Apart from a week in Barcelona, I was mainly on the Water of Leith for the other three weeks of April.
The whole river is once again alive, with the constant activity that breeding season brings. From watching dippers at Balerno, to the arrival of the eiders down at Leith, there’s never been a dull moment!
It won’t be long before we also see kingfisher chicks, fox cubs & if we’re lucky the ocassional badger cub during May.
Once again the otters continue their nocturnal lifestyle, as confirmed by my trail cameras, along miles of the riverbank. Last month (March) they were only out between sunrise and sunset about 4% of the time. During April this figure increased to 13%. Needless to say, this is mainly due to the clocks going forward an hour, at the end of March and the increased daylight hours, in April. As the daylight hours extend once more in May, we might catch more glimpses of them!
Whilst I’ve spent many hours, on every section of the Water of Leith walkway this month, the busiest section has undoubtedly been Leith. It’s been interesting to watch more and more eiders arriving, plus the swans with 9-10 eggs at the moment! So this months photos are mainly from Leith but as I’ve also spent a lot of time with various pairs of moorhens & dippers between Roseburn and Balerno, a few of them have made the final selection!!
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