A WALK IN
THE PARK
A WALK IN
THE PARK
A guide to the
flora and fauna
of Edinburgh Park
and its surroundings
By Elspeth M Wills
This book is dedicated to everyone who
enjoys wildlife watching in Edinburgh Park.
ISBN 978 1 85191 032 8
© New Edinburgh Ltd, 2007
Second edition published by:
New Edinburgh Ltd, 2007
Cover and inside photos by:
Andrew Howe
Ann Steer
Ian White Associates
Rodger Whiteway
Anna Yu
Illustrations with kind permission from:
Harper Collins Publishers (UK) Ltd
Design and layout by:
The Graphics Company
Printed by:
Arc Colourprint
Contents
Exploring Edinburgh Park 1
An ever changing landscape 3
Planting the seeds 5
Who lives in Edinburgh Park 8
Life on the water
10
Life on land
18
A year in the Park 22
A walk on the wild side
24
Look out for 27
The art of nature 31
Finding out more 33
What to look for in and around Edinburgh Park 35
Twenty years
in the Park
It is twenty years since Ian White prepared the designs
for the landscape of Edinburgh Park, with the first
planting taking place in 1989. Over the last two decades
trees have grown and plants have matured, giving food
and shelter to an increasingly rich and diverse variety
of life.
The Park has changed in other ways as art enhances
nature. Twelve of the fifteen sculptures in the Park
celebrate 20th century Scottish poets. This creative
theme continues through a changing poetry programme
in our bus shelters, while stained glass casts its light
within the railway station.
One thing that has not changed is our commitment
to provide a stimulating and beautiful place for the
people working in and visiting Edinburgh Park. This
book is now in its second edition, a clear indication
of the interest and pleasure the Park has given people
over the years.
We hope many more will enjoy a walk in the Park.
Ian Wall
New Edinburgh Ltd
May, 2007
Exploring
Edinburgh Park
You are one of over 7000 people working in Edinburgh
Park. There are millions more workers carrying out
their daily tasks alongside you – the procession of
ants on a foraging trip, the bees which carry pollen
from flower to flower, the worms which eat their way
through the soil and the countless numbers of bugs
and bacteria without which the lochans would not be
home to swans and moorhen.
A Walk in the Park sets out to tell you a little of the
lifestyle of some of the residents of Edinburgh Park,
what they do for a living and why they have chosen to
settle where they have. Most people will have admired
the swans as they glide gracefully along or have been
amused at the antics of the bald headed coots.Why do
the swans hiss when you come too close? What is the
bird swimming alongside with the bright green legs?
The guide is designed to help you to explore Edinburgh
Park and its surroundings. It tells you something of
what you may see, season by season, and suggests
a country walk. It describes some of the other forms
of life with which you share your working environment,
both those planted here as part of the Park’s landscape
and those which have arrived here independently and
decided to stay.
You do not need to be a wildlife expert or even an
enthusiast to enjoy a walk in the Park. Simply keep
your eyes and ears open and follow your curiosity.
It is surprising what you will find.
1
A WALK IN THE PARK
An ever changing
landscape
Volcanoes and ice sheets
Edinburgh Park looks south towards the Pentland Hills
whose oldest rocks were laid down under the sea 430
million years ago. The collision of two continents triggered
volcanoes around Swanston and Colinton whose ash and
lava created rocks 1500 metres thick.
The distinctive shape of the Pentlands also owes much to
the scouring by the retreating ice sheets as the climate
became warmer ten thousand years ago. At one time, trees
reached close to the summits, including the oak, hazel, birch
and rowan whose distant descendants grow in and around
the Park today.
The rowan or
mountain ash
is Scotland’s
highest
growing
tree
Farmland and parkland
Edinburgh Park has been shaped by the
individuals who have lived and worked here
for many centuries. As long ago as 3000 BC
people walked along a stone causeway, close
to Park centre, to fish in the loch, which
once covered the area. Gyle simply means
an eddy or swirl of water.
Human activity has profoundly influenced
virtually all the landscape which we think of as
countryside today. The tree-clad slopes of the
Pentlands have been made bare by the felling of
timber to build ships and rafters, and by the grazing of
generations of sheep and rabbits. In the 18th and 19th
centuries, trees were planted round the farms and fields
to provide shelter from prevailing winds.
AN EVER CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Edinburgh Park stands on the site of Redheughs Farm
whose name was first recorded about 1400 AD. Redheughs
recalls the rising land or heugh on which the steading was
built and the reddish tint of the surrounding soil. It must
have been a substantial property: “The more notable houses
and castles lying on this burn … are Dalmahoy Castle,
Warriston, Hermiston House with a castle of the same
name, and Redheughs.” (Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654).
We know the names of some of the fields from a survey
of the farm in 1852, including the Gullions or boggy gully
and Muir Park, the moorland rough pastures.
The boundaries of the parishes of Corstorphine, Currie and
Ratho once met at Redheughs. More recently, like most land
on the outskirts of cities, Redheughs was intensively farmed,
growing grain and winter feed for animals. Part of Edinburgh
Park was once a piggery.
Commuter belt for the wealthy
In the early 19th century wealthy Edinburgh families
commuted from or retired to the area to the west of the
Park. They liked to imagine they were living in the wilds of
the countryside and so surrounded their country houses
with parkland to provide an appropriately romantic setting.
Yet the planting of every tree and lawn in this ‘natural
landscape’ was carefully planned by a gardener.
Both in concept and execution Edinburgh Park is little
different from these country house parklands although the
gardeners are now architects and the laird, your employer.
A WALK IN THE PARK
Planting the seeds
Ross, Craig and Gordon
The central feature of Edinburgh Park is a series of three
lochans which not only open up superb vistas towards the
Pentlands but give the effect of a canal, a popular feature
of 18th century country house landscapes. They follow the
route of the Gogar Burn, which takes its name from the
British word, cocra, meaning a crooked stream. The burn
lives up to its name in the spectacular twists and turns it
makes on its way from the side of Corston Hill south of
Livingston to join the Almond near Edinburgh Airport.
Walking south from the entrance to the Park, Loch Gordon
is the newest lochan, named after the Park’s first manager.
