I spent the whole of February on the Water of Leith between Colinton & Leith. The main aim was to get as good an idea of the where all the dippers & kingfishers were, just before breeding season starts & also get a good idea/record of the otters’ movements. Looking back, I can say there were plenty dippers about and all seem to be residing in the same nesting locations as last year. There were kingfishers at all of last years nesting areas this month and by the end of the month, there were signs of some of them pairing up.
Whilst it’s been very sad to have lost 4 otter cubs on the Water of Leith, in the last 2-3 months, the positive is that the mums are now back in season and 2-3 males have been visiting the river, with a bit more frequency, in the last 4 weeks. Hopefully, this means that we may have more otter cubs, on the river, in the next 2-3 months. This means they will be a lot bigger and stronger when the harsher winter months come along, when they will cope better with the faster flowing water and higher water levels.
Here are some of the creatures that I saw most days, this month, along the riverbank.
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