November Sunshine

A lovely late autumn day today! We started at the exhibition for the proposed housing development on Cammo Fields held at Cramond Kirk, where we posted our comments of don't build on these fields as they are valuable habitat for various farmland birds that City of Edinburgh Council commits to protecting in the local biodiversity action plan.  You can read my previous blog posts about this proposed housing development here).

Then we went into Cramond village for coffee and cake outside overlooking the River Almond

We were delighted to see a flock of about 50 lapwings flying around above the river!

We then walked past Cramond Island 

and along the River Forth to Silverknowes. It's always worth stopping to admire the fish sculpture by Ronald Rae.

The wildflower meadows are still looking lovely

and the wild rosehips are decaying beautifully

Someone had laid out this row of shells

We finished our walk up the road between the sheep pasture 

and the golf course, where the trees were full of birds.

Though the birds (starlings, bullfinches, goldfinches, fieldfares and redwings) didn't want to be photographed!

Snowdrops

Every year, at about this time, we take a trip to Cammo Country Park to view the snowdrops in the walled garden.

The garden is full of these lovely flowers

They even grow around the airborne roots of this fallen tree

Cammo Country Park is a lovely place (though very muddy in places!). It has lovely views over to the iconic old water tower, these days used as a nest site for a colony of jackdaws

The many beautiful trees around the park have yet to come into leaf and looked dramatic against today's wonderful skies

The fields around the country park are beautiful too, and well known for their populations of declining birds species. We were totally delighted today to see a flock of around 20 tree sparrows in the hedges around one of the field, along with reed bunting and greenfinch. Thanks to Crafty Green Boyfriend for these photos:

(male reed bunting)

tree sparrow 

Sadly the threat of potential housing development still hangs over these fields (you can read more about this here).

Snowdrops and robins at Cammo

It snowed for much of yesterday and then froze in the evening. Today however has been cold but clear and still and we went to Cammo Estate to enjoy the snow.

We didn't expect many snowdrops to be out, but we were delighted to see the walled garden in bloom.

Many of the snowdrops were under snow

It's always wonderful to see these delicate flowers, the first sign that spring is really on its way again, even though more cold weather and snow is forecast!

There were lots of birds around today, including a small flock of fieldfares; a very large mixed flock of birds including blue tits, treecreepers, goldfinches and blackbirds. We had a brilliant view of a kestrel as it flew around us and saw a couple of buzzards. We also made friends with a couple of tame robins, so tame even I could get a photo!

Also interesting to see an oak tree with lots of oak apples (gall-like growthstriggered by the larvae of wasps that lay their eggs in the tree) in the photo below you can even see the hole where the wasp emerged from the oak apple.

As many readers of this blog may know, some of the fields around Cammo Estate are threatened with housing development. This would cause traffic chaos and would destroy the habitat for several uncommon species of birds. You can read more in my earlier blogposts here and you may want to sign this petition against this destruction of our green belt. 

Save Cammo Fields for Birds

Below is the information on the birdlife seen in Cammo Fields, which I have sent to local politicians, Edinburgh City Council Planning department, Cammo Residents Association (who strongly oppose any development of the fields) and the development company that has put in the proposal for 600 houses to be built on these fields. 

The proposal to develop these fields is part of the Edinburgh Local Development Plan. Edinburgh City Council have pointed out that 74% of the proposed development will be on brownfield sites. That still leaves however 26% planned for greenbelt areas, potentially destroying wildlofe habitats and green spaces enjoyed by walkers and birdwatchers. I happen to know the Cammo Fields quite well and to know that they are special as a haven for birds that are found in very few other places round Edinburgh.

City of Edinburgh Planning application 14/01777/PPP – Cammo Fields

Information on the Birdlife on Cammo Field

Breeding Birds of Conservation Concern

Five bird species found at this site are specifically listed in the seed eating bird section (pp55 – 58) of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) as needing specific protection in Edinburgh:

treesparrow, linnet, reed bunting, skylark and yellowhammer

All of these species are red listed as being of priority conservation concern (due to their declining numbers) in the UK, except for reed bunting, which is amber listed as being of moderate conservation concern.

Wintering Birds of Conservation Concern

The field is sometimes used by grazing greylag geese with the occasional pink footed goose. Pink footed geese and wild greylag geese are amber listed as being of moderate conservation concern. (Greylag geese also occur as feral / semi-domesticated birds but these spend all their time in parks and by rivers and would be unlikely to flock on these fields).

Fieldfare also winter in these fields. These are red listed as being of priority conservation concern.

