Have seen what looks like a moorhen at the Dean Footbridge over the last two weeks.

Spotted single kingsisher in flight at belford bridge on 28 January

There was a female pheasant on the walkway beside the allotments downstream of Redbrae Weir this morning .

I live overlooking the Water of Leith near Belford Bridge. There's a black mink on the loose in the river, which I spotted recently between Belford Bridge and the bridge over the weir leading up to the Art Gallery. It's already caught a mallard and I guess it isn't good news for the river wildlife, but I don't know if there's anything that can be done about it. The kingfisher is still here, so is the dipper, and also the small group of goosanders which arrived last November. Just a shame about the mink.

Yeah Mick,

I've seen 2 different mink in that area, a black one, and a light brown/grey one. I have photo's of them both. I too am wondering what can be done about them as we approach nesting season.

My friend and I saw what we thought was an otter along with young but the young were black last Sunday27 march. They were very playful. We also heard what we thought were young squealing in the bushes just up from the weir at dean village.

I think I might have seen a black mink at the shore today. i was quite excited at first that it might be an otter but was it quite small and black. I may have seen its den (do lthey live in dens?) too.

I recently did some training in otter surveying with the council ranger service and have been checking the Craiglockhart Dell section of the river. The most common signs are spraints, or droppings - these look black, can be up to a couple of inches longs and quite often have fish bones or scales in them. They have a very distinctive smell - said to be like jasmine tea!

I counted around 6 separate spraints between Slateford rd and the old stone bridge upstream recently, so otters are definitely around....

We spotted what I thought was a ferret but I suppose could have been a grey almost white mink swimming in the water and stiiting on the bank in Powderhall yesterday. Sometimes we hear cries of pain or anxiety from birds in the area at night. We'd always thought it might have been a fox but now I guess it could be the mink/ferret. I doubt it was an otter unless it was an albino one.

My flat overlooks the Water of Leith across from the Shore. My attention was drawn to the water by a flurry of noisy activity by seagulls at 22:10hrs 20 June 2010. On looking out of the window I saw several glimpses of an animal swimming in the water, raising it's head above water level on three occasions. At first I thought it was a small seal, but it may have been an otter. I am no wildlife expert, and have only become interested in the Water of Leith since moving to my current location six weeks ago. I hope this is of interest to those interested in the Water, and perhaps someone else may have witnessed my observations and may be able to give more accurate information.

We also spotted, what first looked like it might be, a small seal in the Water of Leith as we were crossing the blue swing bridge down at the Shore. We stuck around and then it became apparent, from it's fur and ears and tail, that it was (what we assumed was) an otter. It was a bit nervous but quite curious and kept popping it's head up to have a look at us. This was at around 11pm on June 21st. It swam under the bridge towards the docks. I've just been checking on the net and reading about other peoples sightings - including the one last night around the same location.... I'm hoping what we saw was an otter but am now concerned it could have been a mink - considering the mink activity other people have mentioned and the fact that they are also capable swimmers? (Mind you - if it was an otter, I'd be concerned about it living surrounded by the sea of floating rubbish that's been lying in that area for weeks!)
Just as an aside, as we headed back towards Coalhill, we saw a lone mute swan attacking what looked like (it was quite dark) a bunch of ducklings. They all escaped but the swan was seriously aggressive and persistent. There wasn't any obvious reason for the behaviour.

Regarding the 'lone' mute swan on the Water in the Coalhill area. This appears to be the male of a pair. The female is currently sitting on the nest near to this location. I am assuming she is laying on eggs as she has been almost constantly on the nest for the past two weeks. I can see the nest from my flat and will let you know if any cygnets appear. Maybe this will explain the male swans protective reaction to anything getting close to his partner.

Okay - five happy cygnets have appeared today. Both parents showing them off near to the Shore!!