Water of Leith Conservation Trust

Three teams in Leith today. 1. Three mini meadows surveyed to check on diversity 2. Litter picking crew, tidied from the Shore to West Bowlin Green St 3. Skate park team continued the landscaping work with some hard, digging, raking and planting.

Its hard to believe we are half way though the holidays, remember the Visitor Centre is free & we have lots of fun activities every Tues and Thurs 1:30pm – 3:30pm £7 . waterofleith.org.uk/whats-on/ This week Tues- Butterflies & Bugs (5–10 yrs) Thurs – Extreme River Dipping (8–12)

Many thanks to the legends who came out today at short notice to help with some of the tasks around the skatepark at Coalie. We helped to fill raised beds, clear site access paths, pulled creeping thistle to stop it taking over, and levelled some rough ground ready for seeding.🙌

Art is everywhere, as the children at our Coalie Park event learned today. They made leaf rubbings, explored observational drawing with bugs they found grass sweeping, and we all had great outdoor fun.

It is an enjoyable start to the week with volunteers up at Balerno. Wading & litterpicking locally for rubbish Wildflower and riverfly surveys Walkway maintenance All completed in the sunshine @Edinburgh_CC

A lack of wind & low water levels have made it ideal conditions, for a bit of reflective photography, on the Water of Leith, over the last couple of days or so! #Mallard #Heron #Goosander #Edinburgh #wildlife #wildlifephotography #TwitterNatureCommunity #urbanwildlife

As the morning rain cleared, our weekend volunteers were out giving St Marks and Redbraes some attention. We dug out the relentless grass amongst the Redbraes cobbles, cutback vegetation, did some path resurfacing, and attacked two large stands of Himalayan Balsam. Thanks folks!

Much of our children’s art activities are inspired by artist Andy Goldsworthy. It gets them touching and engaging with the natural world. So it’s a real pleasure to get inspiration from his retrospective show at the National Gallery.

Water of Leith Walkway

A busy week of outdoor Education with nearly 100 children coming out into the Dells with us to learn about the ecology of the Water of Leith, wilderness survival, bugs and butterflies 🦋

There were plenty herons on the Water of Leith this morning! This one flew passed me at Warriston. #heron #Edinburgh #wildlife #wildlifephotography #TwitterNatureCommunity #TwitterNaturePhotography #wildlifeinthecity #urbanwildlife

30 staff on duty today from the Edinburgh office of @dentsuUK down at Stockbridge. Whilst a team were wading in the river for rubbish & invasive species. The land crew helped to trim back the walkway, paint infrastructure and litter picking locally. Top work team 👏 #CSR

A solo session for Johnny our ranger down at the Rocheid Path section removing several stands of Himalayan balsam. We'll be at Stockbridge tomorrow getting more plants up to St Bernards well to keep the river free of invasive species. @Edinburgh_CC

Thanks to Paul, editor of @thecandbnews for featuring me in the Jul/Aug issue of the C&B News! The magazine covers Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green, Baberton Mains & Colinton - all of which, are areas that I am frequently in, as I walk along the Water of Leith, with my camera!

Whilst the land crew were busy around Spylaw Park, we also had a crew in the river, wading for litter, removing Himalayan Balsam, and treating Japanese Knotweed. Quite a haul of rubbish for such a quiet stretch of river, and a problematic stand of Balsam eradicated. Thanks folks!

Plenty of elbow grease from the walkway volunteers up at Colinton. Cutting back overgrown vegetation around the carpark to open up paths and historic features. Removing tagging from signs. Opening up drainage. @Edinburgh_CC @walking_scot

Volunteering this week starts at Colinton. Paths to be trimmed back. Litter to be cleared River to be waded for invasive species. @Edinburgh_CC

A group of our Riverfly survey volunteers braved this morning's downpours, by getting their waders on and practicing some kick sampling techniques and Riverfly identification in the Dells. Well done to you all!

For #Thursgate Lest We Forget, Water of Leith walkway, Edinburgh.

A satisfying morning at Murrayfield destroying hundreds of Himalayan balsam plants from Roseburn to Saughton. As each plant can produce between 800 and 2,500 seeds, this work makes a massive difference long term to biodiversity. #inns @Edinburgh_CC