The second is Loch Craig, named after James Craig, the
architect of Edinburgh’s first New Town. The third is called
Loch Ross, to commemorate Bill Ross, who shared Craig’s
energy and inspiration in creating a new community,
Edinburgh Park, within the city. Sadly he died
before his vision was fully realised. He is
remembered by a bronze plaque set in a
small sculptured area of stone beside the
water’s edge.
PLANTING THE SEEDS
The Yellow
Flag of
Scotland.
Rhubarb and ostrich plumes
A focal point of the planted areas of Edinburgh Park
is beside the lochans where reeds give way to flowers,
shrubs and small trees. Water lilies float on the surface of
the lochans and water weeds provide food for the ducks.
Some plants such as reed sweet-grass and yellow flag are
hardy native Scots while others originated in the wilds
of Nepal, Tibet or Brazil.
Here are a few of the more unusual plants which you
will find in the Park.
Growing beside the water the Brazilian Giant Rhubarb
has the largest leaves of any hardy plant in the UK. In April,
its leaves unfurl like a giant umbrella.
The ten inch high clusters of white starry flowers on a bed
of dark green, heart shaped leaves make the Foam Plant
look like handfuls of soapsuds.
Each Spring the Ostrich Plumed Fern puts out its fronds
from a short thick ‘trunk’ to form a pale green shuttlecock.
At the end of Summer as the fronds die back, they darken
until they resemble the colour and texture of suede. It is
these fronds, looking like the decoration on the hats of
Edwardian ladies, which earned the plant its name.
The leaves of the Bergenia cordifolia give the plant
its nickname, Elephant’s Ears. The slow spreading,
paddle shaped leaves are true evergreens unlike most
herbaceous plants.
Between the Park and Gyle Shopping Centre you will find
some favourites. Roses, pansies, honeysuckle and lavender
add colour and scent on a summer afternoon. In Autumn
the creepers add their vivid hues and the berries ripen
on the bramble and the snowberry bushes.
A WALK IN THE PARK
Who lives in
Edinburgh Park
A lively community
Edinburgh Park is a giant snack bar for many forms of life.
Each member of the Park’s community is an essential link
in the food chain. Using the energy which they trap from
sunlight, green plants – from water weed to chestnut trees
– build up foods such as proteins, carbohydrates and sugars
from simple raw materials, mainly carbon dioxide from the
air and water and minerals from the soil. As well as being a
source of food for animals, birds and insects, plants breathe
out oxygen essential to the survival of most other forms
of life.
Organisms living in the soil, from bacteria to worms,
help to break down dead material – everything from
fallen leaves to rabbit droppings – and in the process
put into the soil the minerals which plants need to
manufacture their food. And so, life goes on.
The lucky
ladybird,
the enemy of
garden pests.
A WALK IN THE PARK
Who is moving in?
The Park teems with life much of it so small that it remains
invisible to the eye. What you may see depends on the time
of day, the season and the weather. Some animals and birds
are very wary of humans or are active largely at night.
The presence of some animals and birds may be evident
only by their droppings; their footprints on snowy days;
the sound they make or by what they leave behind from
eggshells to feathers. While the Park’s staff ensure that some
of the inevitable but less desirable residents such as mice
and rats are ‘moved on’, there are other residents whose
whereabouts are as yet unknown.
Are there shrews, voles, bats or badgers in the Park
or nearby? Has anyone seen a grey squirrel yet,
a likely incomer as soon as the trees mature?
Heart’s
Ease
WHO LIVES IN EDINBURGH PARK
Life on the water
The lochans
There is a lot more to life on the lochans than the swans,
top of the pecking order – sometimes literally – and the
ducks paddling by. The ducks feed largely on the water
weeds rooted to the bottom of the lochans or floating
on the surface, which provide the essential oxygen of life.
The weeds provide a snack for tadpoles which themselves
are a meal for the stickleback and other small
Of the 72 pairs of breeding
fish whose darting movements in turn are
swans in Lothian, 42 hatched
carefully tracked by the visiting heron.
cygnets in 2005, although
Life on the lochans nearly did not happen.
seven whole broods were lost.
When the Park was first planned, it was
The swans produced a total
hoped to use the water from the Gogar
of 182 cygnets. A further 27
Burn to support the pond life of the lochans.
pairs staked out a territory
but did not breed.
Unfortunately the water contains a lot of
nitrates from the fertilisers carried by
Lothian Mute Swan Census, 2005
water running off farmland into the Burn.
The first thing to grow on the lochans was algae, which
thrive on these chemicals. Algae float on the surface of
water as a greenish scum and block out the light. Little
else can survive, especially in the stiller waters of the
lochans. Until the problem of nitrate levels in the Gogar
Burn is resolved, it has to be diverted in a culvert through
the Park and the lochans are supplied by constantly
recirculating tap water.
Swanning around
Swans have made the headlines at Edinburgh Park for over
a decade. Most years a couple has nested on the banks
of the lochans, rearing anything from two to six cygnets.
10
A WALK IN THE PARK
Although couples stay together, they sometimes move
on to a new nest site.
Parenthood has not always been straightforward. In 1995
an inexperienced couple threw three of their five eggs
out of the nest. The other two eggs disappeared overnight,
probably stolen by a fox.
In 2001 a family of swans had to be evacuated after a cob
was killed in a turf war with a rival. The cob was nicknamed
Narcissus as he liked to admire his handsome profile in the
water. He was teaching his six offspring to swim when he
was attacked. The female swan and her cygnets were set
free at Cramond.
The idea that
swans sing when
they are dying is
the stuff of myth
and legend.
In 2003 a second pair of breeding swans
arrived on the lochans. Shortly after the eggs
hatched, one pair were seen on the Union
Canal at Wester Hailes. Remarkably all the
young survived the hazardous journey. Noone knows how they made the move. The
resident pair at Wester Hailes later adopted
one of the cygnets.
Although swans usually mate for life, one of the
Edinburgh Park swans, HHS turned out to be a
bigamist. He nested on two lochs with different
females. His harem, however, produced
no cygnets.