Other Birds

Many other species of birds can be seen in the field including robins, blue tits, buzzards, chaffinches and goldfinches.

Mammals

Stoats have been seen in the field.

Note:

The Seed Eating Bird Section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity ActionPlan has as its objectives:

1. To evaluate the size and distribution of Edinburgh's breeding and wintering populations of seed eating birds;
2. To reduce activities detrimental to the species
3. To extend existing and introduce new conservation neasures to benefit seed eating birds
4. To identify and conserve, by habitat management practices, principal seed eating bird breeding sites in and around Edinburgh, and to encourage, through habitat improvements, the establishment of new breeding and wintering sites.

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages, where you can find out more.

Cammo Fields Update

 This green field is now likely to become housing.....



It is a sad day when Edinburgh City Council allows developers to put in a planning application for the fields at Cammo.

Cramond and Harthill Estate have applied to build 670 houses on an agricultural field at Cammo. A field that is home to yellowhammers,  tree sparrows, linnets, all of which are both red listed in the UK (ie of special conservation concern) and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)), reed buntings (which are amber listed in the UK, as being of moderate conservation concern and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh LBAP) skylarks (red listed in the UK, though not specifically mentioned in the Edinburgh LBAP and, in the winter fieldfares (which are red listed in the UK but not mentioned specifically in the Edinburgh LBAP).

Edinburgh City Council claims that it takes the LBAP into account when deciding which land to release for development. If that is the case, why are they even thinking of building on this field? Brownfield sites should be developed before greenbelt land is even considered for development. Also housing should be prioritised over for example new supermarkets and empty shops and commercial buildings could be redeveloped as housing in many instances.

In addition to the devastating impact on the local birdlife, any development of this field would:

lead to gridlock in the surrounding streets (where traffic is already at standstill for large parts of the day)
destroy the rural feel of the area
destroy the buffer zone between the built up area and Cammo Country Park, and
draw developers to thinking about developing the other fields in the area.

The application may be viewed at Planning and Building Standards, Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh between 8.30am - 5pm Mondays - Thursdays, and 8.30 - 3.40 on Fridays. Or viewed electronically through the Planning online services .

Comments can be made on the application either:
a) in writing to the address above
b) online through the Planning online services using the application reference number 14/01776/PPP

Comments must be made by 29 May 2014. Please comment if you can, these fields should not be developed. If you already made comments at the pre-application stage, you will need to make comments to the council on this application if you wish them to take them into account.

Skylark Street

Imagine if these fields where skylarks sing and linnets and tree sparrows forage are replaced with housing, with streets being called Skylark Street, Tree Sparrow Lane and Linnet Place.
 

If you care about Edinburgh's Greenbelt, please take time to object to the plans (lower photo) to build 670 houses that Edinburgh Council are considering for the field (top photo) that is currently home to several important bird species.

The City of Edinburgh Council claims to consider the Local Biological Diversity Action Plan (LBAP) when making planning decisions. If that is really true then why are they even thinking about building houses on this field which is home to 4 species of birds specifically mentioned in the LBAP (tree sparrow, yellowhammer, reed bunting and linnet) and to two other species (skylark and, in winter, fieldfare) that are red listed as being of being priority conservation need in the UK ? 

A pre-planning application exhibition is currently showing at Cramond Kirk Halls today and this weekend. Please go along if you can and add your voice to the protest. Before we even think of building on biodiversity rich green spaces, we shold be looking at brownfield sites and bringing empty homes and other abandoned buildings back into use.  

If you can't attend the exhibition, you can contact the developers directly. You can also write to your Edinburgh councillor (whichever area of the city you live in) and write to the Edinburgh Evening News and to other relevant publications. If you live in the Cammo area, you can join Cammo Residents Association in their fight against this inappropriate development (they're on Facebook and Twitter too). .

I have written to the Edinburgh Evening News and to the members of City of Edinburgh's Planning Committee. You can read the text of my letter and a list I compiled of the committee members email addresses.

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Jackdaws at Cammo Tower

I took my birdwatching class to Cammo Estate today.We saw lots of birds, including a grey wagtail, a grey heron, a buzzard and song thrushes. Great spotted woodpeckers were drumming in the trees, skylarks were singing over the fields and great tits were demonstrating a small selection of their vast repertoire of calls.

I don't take my camera to my birdwatching classes, but here's a selection of photos from our visit to Cammo on Saturday.

Cammo Tower is an early nineteenth century water tower that is today a notable landmark in the Cammo Fields.

