My favourite season has now arrived Autumn. The leaves are starting to change colour from green to red, orange and brown. Mushrooms are appearing, the days are starting to get cooler but most importantly wintering birds are on the way. I’ve already seen a few Geese flying in the sky so that tells me we are now in Autumn.
I had a brilliant start to my Birding after a break in August I went back to my local patch Cammo Estate. I could tell we were approaching autumn because some of the trees were starting change colour it was a beautiful day so seeing the brownish yellowish leaves amongst the blue sky was lovely to look at. The birds were a still a bit quiet but there was a spot in the woods I decided to stand still and listen to them sing. There was hardly anyone around so it was more peaceful, something did caught my eye on the nearby tree and to my amazement it was a Nuthatch my second ever sighting of one in Cammo. I watched it climb up the tree, fly down near my feet and around the tree it stayed for a few minutes then it flew away it was a great start of a new month.
A few days later I had a walk along the River Almond I only walked half way and watched a couple of Mallards at the rocks near the Salvesen Steps.
One early morning I heard a familiar call it was a skein of Geese and I saw them in the distance. During the month I could hear more very early in the mornings it’s a great sight to see.
A few days later the male Great Spotted Woodpecker returned one sunny morning enjoying the coconut feeder and a few hours later I was sitting outside and I could hear it calling at next doors tree I thought it might be coming back to the feeder it didn’t sadly.
I returned back to The River Almond Walkway and headed towards Cramond beach. There was no bird activity on The River Almond that day because after a few days of rain the river was fast flowing quite spectacular to watch. When I got to Cramond the tide was out so there were lots of birds around. It was a very blustery day but I managed to stay for a half a hour watching lots of Black Headed Gulls who were now in their winter plumage. There were also Lapwings, Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Sanderlings, Crow, Jackdaw and Grey Wagtail.
Last night I returned from a few days in London and had a great time. The only day I got to see birds was on Friday on a walk on St James’s Park as it’s always a good place to see birds. There were Pochard, Coot, Moorhen, Graylag Geese, Feral Pigeons, Black & Mute Swan, Heron, Mallard and not forgetting Ring Neck Parakeet who I heard a lot and saw flying about it was brilliant a great end to finish off September.
I really can’t believe we are now in October, 2023 is going in fast but it’s not over yet. I’ve got a few birding outings planned for this month and I can’t wait to see what I spot this month.
The Edinburgh Birdwatcher 