Take a note of the number
FIT, CYY, HFD – these are just some of the initials on
the rings of breeding couples in the Park. Since 1978
the Lothian and Fife Swan Study Group has tracked the
movement of swans in the region by ringing the young
cygnets – a simple and painless task, at least for the birds.
LIFE ON THE WATER
11
About a hundred pairs of swans hold
a territory in the Lothians each year
of which just under three quarters
breed. Over half of the breeding pairs successfully
fledge at least one cygnet. In recent years couples
on Loch Ross and Loch Craig in the Park have
successfully fledged 24 young.
Ringing leads to some fascinating discoveries. From
this annual exercise it is known that one of the swans
who moved to Edinburgh Park graduated from Heriot-Watt
University while another pampered youngster grew up at
Dalmahoy Country Club. After leaving home teenagers
congregate on St Margaret’s Loch below Arthur’s Seat and
on Linlithgow Loch: some travel as far as Loch Leven in Fife.
Swan song
Although their name suggests that mute swans are silent,
this is not strictly true. They occasionally make an explosive
squawk and hiss loudly in defence especially during the
breeding season.You may first be alerted to a swan’s arrival
by the throb of its wing beats as it skids towards a landing.
Although a blow from a swan’s powerful wing can break
limbs, swans will only resort to attack if under considerable
threat. Take the swan’s hiss as a warning and move a few
feet away: should it still look threatening, wave a bag or
newspaper and shout loudly to distract it.
Unlike other breeds of swan which hold their necks erect
while swimming, the mute swan keeps its neck in a S shape,
with its head pointing downwards and its wings often raised
12
A WALK IN THE PARK
like shields. The swans mainly eat the plants growing in the
water and on the edges of the banks but also sometimes
graze on the grass. It takes a lot of eating – about 4kg a day
– to provide the energy for Britain’s largest and heaviest
water bird.
Shortly after nest building in early Spring, the
female swan lays a clutch of 5-7 eggs at two day
intervals. Each egg is about twice the length of
a hen’s egg and seven times as heavy.Varying
in colour from pale grey/blue to greenish, the
eggs become shiny as incubation progresses.
The female only leaves the nest once a day to
feed, spending the rest of the time either asleep
with her bill tucked into her back feathers or
arranging material within reach of the nest.
The cob stands by on guard duty.
The male swan, with his
distinctive bulge at the base
of his beak, is called a cob
because he is a ‘great bird’.
His partner is known as a
pen. Your ball-point or felttip traces back to the flight
feathers of the pen which
centuries ago were used
as a writing tool.
There once was an ugly duckling
The young hatch around 35 days after the eggs are laid,
the first to hatch coming from the last egg to be laid. A day
and a half after the last egg is hatched, the brood is led to
the water by the parents. Although they sometimes return
to the nest at night, the chicks spend much of their time
piggybacking between the folded wings of their parent. The
parents teach them how to feed by picking up weed and
then watching the youngsters have a go. After twenty weeks
the brown feathered cygnets try out their wings for the first
time. As the nights grow colder, the cygnets shed their drab
brown feathers and emerge as graceful white swans.They
join a winter colony of young swans, perhaps at Cramond,
Linlithgow, Musselburgh or even further afield. The parent
swans also leave for their winter feeding grounds.
LIFE ON THE WATER
13
As bald as a coot
While the swans tend to feed on the deep side of the
lochans, the smaller water birds keep more to the shallows
by the reed beds.You cannot mistake the coot because he
is as bald as the proverb. These black rotund
Coots and moorhen are
water fowl are marked with a distinctive white
classed as rails not ducks
forehead.You can tell male and female apart
because they do not have
by their different cries: the male makes a sharp
webbed feet or flattened bills.
barking noise while the female can sound like
the pop of a champagne cork. They swim high
in the water constantly jerking their heads up and down and
patter across the lochan for some distance before taking off.
Coots like the slow flowing water and dense vegetation of
the lochans. They make their nests in the reed beds, often
suspending them over shallow water. Parents take it in turn
to sit on the nest of brown spotted eggs until the chicks
hatch three weeks later. Each year, there are two or three
broods of young. Coots are not fussy feeders eating plants,
insects, worms and refuse. If there is a skirmish on the
water, you can be fairly sure that the aggressive coots are
in the thick of it.
Paddling for a living
As chicks, moorhen, a close relative of the coot, are also
bald on top. These tiny round, black balls of down have
yellow tips to their beaks surmounted by a patch of deep
crimson. Once they are older, their first coat is brownish
and their beaks turn an olive green before they revert as
adults to a black glossy body, a yellow beak tip and
a crimson face. The moorhen paddles through
the water with its bright green legs and
long toes.
Coots build rafts
for their young
with a ramp to
help them to climb
out of the water.
14
A WALK IN THE PARK
Watch a moorhen bobbing in the water and you will see
why it is likened to a small hen. It constantly nods its head
and jerks its tail, flashing its snowy white underside.
Its alarm call is a throaty crake turning to a sharp cry
when threatened.
Moorhens nest in the thick vegetation
by the side of the lochans, producing
one or two broods of chicks each
year. They rely not only on the plants,
insects and tadpoles of the lochans for
food but may also feed in nearby fields.
Quack quack
The duck that people know best is the
mallard, the ancestor of most domestic ducks.
The drake with his bottle green head, yellow bill and glossy
chestnut front is splendidly attired to attract his rather
dowdy brown companion with her speckled brown feathers
and blue and white flash at the wing tips. When not in
breeding plumage, the drake returns to a colouring not
dissimilar to the females.
The nest sites of the mallards, close to the water’s edge,
are difficult to spot as they are well camouflaged. Ducks
often hide their white eggs from potential thieves by
covering them with nest materials. The chicks, however,
are unmistakable. The brown and yellow balls of down
have brown heads and yellow faces broken by a brown
stripe across their eyes.You will see the
mother duck with her chicks waddling
behind her on the tree-lined path by
the lochans. The chicks are often
adventurous and can occasionally end
up as a tasty meal for a crow or gull.
