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Friends of Warriston Cemetery

Friends of Warriston Cemetery

Author Archives: Warriston Birder

May 31st 2021

31 Monday May 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Views and Nature

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Tags

Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Warriston headstones monuments edinburgh cemetery

Misty morning. Amazing afternoon.

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May 28th 2021

29 Saturday May 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Views

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The Nuthatch.

04 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Information, Nature

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Tags

Birdlife, Nature, Nuthatch, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Wildlife

Nuthatches are not rare in the UK but they’re not particularly easy to spot. They were once largely restricted to south-eastern England but now breed throughout England and Wales and they have steadily spread to the north with breeding in Scotland first confirmed as recently as 1989.

According to a bird book in my possession, dating from the 1950s, it is notable that the nuthatch is “absent from Scotland” at that time. They may have been seen in Warriston Cemetery before but the first reported sighting, to my knowledge, was in November of 2020. There are at least two on the site and hopefully they are a breeding pair. Time will tell.

The bird book, incidentally, was printed by Morrison & Gibb, the company that had print works and offices at Tanfield which is about a quarter of a mile from the cemetery (as the crow flies).

The nuthatch is quite small, about the size of a great tit. The plumage is striking; blue-grey above and whitish below. Chestnut on its sides and under the tail. A black stripe on its head runs from the neck/shoulder, through its eye and to the bill. It has a long black pointed bill and short legs.

The name comes from the way it opens nuts. It jams them into the crevice of a tree and hammers at them with its bill until the nut ‘hatches’ and it can eat the contents. It sometimes stashes nuts and seeds to eat ‘later’, behaviour it shares with the coal tit. This can result in sunflowers sprouting in unexpected spots. Being omnivorous, they also eat insects etc.

When nesting, they tend to use holes in trees and old woodpecker nest sites seem to be a favourite situation. They sometimes use holes in walls too but wherever they nest they build a layer of mud around the entrance – even when the hole appears to be the correct size for their requirements.

Their silhouettes may resemble that of a woodpecker but they are not related. So, if you think you’re looking at a woodpecker against the light, it might be worth checking. Treecreepers, also small and very active, climb trees to forage for insects but nuthatches go up, down and can even hang upside-down on branches.

The images below were shot in Warriston Cemetery.

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Some wildlife of Warriston Cemetery. Photographed on April 13th 2021.

14 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Nature

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Tags

Birdlife, Birds, Butterflies, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Cemetery, flowers, Nature, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Wild Flowers, Wildlife

Click a thumbnail to view the full size image.

  • Stock Doves.
  • Goldcrest.
  • Bullfinch.
  • Great Tit.
  • Speckled Wood butterfly.
  • Dunnock.
  • Coal Tit.
  • Carrion Crow.
  • Blackbird.
  • Song Thrush.
  • Honesty.

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Images From 2016. Part Two.

10 Wednesday Feb 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Headstones and monuments, Nature, Views

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Bee, Bluebells, Butterfly, Daffodils, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Cemetery, flowers, Headstones, Knapweed, Orange-Tip, Owl, Red lady, Robin, Tawny Owl, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Windflower

Click an image to start viewing. Use the left and right arrows to flip through the album. There is an option to view the image at full size.

Robin Singing.
Red Lady, White Flowers.
Daffodil.
Orange-Tip Butterfly (male) and Bluebells.
Tawny Owl.
West Path.
Leaf, Fly, Droplets.
Daffs by the steps.
Bee and Knapweed?

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Images From 2016. Part One.

07 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Headstones and monuments, Nature, Views

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Tags

Bee, Bluebells, Buttercups, Daffodils, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Cemetery, flowers, Grey Squirrel, Headstones, Mallard, Owl, Red Admiral, Robin, Squirrel, Tawny Owl, Trees, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Wren

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Images From 2015. Part Two.

02 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Headstones and monuments, Nature, Views

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Tags

Bee, Bluebells, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Cemetery, Insects, Poppy, Snowdrops, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery

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Images From 2015. Part One.

31 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Headstones and monuments, Nature, Views

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Tags

Bee, Birds, Bluebells, Cemetery, Daffodils, Edinburgh, Foxglove, Gravestones, Snowdrops, Squirrel, Trees, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Wild Flowers, Woodpecker, Wren

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November 2020. Around the cemetery.

29 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Nature, Remembrance, Views

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Tags

Cemetery, Nature, Views, Warriston, Warriston Cemetery, Warriston Cemetery Views

Photographs provided by Caroline Gerard, Malena Astrom and Sheila Masson.

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Some images from November and December 2020 and January 2021.

28 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Warriston Birder in Humour, Nature

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Includes Blue Tits, Coal Tit, Grey Squirrel, Blackbird, Robins, Nuthatches, Buzzard, Grey Wagtail and Dunnock.

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