slip sliding away

 

She said a good day
Ain't got no rain
She said a bad day's when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been

Saturday 2nd Jan was a cracking day. Blue skies and lovely light. Can't have been forecast or we'd have thought up something more elaborate even though what we did was nearly as good as it gets. A light covering of snow on the ground so we fished out the Yaktrax Pro just in case, and threw them in a back pack. As we left the flat a great tit on the aerial across the road and up 4 flights was shouting at the top of his voice and making quite a racket. It was a nice start to the run that someone was so very cheerful. 

We didn't start with the Yaktrax on as the snow was not yet compressed or icy.  

St Marks was bustling. Loads of local children and parents were
 sledging in the sunlight and it was very jolly. 

never noticed this great mosaic glued onto the WoL path before,
very similar to one on path below Regents Road

Near Inverleith Park we seemed to be slipping about on the paths so we put on our Yaktrax. We bought them back in the very snowy winter of possibly 2012. Tiso had over-ordered them then the thaw spoiled their sales, so Tiso reduced the price from £20 to £12 and I bought a couple of pairs. I only get to use them about once every 5 years and it was fortunate we were able to root around and dig them out of an old blanket box full of old unused running kit. I struggled to fit mine round the perimeter of my Hokas. They come in different sizes so if you are ordering them to put on Hokas go for the next size up as mine were stretched to their limit on the oversized soles. I could feel them trying to compress the upper. But they do give added grip from the wire on the bottoms, (like chains on car tyres) while being suitable for running on dry roads as well, if the snow has melted. We ran for about 3hrs in them and they were great, giving us extra grip and confidence on slippy patches. If you were faced with solid ice (like crossing a loch, glacier or ice field) or really iced over hills (as the Pentlands were for a few days) you would be better with micro spikes, but they are not recommended for running on mixed (un-snowy) roads.

next to the glass recycling in Stockeroo,
a better class of drunk

Gormley number 2 of the day

Dean Village

Gormley no. 3

This pile of tree boughs and rubbish seemed to attract birds. While I was there a robin and grey wagtail hopped about as if drawn to the lucozade bottle in the midst of it. The lack of light did not make for great photos.

grey wagtail

At Roseburn there was a large christmas tree decorated by, I presume, local kids. Some of the art work was very vibrant and other bits had run in the rain/snow and looked very modern and abstract. Greatly entertaining.

There is a boring mile from Roseburn to Corstorphine Hill along the main road. You just have to put up with it or tell funny stories till you cross a couple of roads then turn right up the snowy slopes and between the trees and begin to leave the noise and fumes behind to enter into a world of grasses, birdsong and muddy trails. You can also hear lions roar from the zoo nearby and, if lucky, catch sight of the wallabies, monkeys, zebras or the nyala who live near the boundary fences.

snack time

kestrel (possibly)

Nearly every visit I see the kestrel fly over this area. So when I saw a parrot like silhouette in the tree tops I took a few photos, ignoring the voice that was saying it was more likely a crow or pigeon. I am no bird expert but they fill the winter months in the absence of butterflies and if they weren't so flighty I'd put in more time getting to know them and their habits. 

On this occasion we could hear a woodpecker rapping out a tattoo on a tree and managed to identify the tree and then actually spot the bird and get photos of it and another that landed further up the tree. I had heard the females don't have a red flash on the backs of their heads and it seemed to be a female who held our attention with its drumming. It then flew up into the upper part of the tree but we still got a some further pics. It is very satisfying to get semi-decent photos (and video) of birds we have heard far more than seen. 

not a red head ie female

Even the kestrel did a couple of fly-bys to add to the fun.

We had been watching the distant wallabies in their enclosure, so as we went up the hill and saw this corvid (above) sat on the end of the branch looking a bit hunched over, it was easy to confuse it for a kookaburra. Another woodpecker, or the same one again, came over to the tree near us but there were too many branches around it to get a decent photo.

more woodpecker action

Some of the paths were icy or had the snow compressed and polished to an extremely slippy finish. Even in Yaktrax we were forced to hold onto the railings. It was like being on rollerskates. Another couple (in bowling shoes?) were having a really tricky time getting anywhere and we went past them with relative ease. They were laughing a lot about it though. But it looked like they may have had to stay there till the ice melted.

note couple behind Mary having a tough time

We left by the golf course path down to Ravelston Dykes and lots of families were sledging on the gentle well manicured slopes of the fairways there. There were a few buildings looking great in the low winter sunshine but we headed home the quickest possible route down the WoL from the Dean Village to Stockbridge then across town and down Leith Walk. I do like returning home with a camera full of wildlife pics, and it gives an incentive to head out next time using info learned last time about where to look and what trees are favourites. In other news the otter has been back to Dunsapie, even with a partial ice covering. Right, charge the camera battery and put an extra hat in the back pack!

not everyone hates sliding

seasonal goodwill

10.5miles in 3hrs 30