dalmeny bike ride

 

1st May

Dalmeny has become a regular cycle route for Mary, still unable to run any distance. We jumped on our bikes and headed West despite the lack of anything that could be mistaken for decent weather. A red admiral along the prom (spotted by Mary, well done!) was probably thinking the same and wondering what it was doing in this bleak sun-free country. It sat with closed wings surveying the crappy weather then took off and flew far away, disgruntled. I don't blame it.

We seem to have got all the way to the bridges without a need for photos, which tells you quite a lot. No sunshine, no insects and birds, no photos. I think the cycle ride was okay - we took the road option out running parallel to the duel carriageway, then dropped down to South Queensferry, turning at the rail bridge. The landowner is discouraging traffic through the upper fields currently where sheep have lambs, so we stuck to the riverside trails. 

shelducks

nice spot for an overnight stay

So, just at that little estuary where the burn runs out to the beach we came across this gull. It could be a herring gull but I am not sufficiently interested to keep tabs on which gulls are which. Anyway it didn't fly off as we went by and stood in an unlikely way looking at grass and shoreline in a way that gulls don't. They are normally alert and fly off when you get within a certain distance. This one just walked a bit and looked tired. I had heard of gannets doing similar along the coast and this had been put down to long tiring migrations. No idea what was going on here but this one was only reluctantly moving when I got close up. I tried to feed it some stuff but it wasn't familiar with the concept of being given food and just stood next to the seeds I put out. I then kept a good distance away (to avoid upsetting it further) and took photos on maximum zoom then we stopped hassling it and let it be. 

red eye

bee hives next to rape seed fields

nearest thing to sunshine

We came across a small tortoiseshell or 2 in the field perimeters. When they get too cold they sit and shiver to help warm up so they can fly. I think this male was trying to impress a female which wasn't overly excited by his presence.

nice to see a few ladybirds out and about

then we went home
24 miles and 4 hrs