Saughton

 

7th April

This walk is becoming a regular. First we catch a tram to Balgreen because that is the nearest to Saughton Park. Just along the road. It is well planted with suitable and attractive shrubs, trees and flowers that attract the birds and bees. And it is right beside a section of the Water of Leith known for kingfishers and otters.

seen out the tram window at the top of the Walk
some 'gramming going on?

Can't have been any butterflies on the flowers at Saughton. All the same it never feels like a waste of time to visit, and sure enough there were 2 kingfishers, a male then a female on the stretch of WoL just upstream.

male kf

female further upstream

blue tit

Remember that enclave of flowering evergreen mentioned by Vicky a week or 2 ago. I didn't but Mary did and so we checked it out and to our delight saw our first speckled wood of the year take off from the ground there. It flew about in a frisky fashion but I managed to get a decent shot before it disappeared. It made the lack of other butterflies immaterial.

treecreeper

cormorant

blackcap

Lots of blackcaps about but they are not keen on humans getting close and prefer to have a few branches between them and you. Which is really annoying.

near the Dean Village

Botanics were closed due to high winds

dead badger Inverleith Row near playing fields
presumably road kill?

Warriston cemetery had a couple of peacocks and 3 commas!
All 3 near the tunnel. 2 one side, 1 the other.

note lean into primroses to get proboscis 
to bottom of flower!

chiffchaff

Great to see two commas between the tunnel and the war memorial on the sloped bank of daffs. I wonder if they were the same two we were photographing last September - I must do a check on their patterns. They were spiralling and playing about in a similar manner. And in pretty decent condition. Not bad for having survived all Winter somewhere most likely outdoors. In fact they'd be saying to each other they have come through the Winter in better shape than the old dude with the camera who is showing much worse signs of aging.

best area for butterflies near the war memorial

11.8 miles in 5.5 hrs