These days it's boarded up, with pigeons sneaking in through the cracks to nest. When we were there on Saturday, this pair of jackdaws seemed to be checking out the top of the tower as a potential nest site. Jackdaws are small crows with very pale eyes. Scientists have recently shown that the jackdaws use their pale eyes to scare other birds away from their nest sites.

If my sense of direction isn't deceiving me, the green field in the photo below is the one that is threatened with a housing development, despite it's being home to five declining species of farmland birds which are listed specifically in the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (ELBAP) as being vital for conservation and are rarely found in other areas of Edinburgh. Click here for my previous blog posts about the campaign to save Cammo fields.

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more. Also, as ever, if you click on the photos you should get a bigger view.

Snowdrops and a friendly robin

Yesterday we went to Cammo Estate to see the snowdrops in the Walled Garden, which traditionally put on a wonderful display. We weren't disappointed! The bright sunshine helped of course.

We made friends with a lovely robin that wanted to be photographed by Crafty Green Boyfriend.

We were also delighted to hear skylarks singing high above the Cammo fields and see linnets hopping around in the hedges. These are the fields that may be built on, despite being home to five declining bird species that are mentioned specifically in the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) and most of which are rarely seen anywhere else in Edinburgh. When I wrote to a local councillor, she assured me that I shouldn't worry as Edinburgh Council takes the LBAP very seriously when considering where to build new developments. When I pointed out that in that case the council shouldn't even consider building on these fields, she didn't reply.

You can read more about Cammo Fields and the campaign to save them in these earlier blog posts on Crafty Green Poet.

You can keep in touch with the Cammo Residents campaign to save Cammo Fields on Facebook and by following them on Twitter @Cammo_Residents.

I'm taking my birdwatching class to Cammo tomorrow and will blog more of yesterday's photos then. (I don't take a camera on my birdwatching walks).

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Cammo

We walked round Cammo Estate today, it was very damp, muddy underfoot and distinctly cold! Lots of interesting things to see though, including these fungi, which contrast so beautifully with the moss.

The Cammo Fields (the fields threatened with housing development) were full of greylag geese, with at least one pink footed goose. I think these greylag were truly wild, migratory geese rather than the feral race of greylag that is often found in parks - it's impossible to tell from appearance alone, but its generally the migratory, wild birds that flock on fields in the winter.

There was a group of very lively tree sparrows in the undergrowth at the corner of one of the fields. We were able to get very close to them.

Update on Cammo Fields

Crafty Green Boyfriend and I (and his Mum and his brother) went to the meeting last Thursday to oppose the building of houses on this arable field at Cammo.

The development company talked about their overviews for the site including traffic management and environmental mitigation. The new development if it goes ahead will create huge amounts of extra traffic, with detrimental effects on the health of local residents and on the wildlife as well as destroying habitat for important birds.

The site has been moved up from a possible site for development to a probable site for development, though it is not yet a done deal and the field can still be saved. The meeting however, talked about the development as if it were going to go ahead, and comments were only allowed if they related to the development. Essentially no-one was allowed to stand up and say the site couldn't be built on, which was a little dispiriting, though I think most people who did stand up to comment were able to work in their objections to any development as they made their points relating to the details of any development that might go ahead. (It sounds confusing, well, it was confusing).

I spoke up for the birds and detailed the birds that live on and around the field:

tree sparrow - red listed in UK (ie of major conservation concern)
linnet - red listed in UK
skylark - red listed in UK
yellowhammer - red listed in the UK
reed bunting - amber listed in UK (ie of moderate conservation concern)

all these birds are additionally specifically mentioned in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan as being of specific conservation concern in the city. 

In addition, the field is important in winter for visiting birds such as the fieldfare.

The developers claim they will protect the hedgerow that currently bounds the field, but they can't make any guarantee to protect any of the birds who will be pushed off the field if the development goes ahead. The developers intend that around 600 houses will be built on the site (which will be pretty crowded and will certainly create a lot of extra traffic) yet they claim that there will be parkland areas incorporated into the development.

But remember, this is not yet a done deal, we can save this field! There is still time to tell the developers that you don't want this development to go ahead, by completing this survey.

To keep up to date with the campaign, you can:

follow Cammo Residents on Twitter,
like Cammo Residents on Facebook.

if you live in the area, you can write to your local councillor, get in touch with the local community council and go along to exhibitions and public meetings.

For Nature Notes

As ever, red text in this post contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more. 