LIFE ON THE WATER
15
The tufted duck is distinguished by his elegant drooping
headgear and glossy black and white plumage. His mate is
a much plainer brown. Tufted ducks dive to the bottom in
search of snails, insects and the seeds of water weeds. In the
Spring, they nest close to the water’s edge but well hidden
from passing view.
Dragon
Fly
Soldiers and damsels
Like ducks, insects, from midges to soldier flies, are
attracted to water. One of the most common are the back
swimmers and water boatman. As their name suggests,
they swim on their backs using their long back legs as oars.
Light rather than gravity makes them swim upside down.
Put back swimmers in a tank lit only from
below and they swim the right way up.
The water boatman is one of
They need to come up to the surface
Britain’s fiercest bugs, nipping tiny
often to replenish the air bubbles which
insects and fish with its claws.
they carry down with them to the bottom
like tiny divers with oxygen cylinders.
Common blue damsel flies occasionally flit across the
water. They are like slender dragonflies but rest with their
wings tucked by their sides rather than outspread. Each
wing can move independently in flight allowing the damsel
fly to travel backwards or to hover. Its eyes
placed at the sides are made up of thousands
of facets and with its rotating head give it
all round vision. Extremely sensitive to the
slightest movement, the damsel fly can catch
small insects in mid flight.
Common Blue
Damsel Fly
Chilly Scotland is
at the Northern edge
of the damsel fly’s territory
with only five resident species.
16
A WALK IN THE PARK
Fish out of water
The grey heron which visits the Park has an eye only for
one thing – the fish in the lochans. With strong slow wing
beats, he flies in and settles on his long stork like legs to
wait patiently for the ripple on the water which betrays his
next meal.
Although fish is their natural diet, the gulls which pursue
the diggers and tractors and join the ducks on the water,
are more interested in what the earth turns up or
household scraps. With the widespread use of black bin
bags, Edinburgh’s population of gulls increased dramatically:
the newer wheelie bins mean that they are hungrier.
The gulls you are most likely to see in the Park are the
black headed gull, the herring gull and the lesser black
backed gull. Too many greedy gulls can spoil things for
the other water birds. Please don’t feed the birds as this
simply increases the number of gulls at the expense of less
aggressive neighbours. There is plenty of natural food for all
the birds in the Park whether their taste is for water weeds
or berries.
The black headed gull is Britain’s commonest inland gull.
With its chocolate brown face, white eye patch and dark
red bill and legs, it is a handsome bird. To confuse things,
however, in Winter it sports a white head with a dark eye
patch. The herring gull has blue grey wings, beady yellow
eyes and a characteristic red spot on its yellow beak. The
lesser black backed gull is similar, except of course for its
black back. Telling the young apart is more difficult as they
all have a similar mottled brown appearance.
There is even a rumour that a rarer fisherman has been
spotted on the Park – the blue and orange flash of the
kingfisher. Can you confirm it?
LIFE ON THE WATER
17
Life on land
Many animals have learned to live with humans. As cities
extend into the countryside, wildlife as different as the fox
and the blue tit has learned to take advantage of proximity
to humans, whether by raiding rubbish bins or pecking off
milk bottle tops. Buildings, parks and gardens offer shelter
while discarded food and other organic matter provides
a new source of nourishment. The animals and birds on
Edinburgh Park have lost their fear of humans, while
retaining most of the habits of their country cousins.
Parade in the park
The lawn outside your window can be a parade ground.
The bird with the bobbing tail and the black grey and white
plumage is the pied wagtail. Everyone will recognise the
male blackbird with its yellow beak and glossy black coat.
as he pecks the ground in search of a worm. He puts the
flock of ‘scruffy’ brown house sparrows in the shade. The
bird with the blue red and pink chest hopping along in a
jerky fashion is the chaffinch whose thick bill is designed
for eating seeds. Even more handsome is the great tit, his
yellow chest divided by a dramatic vertical stripe of black.
Why does the
wagtail wag its
tail? This is a
mystery – could
it be to attract
insects or other
wagtails or as
a camouflage
among waving
grasses?
You can tell some birds by their song. Blackbirds sit on a
branch or roof top to deliver their rich mellow melody
while the thrush likes to
repeat every phrase of
his tune. The plump black
starling is a good mimic
of other birds and even
humans but gives the game away
by a hoarse cackle at the end of his
song. Crows regularly cackle on the
roof of Gyle Shopping Centre.
18
A WALK IN THE PARK
Pet or pest?
Rabbits are regular visitors to Edinburgh Park. They
run across the grass from their burrows on the railway
embankment and beside the Gogar Burn, grazing the
vegetation especially in the early morning or late evening.
An occasional corpse at the roadside shows that rabbits
have little traffic sense: they are dazzled by car headlamps
and don’t have the wit to get out of the way.
Many people associate rabbits with cuddly toys and Peter
Rabbit. Their appealing lop ears and scruffy noses, however,
are a front for powerful teeth. Look at the base of the beech
hedges and other plantings round the car parks and beside
the lochans and you will see the extent of the damage. The
rabbits not only nibble the young shoots but strip the bark
and, to add insult to injury, bite through the stems killing
the plant in the process. Rabbits are the vandals of
Edinburgh Park.
Rabbits may occasionally end up as a meal for a Park fox,
part of the invasion of the city in recent years by one of our
wiliest and wildest animals. Even if you don’t see a fox as they
hunt at night, you can detect their recent presence by their
pungent smell.
The mink, an even deadlier enemy not only of rabbits but
also of the coot and moorhen, has been spotted in the Park.
Introduced to Britain from the USA in the late 1920s, mink
were farmed for their fur. Hundreds escaped and successfully
established themselves in the wild. These solitary creatures
maintain a territory of up to 4km along waterways which
they use to hunt prey and as an aquatic motorway. If you see
a mink, which looks a bit like a large weasel or a small otter,
do not approach it as its bite can be nasty. Tell a member of
Park Centre staff where and when you saw it and they will
contact the SSPCA to have it humanely destroyed.
LIFE ON THE LAND
19
Trees in the park
Many of the trees and shrubs in Edinburgh Park are a hive
of insect life. Over 200 different types of insect live in the
willow, birch and rowan. Alder, hazel and beech are also rich
in insect life which encourages birds. For every garden pest
among the insects, there are two or three natural attackers.
