I have to say that December has turned into an extraordinary month in Edinburgh – snow, hail, rain, frost, fog, sunshine & temperatures ranging from 16 degrees down to -7 degrees!!
On the wildlife front, Waxwings finally arrived in town for the first time in a couple of years. These birds arrived from Scandinavia and have been working their way, systematically, around most of the rowan trees in Edinburgh. Where there are waxwings, you can be sure redwings & fieldfare are never far away – all three birds make lovely photos when they are feeding on the red berries.
I was slightly taken aback to see a stonechat at Roseburn – I normally photograph these lovely wee birds on the islands off Scotland’s west coast. Occasionally, I’ve spotted them on the south side of Edinburgh & around Holyrood Park & Duddingston Loch area but seeing them virtually in the centre of Edinburgh was very unusual.
The very next day I spotted something even more unusual! As the temperature suddenly dropped to -7 degrees, in the second week in December, we had a rare phenomenon occur on the Water of Leith called ‘Pancake Ice’ (or Ice Pancakes). These ice discs are formed when foam on a river begins to freeze & they are drawn into an eddy, creating round shapes. This normally occurs in the sea or oceans but for it to form on a river is rare.
In addition to plenty otter & kingfisher shots, I managed to get a good session photographing the UK’s smallest bird, the goldcrest. This wee bird is tricky to photograph as it’s permanently on the move… or so it seems to a photographer!!
Finally, a project that I have been working on, in the back ground, for the last 4-5 months is updating the BBC Winterwatch team, with wildlife locations in Edinburgh for their upcoming series on BBC Two. Edinburgh is going to be featured in this BBC series starting on 17 Jan 2023 and the BBC team will be filming live in Edinburgh for 2 weeks. As the live shows approach, I am keeping the research team updated, with wildlife sightings and anything else of interest that pops up! Make sure you put BBC Winterwatch into your diary – BBC Two 17 Jan 2023!
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