
I am very grateful to the organisers and judges of the BWPA. You can see all the winners in this link – British Wildlife Photography Awards 2025
PLEASE CLICK ON ANY PHOTO BELOW TO ENLARGE THE SLIDESHOW