A magnificent row of chestnut trees sets a sight line beside
the lochans while the lawns are studded with young lime
trees, evenly spaced apart like soldiers on parade. They
provide natural signposting and give an architectural quality
to the landscape. In years to come half of the limes will be
taken out to provide root space and light for the rest to
reach full maturity.
The boundaries of the Park are a foodstore for birds and
insects. Their dense woodland plantings include sessile oak,
the native oak of Scotland; Scots pine, Wellingtonia, a species
of giant redwood; Norway maple, alder and large leaved
limes. Rowans and snowberries add to the Autumn feast for
birds. In Spring, the area around Park Centre is bright with
the blossom of the Scots gean or wild cherry. By the lochan
a softer, water woodland has been created alongside the
native reeds and yellow flag, with Italian alder, silver birch,
the silky grey leaves of the white willow and the bright
red berries of the rowan.
20
A WALK IN THE PARK
Insured for life
Sometimes life on the water takes to life on the land.
Although most ducks nest by the lochans, one mother
once decided to insure the future of her ducklings,
by choosing to nest within the open courtyard of the
headquarters of Aegon. There was only one problem.
Unable to fly, the ducklings could not reach the water
to feed. For the first two days, staff fed them with
lettuce and on the third day, the rescue squad
moved in. Duck and ducklings were marched
through Reception and the traffic was stopped
to let them cross the road to the safety of
their natural home.
Ducks crossing!
LIFE ON THE LAND
21
There is an old saying that
Spring has come when you
can cover five daisies with
your foot.
A year in the Park
Spring
Watch the aptly named Elephant’s Ears
open their pale pink bell shaped flowers
in greater profusion, week by week.
In early Spring alder, hazel and willow
start producing catkins – lambs’ tails
and pussy willow.
Look out for the courting couples,
especially the acrobatic blue tits.
In February the swans return and start
to defend their territory. The cob will see
off any other males who try to move in.
Most fights between competing males
do not, however, result in bloodshed.
The hedgerows around the Park are
white with hawthorn blossom. It is often
called May after the month in which it
flowers. In the 18th and 19th centuries
hawthorn was often planted round the
edges of fields because its dense jaggy
branches acted as a natural fence for
animals.
In mid-March the swans start to build
their nest, probably on the same site as
in previous years. They take about ten
days to construct it from reeds, grasses
and twigs.
In April the Park is carpeted by thousands
of daffodils among 50,000 bulbs planted
here. They have formed tiny flowers in
their bulbs by the previous September
but need the increasing daylight to come
into bloom. That is why you can persuade
daffodils to flower at Christmas if you
grow them indoors.
22
Summer
If there has been a heavy dew or a touch
of frost, spiders’ webs sparkle as if they
had been brushed with diamond glitter.
Chestnuts flower in a mass of pyramid
shaped candles.
The young cygnets try out their gliding
skills.
On a warm summer’s day you may spot
a damsel fly by the lochans or the metallic
glint of a soldier-fly lazing on a leaf.
Listen for the high pitched scream
of swifts as they swoop on a cloud of
insects. The sunnier the day the higher
they fly.
The huge orange, dark-eyed daisies of the
Leopard Plant turn their heads to the sun
at the water’s edge.
Roughly twenty weeks after hatching,
the cygnets finally take to the air having
replaced their down with their brown,
first year plumage.
The chestnuts ripen and the leaves turn
yellow and gold. As they switch off for
the winter, their energy-capturing green
pigments are reabsorbed until the lighter
days return.
Winter
On a grey morning, look out for the
fishing heron at the lochan’s edge.
Autumn
The dark plumage of the starling acquires
its winter dusting of white speckles.
Young trees take on their autumn colours
earlier than mature ones as they have
spent all their energy growing.
On a snowy morning, you may find
strange footprints.
As the colder weather sets in, the family
of swans disperse, the cygnets to a colony
of younger birds and the adults to their
winter feeding grounds.
23
The clumps of the tall, leafless stems
of the dogwood by the lochans glow
coral in a blink of winter’s sun.
A walk on the
wild side
The route
If you fancy a change from sandwiches at your desk or want
to feel in touch with the changing seasons, this 40 minute
walk may be the answer.You will need reasonably sturdy
footwear as it can be muddy after wet weather.
Walk down the right hand side of the lochans with Gyle
Shopping Centre behind you. Turn right at the head of Loch
Ross at the Bank of Scotland building. Go along the path
at the side of the building and cross Lochside Avenue.
Go through the tunnel under the Edinburgh bypass and
follow the footpath across the field. The track continues
along a slightly raised embankment with mature chestnut
trees on your left.You pass along the side of a poultry farm.
The track joins Gogar Station Road. On your right is
the lodge and entrance to Millburn Tower, a ‘castle’ built
in mock-Gothic style in 1806 for Sir Robert Liston
who died here at the age of 93. He had an illustrious
diplomatic career serving in Madrid, Stockholm, Istanbul
and Philadelphia. He retired to Millburn Tower where his
wife Henrietta created an American garden and introduced
plants from the West Indies and Constantinople. In the
1860s the Talbot family owned the tower and William
Fox-Talbot, the pioneer of photography, carried out
experiments here.
Turn left past the front of the poultry farm with views
over open farmland on your right. On your left you can see
some of the scrap that a city produces in the demolition
24
A WALK IN THE PARK
= the route
= the sculptures
25
contractor’s yard. Watch out for traffic on the bends as
in places there is no pavement. The road crosses the main
Edinburgh-Glasgow railway line and the Gogar Burn.
On your right there is a glimpse towards Gogarbank House,
an early 19th century mansion which later served as the
residence of the General Officer Commanding Scotland.
Turn left on to a more minor road past a half timbered
bungalow. The magnolia tree in its garden is a mass of
blossom in spring, competing with the wild blackthorn
and hawthorn bushes nearby. Follow the track round the
side of a crane hire operation and recross the railway line.
Go through another tunnel under the bypass, with the
Gogarburn flowing through a concrete channel on your left.
