The month of January has just finished and it went in quite quickly. Usually I don’t like January but I was very busy walking every day and also did Dry January which I successfully completed without fail but what about the Birding? Well this is what I got up to in January.
The reason I’ve been doing a lot of walking is because I’ve been taking part in DoddieAid as part of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation which runs to 11th February. One of these walks took me to The River Almond and unto Cammo Estate my local patch. As I was walking on the field I noticed a Heron creeping along which I think was my first time ever seeing one in the field as normally it will be at the canal. When I was at the new Boardwalk I saw a Kestrel but sadly it was a bit far to get a good photo but it was a good walk and Birding.
I had been noticing on social media that Waxwings had been spotted at the roundabout between Broomhouse Road on Calder Road. I have never been to that area to look for birds but as it’s a bird I love to see I just had to go. On arrival sadly I didn’t see any Waxwings or other birds at all but unfortunate for me as soon as I arrived it started to rain heavily and the wind picked up so I just jumped back on the bus and went home. That wasn’t going to stop me because I returned a few days later and noticed a lot of photographers dotted around so I knew the birds will be there and sure enough as soon as I got to my space…..BOOM in came The Waxwings and it was fantastic to see them again. I stayed for a bit taking pictures and video until they all disappeared it was a great morning also a Redwing showed up.
On another walk on The River Almond I sort of had a Robin watch as I spotted two Robins on my walk. One was singing away at close range and the other was on a branch next to the River Almond.
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch took place on 27th-29th January and I did mine on Saturday (28th). I did mine on the hour from 10.30-11.30am I did see some birds but it was pretty quiet in my garden and feeders the birds I did see were Greenfinch, Crow, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Woodpigeon & Chaffinch. Every count counts so may not have been a great number of birds it could be better next year. If you are looking for a bit of fun my friends from Happy Beaks have made a Bird Bingo so not only you can have fun playing Bingo but it will help you identify birds too. Click on the link to find out more https://blog.happybeaks.co.uk/help-advice/happy-beaks-bird-bingo/ I hope you have a great month of February and look out for the early signs of Spring.
The Edinburgh Birdwatcher 