Joanne's been out and about again, this time finding out about the wildlife experiences of people living around the Forth......
Last month I was lucky enough to attend a couple of events in the Inner Forth at which I got to meet some very enthusiastic wildlife loving locals. On Sunday I grabbed myself a sunny spot at the base of the Clackmannanshire Tower Doors Open Day and spoke to the people waiting to get inside the old monument. It was a great day and I got to hear all sorts of stories about people’s wildest encounters in the area.
I thought I would use this opportunity to share a few of your stories about the Inner Forth wildlife; it’s something I’m hoping to do fairly regularly from now on. It would be lovely if this could be a place where we could all tell each other about our wildlife experiences in the Inner Forth, after all I can’t see it all on my own.
So here are a few favourites from the weekend:
One of our own Wildlife Explorers Sarah, and her mum, told me that earlier that year they were watching the blue tit’s who had decided to nest in the boxes in their back garden. The blue tits were flitting in and out of the dog kennel and using the hairs to line their nest. What clever little birds!
Sarah got some fantastic views of blue tits using a nest box in their back garden (Credit: RSPB Images)
One boy, who was too shy to put his name to his story, had a particularly great experience a few weeks back when he went walking with his dad. His dad stopped him to look at a huge buzzard sitting on a post no less than a few meters away. I always forget just how big buzzards are close up and the boy said he was equally impressed. He seemed to be hitting a bird of prey bonanza as he also said he’d spotted osprey hunting over the water of the estuary! Now that is something I would really love to see!
We are so lucky to be able to get such fantastic views of buzzards right in our own back yard! (Credit: RSPB Images)
And finally, to finish off my first post of your Wildlife stories;
Keira, Erin and Gracie were the first to offer up a story, and I’ve been re-telling it ever since. Apparently robins are actually Santa’s spies! It makes sense really when I think about it. The girls told me that robins fly around during the winter, hide in the trees or bushes and spy on all the girls and boys so that they can tell Santa if they’ve been good or bad. I’d always wondered how he found that out and thanks to Keira Erin and Gracie I now know.
I hope I get the chance to hear many more of your stories about our local wildlife in the coming year. So get out there and get exploring, imagine what you might find!