Cross the road and turn left until you reach the first path
on your right to return to the lochans in Edinburgh Park.
26
A WALK IN THE PARK
Look out for
You pass at least five distinct habitats on the walk.
What appears simply to be a hedgerow or a piece
of waste ground can be teeming with life. Over fifty
species of flowering plant alone were found in a hundred
metre stretch of roadside verge in nearby Balerno.
Waste ground
Some plants are adapted to move in and colonise land
which has recently been disturbed. One of the most
spectacular is rose bay willowherb, also known
as fireweed because of its ability to grow on burnt
ground. It added a dramatic splash of colour to city
bomb sites during the Second World War. The purplish
pink tall heads of flowers give way to silky white seeds
which float off in the wind to colonise another piece
of ground.
Plantain
We think of rose bay willowherb and most other invaders
as weeds. If it was less common and grew on other than
waste ground, would we still think of rose bay willowherb
as a weed rather than the dramatic and beautiful flower that
it is? The same goes for the convolvulus or bindweed,
the climber with its delicate white or pale pink trumpet
like flowers.
Chickweed may be the gardener’s bane but pet goldfish
love it. Other popular inhabitants of waste ground include
ground ivy, ox-eye daisies, mustard, groundsel and
plantains, whose spear shaped heads with clusters of
brownish flowers make them look like grasses. There are
plenty of true grasses as well.You may think one grass
is much like another but watching the insects tells a very
different story. Different types of insect favour different
species of grass.
look out for
27
Embankments
Railway embankments are an excellent habitat for plants,
insects and animals as they are undisturbed by agriculture
or humans. Motorway embankments are also fertile
habitats although some species may not be able
to survive petrol exhaust or the spray of salt in
icy weather.
Beside the railway embankment, there is a treat for
anyone who makes their own wine or jam or who
likes to decorate their home with the fruits of the
hedgerow. There is a huge wild rose bush with its
delicately fragrant flowers and bright red hips in autumn.
Close by is the elder with its yeasty cream flower heads
for elderflower champagne or ice cream. Its dark purple
berries are the basis for one of the most popular homemade wines. Alongside grow thick clumps of teasel which
when dried make a dramatic winter flower arrangement.
Teasel
Hedgerows
Hedgerows are a wonderful habitat for grasses and flowers.
Take a plant guide with you one day and see how many
you can find: guides can be borrowed from Park Centre.
There will be the pink splash of campion from late spring
onwards with their four deeply notched petals and white
centres. There is the more sinister bittersweet or woody
nightshade with its heart shaped leaves and sprays of
violet flowers with bright yellow central tubes. The flowers
give way to bright red juicy berries, about the size of
blackcurrants. Watch out as they are poisonous although
not as fatal as their relation, the deadly nightshade.
Jack-by-the-Hedge
28
A WALK IN THE PARK
Throughout the Summer you will find knapweed or
hardhead which looks like a thistle without the prickles.
Vetch, which is related to the sweet pea, clambers
gracefully up the hedgerow with its varied spikes of blue,
purple or yellow flowers. Rub the heart shaped leaves of
Jack-by-the-hedge and you will smell why it is also called
garlic mustard.You will know the lesser burdock when
its long hooked spines catch on your clothes. This is the way
it scatters its seed, travelling on the fur of passing animals.
Common
Fumitory
The edge of the wood
The overhanging chestnut trees provide the dampness and
shade which certain plants like. One of the first signs of
approaching Spring is the carpet of buttercup yellow
celandine whose delicate petals turn a glossy
white as they fade. Later you may find the bright
yellow headed leopards-bane, also a popular
garden plant, or the blue mist of the speedwell,
peeking through the grass. There are clumps of
nettles but help is at hand. Growing next door is a
natural bandage, the broad leaved dock: the juice
extracted by crushing its leaves takes the sting
away. Nettles are useful plants as many types
of butterfly lay their eggs on their leaves and
the caterpillars of moths feed on them.
Lime ploughed into the adjacent fields as a
fertiliser by generations of farmers appeals to a
very different group of plants, from the poppy to the
distinctively lipped dense pink clusters of the common
fumitory. Another lime loving plant is the crosswort with
its yellow clusters of heavily scented flowers growing in leaf
clusters up its stem in early summer.
look out for
29
Beside the burn
An early arrival is the showy butterbur whose lilac or
yellowish heads appear before its leaves. Who could forget
the bright blue of the forget-me-not? Growing at the side
of the stream, marsh marigolds look much more like
giant buttercups than their name suggests and in Summer,
the delicate iris, the yellow flag, rests in its bed of grey
green spikes. Like the marsh marigolds, they can also
be found at the edge of the Park lochans while wild
speedwell have taken root on the banks above.
Marsh
Marigold
30
A WALK IN THE PARK
The art of nature
South Gyle may be Britain’s largest urban sculpture park.
Many of the artists whose work is set within the landscape
of the Park and its surroundings have taken the natural
world as their inspiration.
VERSE
ships
nymphs
The huge slab of rock at the entrance to Gyle Centre
comes from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The rock
contains vestiges of fossil creatures which swam the seas
millions of years ago. They are a reminder that we humans
are mere infants in the history of life.
nymphs
ships
Outside Gyle Shopping Centre you cross a river of stones
created by the leading Scottish artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay.
He translated trees into a row of classical columns and
their bark into barques or boats.
•
A car park is not a place where you expect to find either
art or nature. Look more carefully and beside the beech
hedges, among other artworks you will find a fossil tree
by Bill Scott and a concrete jungle by Alan Watson.
barque
bark
bark
barque
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Even bus shelters can be works of art. The glass
engraved by Julie Ross on the shelter at the
Shopping Centre suggests fish swimming in an ocean
or leaves swirling in the wind. People waiting at the
Lochside Crescent bus shelters can find inspiration
from poetry which reflects the changing seasons.
‘Epitaph for the Elm’ between numbers 6 and 7
Lochside Avenue commemorates the life and work
of the wood sculptor Tim Stead, He created it by
carving huge slices from the trunk of a elm which
succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease in Braids Park.
Ian Hamilton Finlay created the description stone.
