I spent Christmas Eve in the Water of Leith and under the castle. Edinburgh really is the nicest place I've ever lived.

It's important to always look your best when you are a festive icon.🎄 😆 This wee robin is scrubbing up well in the Water of Leith.💦 Hope you are getting your glad rags on this weekend too!😊 📸 Another great shot by George Kelsey whose pics we are very grateful to share.👏

A robin diverting attention from the nearby kingfisher by posing on the head of an Anthony Gormley statue midstream in the Water of Leith... @wolct.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social #Birds #Edinburgh #wildlife #Scotland

Last @wolct.bsky.social task before Christmas, litter picking along the Warriston section of the Water of Leith. Two bags and a fish market box collected plus a Kingfisher fly by at coffee break.

A morning on our hands and knees on the Warriston section, clearing out the drains & weeding the edges. With plenty of volunteers out we made a sizeable difference ready for Xmas day walks.

Soft toys are great for little people to learn about riparian ecology, but try buying a soft toy mayfly nymph. So we make our own. On Monday, Ruth and Laura had a glorious time making fish babies for the trout and a pair of eels.

WOLCT Wrapped 2025 That’s a wrap on 2025! A huge thank you to everyone for all the hard work throughout the year💙 We can’t wait to see what 2026 has to offer🎉

Lovely turnout in Stockbridge today for the penultimate pre-christmas session, raking and sweeping the paths around St Bernards Well and along towards Dean Bridge. We also cleared out some drainage, and gave Saunders Street some attention. Had teabreak with the goddess Hygieia too!

Our last day walk of 2025, Sunday 28 Dec, Edinburgh. Meeting 10.45, walking Balerno to Roseburn along the Water of Leith, 12km on good paths. Options to stop at Slateford (8km) or carry on to Stockbridge (15km). All welcome, including non-members. More info & sign up here: forms.gle/2vBvKyiG8gZa...

Today's surprise - a Peacock butterfly, flying around in the Dells, Water of Leith, Edinburgh @wolct.bsky.social

Corporate Roundup 2025 Thanks again to all the organisations that came out with us and to keep the river healthy

A few more shots from the Water of Leith this week. Female kingfisher perching close to me and a pair of goosanders quietly fishing on the river. @wolct.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social #Birds #Edinburgh #wildlife #Scotland

Encounter with an Otter (Lutra lutra) this morning on the Water of Leith near Saughton Park. Watched it for an hour or so before it went to ground for a sleep. #Otters #WaterOfLeith #EdinburghWildlife #Nature #Photography #Nikon @wolct.bsky.social

Thanks to everyone who came to the final Coalie Coalition session of 2025! We busied ourselves weeding & sweeping off all the steps and around benches, trimmed back grassy verges, and removed some old sleepers & loads of rubbish! Enjoyed a nice long tea break with mince pies too!

Female kingfisher digesting after catching circa 5 fish in 30 minutes on the Water of Leith. Voracious wee bird! Not shy either landing a few yards away on several occasions. @wolct.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social #Birds #wildlife #Edinburgh #Urban

Final shoot of the year in Edinburgh was gorgeous, and got taken to a members only scotch bar by our lovely contributor after! Now on a very long train back to London to start the Christmas break properly.

The final corporate task of 2025 and CopylabUK had the pleasure of spending time by the river and enhancing the local area. 9 bags of rubbish collected locally plus plenty of leaves and overgrown grass removed on the path at Keddie Gardens. Great work folks

Please vote for the Coalie Coalition to win Leith Chooses funding! Voting opens on the 27th of January, with details of how to vote below. In the meantime, why not come and see what we're all about? Next session on Thursday 18/12, 10:30 - 13:00 meeting @ the Coalie car park off Coburg Street.

Dean Village, Edinburgh, through the fence.

Kingfisher not sticking to the “catch and release” policy on the Water of Leith today. Very confiding not fazed at all by passersby even when they stopped to marvel at how close she was. @wolct.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @scotwildlife.bsky.social #Birds #Edinburgh

Water of Leith, Dean #waterofleith #edinburgh #Deanvillage

Enjoyed a productive session from the visitor centre today giving some attention to the boardwalks and path downstream, raking and sweeping, cutting back privat, clearing drains, and collecting litter from the walkway and the river. The otters, dippers and herons were around too!

