oh what a lovely warriston!

 

4th July

Having really enjoyed a recovery walk around Warriston Cemetery after the taxing 7 Hills race I was quite keen to return and see what was cooking early July. Baby birds was the main theme. As I'd found at the end of June the adult birds were behaving differently. Mainly due to running about the place catching as much food - caterpillars, insects and spiders - to feed to youngsters, whether fledged or in the nest. Harder to photograph them due to all the foliage, abundant now compared to the Winter months.

speckled wood

smudgy brown stamps

Speckleds love the dappled light that streams through branches and spotlights patches between trees. They gather in likely places and chase each other in trains of 3, 4 or 5 in spiralling circles through the lower branches of sunlit trees, climbing into the sky before returning to bask on warm sunspots of leaf litter. I struggled to photograph their aerial antics and got loads of blurry photos of smudgy brown stamps chasing each other against elm and chestnut backdrops. 

Then I spotted a wren on a nettle. The vestigial fluff marking it out as a fledgling. It lacked the streetsmart caution of the adults even though it was roughly the same size, and gawped blankly at me as I crept forwards and took photos. The parent(s) - harangued and harassed - watched from nearby trees, while constantly on the move gathering insect-food for 3 offspring. (The other 2 "hiding" in the local undergrowth.) I found them quickly from their cheeping. 

adult bird collecting food for youngsters

Vincent Price

well out-of-focus speckled

great to see this old oak sprouting new life

tunnel under the cyclepath

robin near the woodpeckers' vacated home

spider for dinner

July 4th activities

I started to wander aimlessly up the WoL and was pleased to spot this solitary RA before the Pizza Express at Stockbridge. Admirals are less common this year than previous and so every one is regarded as an exotic. Nothing like a shortage of numbers to make you appreciate them more.

goldfinch

where the RA and goldfinch were photo-ed

large white on opposite bank

about 70 yards away - camera at full zoom!

These 3 fish are by the walkway under Belford Rd bridge. They are really well done and look similar to the small mosaics in Warriston and elsewhere up and down the WoL. Just googled and found out who is doing these. Helen Miles take a bow - they are brilliant and so much more than just spray paint tags or illegible words graffitied on public spaces. And yes, Helen did the high heeled crow near Warriston as well as many other really well crafted works. Lots of photos HERE. Love them; particularly the re-use of interesting tiles, shells and other bits, and classical mosaic techniques updated to a modern semi-abstract style. Loads I haven't found yet. Look forward to tracking them down! Her webstuff here.