In addition to daily trips along the Water of Leith this month, I managed a couple of mornings in East Lothian plus a couple of visits to Cammo Nature Reserve & the River Almond.
In East Lothian I visited Aberlady Nature Reserve, Gullane beach, Dirleton, Yellowcraig beach & North Berwick. As always there was plenty to see – in the first few photos below you’ll see a buzzard from Dirleton; a Curlew, a Little Egret, a Teal & a Redshank from Aberlady; a Rock Pipit & Shag from North Berwick harbour & a Stonechat from Yellowcraig beach.
At Cammo Nature Reserve, I was hoping to photograph the nuthatches & they didn’t let me down. Whilst tucked away with my camera, I could hear a couple of woodpeckers drilling away for an hour or so – one to the east of the reserve & one to the west. There were also two sparrowhawk flybys.
On the Water of Leith, there has been a dog otter around for almost 6 weeks now. We have 3 female otters without cubs, so we’re keeping fingers crossed that we might see young otter cubs in the next few months. The kingfishers have been very active along all parts of the river. Several have paired up and have already started nest building.
I saw my first chiffchaffs of the year, at the end of March. Other signs of Spring were the greenery starting to appear and plenty nest building activity from many of the creatures along the river.
And finally… I was pleased to receive an email this month, telling me that my picture of the ‘Under Water Urban Otter’ (first photo below) had been shortlisted in the Wildlife Behaviour category of the Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year Awards. I had entered 6 photos, so was pleased that one made it to the final stage!
PLEASE CLICK ON ANY PHOTO BELOW TO ENLARGE THE SLIDESHOW