THE ART OF NATURE
31
Herms line the banks of the lochans, featuring the
sculpted heads of twelve of Scotland’s leading 20th
century poets. Read the verses from poets like Jackie
Kay and Sorley MacLean to discover how nature is
entwined in their imagery.
From the poetry bus shelter, Spring 2007
Young Lambs
“And where suns peep, in every sheltered place,
The little early buttercups unfold
A glittering star or two — till many trace
The edges of the blackthorn clumps in gold.
And then a little lamb bolts up behind
The hill and wags his tail to meet the yoe,”
John Clare (1793-1864)
32
A WALK IN THE PARK
Finding out more
A few suggestions to start you off on the wildlife trail.
Borrow a pair of binoculars and study the birdlife close up.
Buy or borrow from the library a good set of nature guides.
The Collins Field Guides series is recommended.
Load birdsong on to your iPod to identify who is
singing in the Park.
See how many wild flowers you can spot
on the circular walk. Remember that the
flowering date for plants in Scotland is
often 2-3 weeks later than quoted in plant
identification books.
Find out from your staff club whether there
are any people who share your interest in wildlife and get
together. Start a notebook and record your observations
over the seasons.
Take part in one of the bird counts run by the RSPB or
the media.
If you enjoy art, ask at the Management Offices, Park
Centre, next to The Edge Health and Fitness Club, for
details of the walking guide which explores the artworks
around South Gyle.
Take a trip to the front of the RBS building to appreciate
the work of possibly Scotland’s greatest 20th century
sculptor.
If you are interested in growing any of the plants which you
see in the Park in your own garden and need advice, chat to
one of the Park’s gardeners.
FINDING OUT MORE
33
Raise money for your company’s next charity event by
running a competition based on wildlife in the Park. It could
be Trivial Pursuits or a prize for the best photograph.
If you spot an Edinburgh Park swan elsewhere in Lothian,
take its number and report it to Lothian and Fife Swan
Study Group – email [email protected]
Tell Park Centre staff about any unusual sightings.
Tel 0131 317 1100
Email [email protected]
34
A WALK IN THE PARK
Appendix:
What to look for
in and around
Edinburgh Park
The following list of plants, birds and insects has been
compiled from several sources. They include observations
made by people working in the Park and the planting details
specified by the landscape architects for the Park, Ian White
Associates.
The list is no more than a snapshot in time, as the landscape
is constantly changing. The best people to observe the life of
Edinburgh Park are the people who work here all
year round. As the Park matures, new species
will arrive, some to visit and some to settle.
Some species may move on or die out,
because the environment does not offer
the right food and shelter to allow them
to thrive and breed.
The English name for each species
is followed by its Latin name.
TO FIND OUT MORE
35
Plants and trees planted
in Edinburgh Park
Species marked with an * are native to Scotland
Plants in the lochs
Cape pond weed
Curled pondweed*
Fennel pondweed*
Water lily
Water lily
Yellow water lily*
Aponogetum distachyos
Potamogeton crispus
Potamogeton pectinatus
Nymphaea attraction
Nymphaea chromatella
Nymphar lutea
36
Plants beside the
lochans
Day-lily Hemerocalus fulva
Hemerocolus
Day-lily
‘Dorothy McDade’
Iris Iris sibrica
Male fern Dryopteris felix-mas
Marsh marigold* Caltha palustris
Ostrich fern Matteuccia struthopteris
Reed sweet-grass* Glyceria maxima
Reedmace* Typha angustifolia
Rush Scirpus lacustris
Soft rush* Juncus effusus
Spiked water milfoil* Miriophyllum spicatum
Yellow flag* Iris pseudocorus
Plants elsewhere in the
park
Astilbe arensii
Astilbe
‘Rhineland’
Bamboo Sasa species
Bistort Polygonum affine
Brass buttons Leptinela squalida
Box Buxus sempervirens
Dwarf broom Genista lydia
Brazilian giant
Gunera manicata
rhubarb
Symphytum
Creeping comfrey
grandiflorum
Daffodils Narcissus King Arthur
Dogwood Cornus alba sibrica
Elephant ears Bergenia cordifolia
Foam plant Tiarella cordifolia
Galingale* Cyperus longus
Geranium macrorrhizium
Geranium
and sanguinum
Greater spearwort* Ranunculus lingua
Hebe pinguifolia ‘pagei’
Hebe
and subalpina
Hosta Hosta crispula
Irish ivy* Hedera helix ‘hibernica’
Japanese Lonicera japonica
honeysuckle ‘halliana’
Leopard plant Ligularia ‘Cranog Gold’
Lesser periwinkle* Vinca minor
Stachys byzantina ‘Silver
Lamb’s ears
carpet’
Lungwort Pulmonaria saccharata
Persicaria affinis
Persicaria
‘Darjeeling red’
Rodgersia Rodgersia podophylla
Rose Rosa ‘max graf ’
Sheep’s fescue* Festuca avina
Spotted dead nettle Lamium maculatum
Tibetan cowslip Primula florindae
Wood-rush maxima
Trees planted in
the park
Alder* Alnus glutinosa
Ash* Fraxinus excelsior
‘Altana’
Aspen* Populus tremula
Beech Fagus sylatica
Gean* Prunus avium
Carpinus betulus
Hornbeam
‘Fastigiata’
Aesculus
Horse chestnut
hippocastanum
Tilia platyphyllos rubra
Lime*
Tilia Europaea pallida
Acer platanoides
‘Emerald Queen’
Rowan* Sorbus aucuparia
Silver birch* Betula pendula
White barked Betula jacquemontii
Himalayan birch
White willow* Salix alba
Yew* Taxus baccata
37
Norway maple
Plants and trees growing wild in
the vicinity of Edinburgh Park
Flowering plants
Bittersweet
Black knapweed
Broad leaved
willowherb
Broad-leaved dock
Brooklime
Bush vetch
Butterbur
Charlock
Chickweed
Common comfrey Common fumitory
Common poppy
Common spotted
orchid
Common vetch
Cow parsley
Creeping buttercup
Creeping thistle
Crosswort
Curled dock
Cut-leaved cranesbill
Daisy
Dandelion
Field forget-me-not
Field pansy
Figwort
Garlic mustard
Giant hogweed
Great willowherb
Greater plantain
Ground ivy
Solanum dulcamara
Centuarea nigra
Epilobium montanum
Rumex obtusifolius
Veronica beccabunga
Vicia sepium
Petasites hybridus
Sinapsis arvensis
Stellaria media
Symphytum officinale
Fumaria officinalis
Papaver rhoeas
Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Vicia sativa
Anthriscus sylvestris
Ranunculus repens
Cirsium arvense
Cruciata laevipes
Rumex crispus
Geranium dissectum
Bellis perennis
Taraxicum officinalis
agg.