Counting Birds on Cammo Fields

I blogged recently about the proposed housing development for Cammo Fields and the public meeting that's happening on Thursday. I said in my previous blogposts that the area is rich in birdlife and today Crafty Green Boyfriend and I went along to the fields to record the birds we saw to feed into the meeting (though hopefully the local Wildlife Record Centre and Scottish Ornithologists Club will be adding in their records too).

 the field that may be lost to houses, photo taken by me

The birds were obviously aware of the importance of our task as they turned out in great number. Not only were there lots of goldfinches, several robins, blue tits and a buzzard (all common species) but there were also a range of rarer birds too. We saw: one or two yellowhammers, several tree sparrows and ten or more linnets, all of which are both red listed in the UK (ie of special conservation concern) and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP)). We also saw: about 15 fieldfares (which are red listed in the UK but not mentioned specifically in the Edinburgh LBAP) and at least three reed buntings (which are amber listed in the UK, as being of moderate conservation concern and mentioned specifically in the seed eating birds section of the Edinburgh LBAP).We didn't however see any of the (red-listed) skylarks that sing so beautifully above these fields in the spring.

yellowhammer, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

tree sparrowshiding in the shadows in the hedge, photo by Crafty Green Boyfriend

We continued our walk into Cammo Estate itself and the autumn colours and shadows were magnificent in the woodlands. 

A reminder that the public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. If you can't get along to the exhibition or public meeting, but have a genuine interest in the development then you can respond on the Cammo Development website. 

For Shadow Shot Sunday

as ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more. 

Update on Cammo fields

I wrote recently about the proposals to build housing on arable fields near Cammo Estate. Today I went along to the exhibition about the proposed development. 

The plan is to build housing on most of one of the fields between Cammo Walk and Maybury Road. The development will be surrounded by new trees with a footpath running through them to create a new woodland walk. So the developers are at least trying to be sensitive to the environment and landscape of the area, though it will significantly impact on the semi-rural aspect of the area. 

However, there is no attempt to be sensitive to the specific wildlife found in the field. This field (with the adjoining one) is the only place where I have ever seen tree sparrows (and it's a very exciting birdwatching moment every time I do see them), a UK red listed species that is specifically mentioned in Edinburgh's Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) as needing conservation help. Skylarks also use these fields (their songs are a joy in the springtime) as do yellowhammers (both are red listed species and specifically mentioned in the Edinburgh BAP).

Additionally, development of this field would set a precedent for other nearby fields which would destroy the semi-rural aspect of the area and leave Cammo Estate isolated in a sea of housing.

The Local Development Plan to turn that part of Cammo from green belt into development land has not yet been passed, but developers are perfectly entitled to apply for planning consent and it would be a tragedy if this open green space is lost to housing. 

If you're concerned about this development, you may want to go along to the exhibition and /or the public meeting on the developments. The exhibition will be in Cramond Kirk church hall, Cramond Glebe Road. The public can view, discuss and comment on on the proposed developments until 5pm today and also on these dates:

·	16th November between 9.30am and 5.30pm  - staffed from 10am to 1pm

·	17th November 9.30am -12noon - unstaffed

The public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. This is an important meeting for people to attend as this will be an opportunity to input into any resulting planning application and to hear the views of other residents.

If you can't get along to the exhibition or public meeting, but have a genuine interest in the development then you can respond on the Cammo Development website. 

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

Cammo fields - prime site for development?

I was very saddened to find out that City of Edinburgh Council is intending to designate some of the farm fields near Cammo Estate into development land with the intention of building hundreds of houses there. These fields form a lovely part of the rural-feeling setting around the Cammo Estate and I have regularly seen skylarks, yellowhammers and tree sparrows there - all species are known to be declining, are red listed in the Uk as being of highest conservation concern and are specifically mentioned in Edinburgh's Biodiversity Action Plan. 

The Local Development Plan to turn that part of Cammo from green belt into development land has not yet been passed, but developers are perfectly entitled to apply for planning consent and it would be a tragedy if this area of open green space is lost to housing. 


If you're concerned about this development and are in Edinburgh then you may want to go along to the exhibition and /or the public meeting on the developments.
The exhibition will be in Cramond Kirk church hall, Cramond Glebe Road. The public can view, discuss and comment upon on the proposed developments on the following days: 

·	14 November between 1pm and 8pm  - staffed by members of the project team

·	15th November 9.30am -5.30pm - unstaffed

·	16th November between 9.30am and 5.30pm  - staffed from 10am to 1pm

·	17th November 9.30am -12noon - unstaffed

The public meeting will be held at Cramond Kirk, Cramond Glebe Road at 7.30pm, Thursday 28th November. This is an important meeting for people to attend as this will be an opportunity to input into any resulting planning application and to hear the views of other residents.