there will be mud (pt2)

Sunday 20th Dec.
The forecast was looking good for today and so we hit upon the idea of leaving home at the crack of dawn and running past a few places that may contain what little wildlife there is at this time of year. Mainly birds, but with otters also in mind. Edinburgh being the otter capital of Scotland these days. Who'da thought?

isn't it marvelous the way the locals respect their new masonry
Entrance to Lochend Butterfly Way (haven't properly explored this boast)

I proposed Figgy Park as an early venue, as Sandy had seen long tailed tits, dippers and a woodpecker there, and otter visitations are nearly as frequent as at Dunsapie. We looked at various circular routes around town that involved as few roady tarmac roads as possible. On the way to Figgy Pudding Park we passed through Lochend Park. Which is just the other side of that green and white stadium. Can't remember what they used to use it for? 

Anyway Lochend Pk was way better than either of us were expecting with quite a crowd of water-borne duckies who all came over to see if we had some breakfast for them. They gave us 2 mins full attention (I had forgotten to bring duck treats 😢) then pinned their hopes on a dude behind us who was rustling a carrier bag but looked more like he would be tossing in body parts than a handful of bread and birdseed. 

The submerged trees and high water-level (nearly as high as the shopping trolley) gave a mangrove type ambience and you wouldn't have been surprised to see a 'gator (feeding on all the disposed body parts). The light wasn't brilliant and we probably should have taken more photos, or maybe just better ones, as this was (spoiler alert) the best gathering of wildlife we were to come across all day. Coots, tufted ducks and many of the usual suspects. And all very friendly and potentially interactive. But we weren't to know that and in a coffee fuelled delirium we ran quickly off to Figgy. 

should prob return after dark and get pics of these lit up

We (I) had high hopes for Figgate Park. It is a wee bit in the wrong direction for regular visits but I see lots of folk posting photos of birds and otters from there and so I assumed one lap at running pace would put all of this at our disposal. It did not. Those 2 b-h gulls and some distant swans were the only living things to be photographed (excluding the dog-walkers and their masters) and I couldn't be arsed with the swans. Sandy had given directions to the woodpecker and dipper sightings (lower bridge at Duddingston end, at the far end of the parkrun course, saying there's no guarantees of seeing them. I said we wouldn't hold him accountable, but really we did and he has let us down badly. Haha just joking Sandy, 😸). We scoured the area for about 6minutes because we were out for a run not a nature ramble. Plainly this is not the optimum naturewatch behaviour. Oh well looks like we'll have to cut back into Holyrood and visit Dunsapie after all. 

On the way there I stopped dead and Mazza nearly ran into me as a carnival of long-tailed tits flew into the naked bushes of a garden right beside the road. In my defence they did not rest for more than a nano second and kept jumping about from Mary's shoulders to my head and back again before flying off as a group, peeping and chirruping as if they enjoyed tormenting me. I tried to enjoy their delightful proximity while not dwelling on the botched photos of empty branches and recently departed perches. Maybe I could blame the poor light again which had not seen any of the glorious sunshine promised by the Met Office website. Spirits were slipping and we really needed the Dunsapie Otter to give the day a boost.

No flippin' otter. On the upside we did see Ken. Was that the day we saw Ken, maybe it wasn't? Anyway the weather improved slowly all day which is just as well because little else did. A number of forgettable road miles took us towards Blackford Pond but I was over-ruled and we went up to the Observatory instead. I think I had thrown in the towel and was happy to let Mary call the shots as she runs out of enthusiasm and good manners at about 10 miles and we were up to 8.

headless Mary

To try and offset the 10mile lycanthropic metamorphosis we stopped for a snack and drink. It was bit cold and we didn't hang about long. I think we swapped good cop, bad cop roles with Mary cheering up after the sports bars and me getting a bit bored. The realisation that there would be no dippers or otters and just miles of dull tarmac. (My Braid Burn plans were also veto-ed.) To cheer us up Mary took us to the path round the Braids to get our feet properly filthy. 

got overtaken by David who belted past at great speed

We caught up with him at the end of his superfast 10k

After going up to the other end we exited near Comiston and headed down into Morningside. Auto-pilot took over and we crossed town on roads we have done many times. The chat was thin-to-none but it can't have been too bad or there wouldn't have been photos taken of berries, xmas baubles and nativity scenes. Mary always asks if I want a cider when we pass the Bruntsfield links bar that started an evening of drinks with the lads that time I disgraced myself. She is hilarious.

a long time later

pretty good 16.75miles in 4hrs