Myosotis arvensis
Viola arvensis
Scrophularia nodosa
Alliaria petiolata
Heracleum
mantegazzianum
Epilobium hirsutum
Plantago major
Glechoma hederacea
Groundsel
Hairy bittercress
Hairy tare
Hedge mustard
Hogweed
Senecio vulgaris
Cardamine hirsuta
Vicia hirsuta
Sisymbrium officinale
Heracleum
sphondylium
Hop trefoil Trifolium campestre
Doronicum
Leopardsbane
pardalianches
Lesser burdock Arctium minor
Lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria
Marsh marigold Caltha palustris
Opium poppy Papaver somniferum
Chrysanthemum
Ox-eye daisy
leukanthemum
Persian speedwell Veronica persica
Matricaria
Pineapple weed
matricariodes
Pink campion Silene alba x dioica
Prickly sowthistle Sonchus asper
Ragwort Senecio jacobaea
Red campion Silene dioica
Red clover Trifolium pratense
Redshank Polygonum persicaria
Ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata
Chamerion angusti
Rosebay willowherb
folium
Scentless mayweed Matricaria perforata
Sorrel Rumex acetosa
Spear thistle Cirsium vulgae
Stinging nettle Urtica dioica
Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Thyme leaved
Veronica serpyllifolia
speedwell
Valerian Valeriana officinalis
Weld Reseta lutiola
38
White campion
White clover
White dead-nettle
Wild garlic
Wild rose
Wood avens
Yellow flag
Yorkshire fog
Trees and shrubs
Silene alba
Trifolium repens
Lamium album
Allium ursinum
Rosa species
Geum urbanum
Iris pseudocorus
Holcus lanatus
Alder
Ash
Broom
Downy birch
Elder
Goat willow
Hawthorn
Rowan
Sloe
Sycamore
Grasses
nnual meadowgrass Poa annua
A
Cleavers Galium aparine
Cocks-foot grass Dactylis glomerata
Common bent Agrostis capillaris
Common mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum
Creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera
False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatior
Field horsetail Equisetum arvense
Hard rush Juncus inflexus
Osier Salix viminalis
Reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinocea
Sheep’s fescue Festuca avina
Alnus glutinosa
Fraxinus excelsior
Cystisus scoparius
Betula pubescens
Sambucus nigra
Salix caprea
Crataegus monogyna
Sorbus aucupario
Prunus spinosa
Acer pseudoplatanus
Edinburgh has its very own species of Sycamore – Acer pseudoplatanus
Corstorphinense. Its leaves are golden yellow when they first come out,
several weeks before most sycamores. Planted around 1600 the original
tree formed part of an avenue to Corstorphine Castle. At its base, drunken
philanderer Lord Forrester was murdered by his lover in 1679. The tree
was blown down in a gale in 1998 and its shattered stump finally died
in 2005. Its botanical name lives on and its descendents still flourish in
several parts of the city.
39
39
The birds of Edinburgh Park
Breeding in the Park
Blackbird
Coot
Mallard
Moorhen
Mute swan
Skylark
Tufted duck
Turdus merula
Fulica atra
Anas platyrhynchos
Gallinula chloropus
Cygnus olor
Alauda arvensis
Aythya fuligula
Visitors to the park
Black headed gull
Blue tit
Chaffinch
Collared dove
Crow
Dunnock
Great tit
Grey heron
Herring gull
House sparrow
40
Larus ridibundus
Parus caerules
Fringilla coelebs
Streptopelia decaocto
Corvus corone corone
Prunella modularis
Parus major
Ardea cinerea
Larus argentatus
Passer domesticus
Jackdaw
Kingfisher
Lapwing
Lesser black-
backed gull
Linnet
Magpie
Oystercatcher
Partridge
Pied wagtail
Ringed plover
Rook
Sedge warbler
Song thrush
Sparrowhawk
Starling
Swallow
Swift
Teal
Wood pigeon
A WALK IN THE PARK
40
Corvus monedula
Alcedo atthis
Vanellus vanellus
Larus fuscus
Acanthis cannabina
Pica pica
Haemotopus ostralegus
Perdix perdix
Motocilla alba
Charadrius hiaticula
Corvus frugilegus
Acrocephalus
schoenbaenus
Turdus philomelos
Accipter nisus
Sturnus vulgaris
Hirundo rustica
Apus melba
Anas crecca
Columba palumbus
A few of the insects in
Edinburgh Park
As well as many different types of flies, spiders, beetles and bugs, you may see:
Land based insects
Meadow brown
butterfly
Small white
butterfly
Common blue
damsel fly
Honey bee
Buff-tailed
bumble bee
White-tailed
bumble bee
Water based insects
Alderfly
Common blue
damsel fly
Midge
Soldier fly
Water boatman
Maneola purtina
Artogeia rapae
Enallagma cyothigerum
Apis mellifera
Silais species
Coenaegrion puella
Culex species
Statiomys species
Notonecta species
Bombus terrestris
Bombus lucorum
Water
Boatman
41
41
Your notes
42
A WALK IN THE PARK
43
A Walk in the Park is a short guide to help you enjoy
and explore Edinburgh Park and its surroundings.
It tells you a little of the history of the park and the
lifestyle of its residents, whether willow, wagtail or
water boatman. It suggests a wildlife walk which you
may like to try out for yourself and introduces some
of the public art that has been inspired by nature.
Price: £4.50
ISBN 978 1 85191 032 8