July was another great month for watching wildlife here in Edinburgh and in the surrounding area. However, I found myself going slightly further afield this month with trips to Loch Leven, the Isle of May, Argaty Red Kites in Doune & the Trossachs Osprey Hide just outside Callander.
I feel that I’ve been dodging the rain throughout the whole of July & heading out when it was drier and not necessarily when I actually wanted to. I headed out of Edinburgh several times and spent three sessions in bird hides which I rarely do but it was a great idea due to the weather!
Back in Edinburgh, I managed to watch plenty of fox cubs this month and there have been some characters. I have had frequent sightings of otters all month but never the same ones or never in the same place – so it really has been a matter of walking for miles, watching out for unusual movements or ripples in the water. I am asked all the time, where I see the otters – the fact is, I see lots of different otters, in different places & when you take into account that otters can travel up to 20km a day, its not surprising that I don’t really know where they will be. However, I generally stick to walking 6-8 miles a day on the Water of Leith and the more I do it, the luckier I get…. what people don’t realise is the amount of miles that I clock up and don’t see anything at all but that’s just wildlife for you!
I did a huge amount of swallow photography this month – these birds are really tough to photograph in flight but it is great practice for photographing kingfishers from August & throughout the winter months.
My trips away this month were to Loch Leven where I have been anticipating the fledging of the green woodpeckers for a second year in a row! Then it was on to the Isle of May where I mainly concentrated on the puffins. However, before the boat even landed I spotted a peregrine on the cliffs which was a great start to the trip. You can see more photos from my Isle of May trip HERE
The next trip on the agenda was an afternoon watching the red kite feeding session at Argaty Red Kites, after which I then headed to the new Trossachs Osprey Hide just outside Callander. I did an evening session at the osprey hide and followed it by an early (5am) session the next morning – it really was such a thrill to watch ospreys diving in for fish right in front of me. The ospreys will be heading back south at the end of this month but I would recommend a trip to the Trossachs Osprey hide next year. You can read more about the osprey hide & see more photos HERE.
Here are some shots from an eventful month of July!
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