Latest Photos – September 2023

September 30, 2023
As we arrive at the end of September, there is a well established autumnal feel in the air – colours are changing & the temperature is cooling!
September got off to a lovely start with a trip out to the the Bass Rock, to have look at the gannet chicks (Guga).  Starting life naked grey, then the ‘woolly sheep’ phase & finally flecked black, it’s at this point, they jump from the cliffs & survive in the water, until they can fly!
Craigleith is the island right next to the Bass Rock and, as I had never visited it, it was great to take a trip around the island on the boat.  The highlight of this part of the morning was spotting a peregrine, sitting patiently up on the rocks.
I had planned to do a kingfisher count, at some point this year, on the Water of Leith and September seemed to be as good a month as any.  I decided to do this count, every day, over a 10 day period, from Saughton Park to down to the mouth of the river at Leith.  I was never going to be able to count all of them on each visit but by walking the same route over a 10 day period, I was hoping to get an approximate figure for each day.
So whilst I am able to state that I saw an average of 5-7 kingfishers each day, there will definitely be some I missed, so the figure will be higher. However, over the next few weeks some of the juveniles will be pushed out of this section of the water, so this may well bring the figure back to my average of 5-7 over this 6 mile stretch.  This equates to apx. 1x kingfisher per mile which is quite feasible, if there is enough fish in the water.
Whilst doing this count I obviously saw lots of other wildlife along the river.  One thing I was particularly interested in was the new BioMatrix Platform in the water at Coalie Park.  It was installed by the Water of Leith Conservation team & volunteers, back in May 2023.  So it was good to see it fully established and being made full use of by a swan family. Moorhens & mallards were also trying to muscle in but the swans didn’t leave much space!!
The most unusual thing (for me anyway!) over this 10 day period, was hearing & then seeing a couple of jays. I say unusual because whilst I have photographed jays around Edinburgh/Scotland, I have never seen, heard or photographed one on the Water of Leith. Jays have a distinctive call/screech which I heard around the art gallaries but I didn’t see them until about half a mile later downstream. Jays love oak trees and in particular the acorns from them in October. So if you know of any oak trees, in your area, keep an eye out (& an ear out) for jays next month.
There have also been quite a few roe deer roaming about the riverbank and nearby woodlands.  They’ve also been making themselves feel ‘at home’ in a number of private gardens along the river.
The over-riding highlight of the month was seeing a couple of female otters, collecting bedding materials.  This generally means one thing – otter cubs have arrived!  This ties in nicely with the mating actively that I photographed back in mid/end of June.  It’s unlikely that we’ll see them for a while as they tend to stay in the natal holt for about 8-10 weeks before they start to swim.  Hopefully, I can update with good news before too long!
….And finally!  As the autumn leaves start to appear at our feet, I was fooled by this Angle Shades moth (last photo) – it’s wings are meant to make you thinks its just another autumn leaf & it certainly fooled me. Yep, I even had to get my glasses on for this one, just to make sure I wasn’t photographing an autumn leaf….!!

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