big wood

 

14th April, trip to Saltoun Big Wood.

Not sure what prompted this, possibly the fact the berlingo needs taken out and exercised every 6 weeks, especially in cold damp weather. Since all of March and April were cold and damp we drove to Saltoun Big Wood. Weather was okay but not quite warm enough for butterflies, although there were quite a few peacocks especially near willow catkins and dandelions.

We parked the van down the road at West Saltoun and walked up the road between East and West Saltoun. The end of road parking had looked muddy and rutted and we didn't want to lose the catalytic converter off the bottom of the car.

bee-fly

We hoped to see a few commas. End of last season here (early September) was spectacular for them and the anticipation was that a few would overwinter and pop up this month. Disappointing numbers but not zero which is, I suppose, something.

incoming!

whew, missed!

quite a few bee-flies about
they are so small there could have been loads

There were a couple of peacocks at the log pile past the large pond on the right. I seemed to remember lots on the willow catkins here last year. Like a dozen. It could have been later in the year, or just warmer. I think most of the following pics were of the same peacock, as many had large pieces missing presumably from bird strikes.

Instead of leaving by the main driveway and entrance off the Saltoun road we left by the small trail that descends to the river and exits near the bridge on the far side of West Saltoun. It made a more interesting walk back to where we'd parked the vehicle.

I was impressed Mary opted for more butterfly hunting and drove us home via Postman's Walk hoping the lower ground may be better for less breeze and more butterflies. Sadly, it wasn't! But you can never be sure without checking. It probably added another mile or 2 to the day out, and was perfectly pleasant. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. 

still smiling!

a handful of miles round a lovely place for a walk

another stretch in Saughton

 

13th April

I thought I'd put the quiz up top then you can have a think before scrolling down to the answer. So, whose feet are those? If you thought that's a penguin on the Water of Leith (like I did) then not bad, close enough. It has been a cold and damp Spring, and they are quite penguin-like. Answer in about 11 photos.

This is fast becoming our new favourite route; catch a tram to Balgreen, walk to Saughton Park, explore the WoL another quarter mile upstream then follow it down through town via the Botanics and Warriston, and home. It is about 9 miles and there are a few places en route to get snacks. We are working our way through them and each time review another. We rarely get beyond Roseburn before the weather or our appetites insist we visit a cafe. (Sadly the coop selling hot pies at Roseburn has shut. 😭)

But first, Laurel and Hardy catch a tram. There was one approaching as we went out onto Leith Walk. I only have to swipe my Saltire over-60 card; Mary has to buy a ticket, choosing destination and swiping her bank card which takes longer. We both hurried to the different machines at the tram stop. While I activated my card, Mary found the first one she tried was not accepting cards. There was another machine further down the platform and various people waiting for the tram which was pulling up. Everyone got on the tram and I couldn't see Mary. My reasoning was she must have bought her ticket as she was clearly not standing on the platform, and yet I hadn't seen her get on. Did she get on? I got on and still couldn't see her. The doors closed. Then I saw her. On the platform. D'oh!

grumpy greenfinch

Well good going Buchanan, you abandoned your girlfriend, left her stranded on the platform like so much chopped liver. What a gentleman! I immediately texted a wholehearted apology and Mary texted back that the next one was only 3 or 4 mins away and we'd meet at the Balgreen platform. I suspect she enjoyed the peace and quiet of not having me rabbiting away about what I hoped to see. I have a tendency to anticipate the day's photos and what wildlife should be out there ahead of the walk. Whereas Mary is more inclined to calmly accept whatever appears.

Well she would have enjoyed the mindful tram ride except there was a group of young lads (heading to a match or bar mitzvah) behaving like a right bunch of see-you-next-tuesdays. I was very glad to have missed that, and when Mary stepped off at Balgreen she looked wearied. The yobs at the open door saw me waiting with a camera and thought I should take their photo which I did reluctantly. I was going to explain they were far too close to all get in the shot as I had the long lens on but they weren't really the sort for conversations about the finer points of photography.

cunts

Not much at Saughton Park. A bit cold for butterflies, though, as I've said before, they have planted exactly the right selection of flowers and shrubs to attract them. We wandered up the Water of Leith past the care home where I put bread and seeds on the wall. There are plenty of garden birds familiar with the practice and they appear almost immediately.  The female blackbird was really forward about hopping very near us, perhaps the same boldness that lost her most of her tail feathers!

word of free food got through to this mallard
who looks kind of incongruous on the wall

blue tit

Then a big dark cloud swept in and unleashed what felt like it could be a heavy shower. We were near Roseburn by then and quickly opted for a cup of tea and sit down in Vigo Deli. Generally it hit the spot - we really enjoyed the sausage and egg rolls (with Heinz ketchup in squirty bottle). However the white rolls spoke more of a greasy spoon than a deli. Just to be clear the spoons were not greasy. The mixed legume art (above) was on the wall, along with 3 Lynn Hanleys so we felt we were in the right place. The sausage was not square sausage but the tubular variety cut in half and laid on the roll. 👍 Had there been wholemeal rolls on offer there would be an excellent chance we'd be in there again. (Still trying all the options on this route.) Superfast service btw quite shamed the Modern Art Gallery cafe! No idea how they cooked and delivered our egg and sausage so quickly: didn't taste like it had been precooked. We emerged replete, warm and optimistic: the cloud had passed over and the sun began to shine.

high scoring delights at the Vigo Deli, Roseburn

so who belongs to those flippers?

if you guessed cormorant then you got it right
love those green eyes

While the kingfisher was on the usual stretch near the gallery bridge, he was so unhappy we didn't bring him a sausage he spent a while with his back to us. Which is understandable. Eventually he relented but by this time a gentle rain was falling. We got talking to a fellow photographer, a local who lived not far away and was equally thrilled about the cormorant and the kingfisher. (Was it Andy? I'm so bad with names! Nice guy.) We exchanged tales of wildlife - the deer who seem to live in the woods here, the foxes and birds, and all of it just a half mile from the West End of a capital city. Then it did rain. Not a gentle shower, but a full-on monsoon. An absolute downpour. Our new pal hid under the gallery bridge ('like a troll') but there wasn't room for 3, so Mary and I stood under the bushiest tree we could find and dripped, hurriedly packing away camera gear and getting out waterproofs. It was miserable and if I could have hailed a taxi from the riverside path and gone home, I'd have jumped at the chance.

We all survived (just) and the torrential rain eased off shortly. The kingfisher was re-found as we moved downstream and the background raindrops improved the best kf shot of the day (below). It was looking for a decent perch near the Dean Village and flew over to very near where we watching. And didn't mind us getting very close to where it was studying the water for minnows. BTW the above photo I took of the kingfisher as a (f) goosander swam past. I wanted to get both birds in the same shot, being a fan of both species. It gives a much better idea of what you're likely to see walking on the riverside path. It is only with a long lens or binoculars you see anything like the images we get with our cameras.

Looking at the gps map of the day I see we went quickly through the Botanics but can't have found the commas at the rock garden as no pics were taken. The one below is likely the better of the 2 commas at the In Loving mosaic at Warriston. Just a few of the usual suspects there as well as a conference of flies warming themselves in the sun. A unusally cooperative long-tailed tit at the St Marks bridge was a final treat before heading home. Another enjoyable day out with mixed weather and mixed results but it kept us away from the fridge for most of the day and gave us a few lovely images.

feisty wren at Warriston

c is for comma

long-tailed tit

9.8miles in just over 6hrs