After 4 years of volunteering with @wolct.bsky.social, I saw my first otters on the Water of Leith! It made collecting 3 bags of litter even more worthwhile.

Today's theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #HeronsAndEgrets. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) and a Green Heron (Ardea herodias) #Birds 🪶 #Photography @wolct.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alternative theme is #Finches. Not a single shot of a duck on one leg. So here is a European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) thinking it's nest couldn't be seen. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #WaterOfLeith @wolct.bsky.social

Leith #edinburgh #uk #gb #britain #scotland #travel #photography #iphone #iphoneography #reflections #architecture

What a fantastic job by 8 first year pupils from Balerno HS this morning! They volunteered to join our monthly litter pick and ended up pulling a huge trampoline out of the river and returning it to its owner, astounding work guys! So impressive! Bouncing😜

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is from @alan678.bsky.social and is #AlansNemesis which appears to be the Kingfisher. So here is one I spotted a couple of years ago on my local river (Water of Leith). It seemed to have mastered some kind of continuous production system! #Birds 🪶 @wolct.bsky.social

Posing Heron on the edge of the weir @wolct.bsky.social on Saturday day out with lovely friends @elainebradley.bsky.social @glenisilla.bsky.social SusanF and AislingM. Two backdrops, one with graffiti, one with brickwork #Edinburgh @birdinglothian.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social

A great morning between rainshowers down at Fords Rd for our volunteers. 5 tons of surfacing added to improve the walkway, local streets cleared of debris and 9 bags of rubbish collected. Thanks for the effort folks

It’s a jolly striped Christmas freshwater shrimp. A P6 artist from @RoseburnPS did an amazing observational drawing of a shrimp and gave it some seasonal bling.

Kingfisher slowly making his way upstream from the weir, flying from fishing post to fishing post. @wolct.bsky.social @birdinglothian.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social

Thanks to the fantastic team of volunteers who came out around West Bowling Green Street today. There was plenty of litter and fallen leaves to clear up, brambles and buddliea to cut back and bulbs to plant in our managed meadow. We also weeded the WBGS bridge. Great work folks!

A perfect little snout in the Water of Leith 😍 Otter #Edinburgh #wildlife

A small but dedicated team out this morning. Lots of leaves removed from the Roseburn to Bells section making the walkway more enjoyable to use.

Heron posing like royalty on the Water of Leith #Edinburgh #birds

Christmas Fayre – Tomorrow from 11am! Join us at the Visitor Centre for community celebration packed with festive cheer! Stalls & Gifts Fundraising Fun Festive Treats - home-baking, deluxe hot chocolate, mulled punch. Craft Activities • Wreath Making – £10 • Crafts for Adults & Children – £5

St. Bernard's Well on the path beside The Water of Leith, Edinburgh.

The river is always alive with animals youtu.be/Zxii5GSS-UQ?...

Day 4 of #ArtAdventCalendar with a collage of curled leaf shapes crossing a collage of the Water of Leith in Edinburgh.

Final monthly boat clean up of Leith complete for 2025. A new record for the dry land litter pickers of 228 cans found in one session. With a weed & trim of the walkway its all ready for the big guys arrival later this monthb

“the Gate” at Dean Village, Edinburgh.

Water of Leith #Edinburgh

Litter picking session with @wolct.bsky.social this morning on the stretch of the Water of Leith in Balerno, part of the @walkwheelcyclet.bsky.social National Cycle Network route 75. One bag plus 1 boxing glove 🥊🤔

With wet leaves matted to the walkway, there was plenty of sweeping in store for this morning's wonderful volunteers, in Balerno. There was also some invasive cotoneaster to be cut back, and as always, enough litter to keep us busy. The rain even held off too! Greatly appreciated as always folks! 🍂🧹

Glorious day at the Water of Leith yesterday. #Edinburgh

Diversion route, Edinburgh

Thanks to our fantastic weekend volunteers, the walkway from Baberton Loan up to Blinkbonny bridge is looking fab! The path has been raked and swept, with steps and encroaching veg dealt with along the way, and a hearty tea break in the crisp winter sun. Great work folks!🌞☕️🍪

Otter on the Water of Leith this morning.

You just died. The sixth picture in your phone gallery is what killed you. Drowned in the Water of Leith with Anthony Gormley for company.