hermitage and blackford pond

 

05-02-25 Visions of dippers bobbing along the Braid Burn while woodpeckers drum high in the trees above. This is what got me on the number 16 up to Morningside with a skip in my step. (Warriston is still closed for storm-damage clearance.) However I had to work far too hard to conjure up even these below-par 50 images. I feel I should add these posts not because the photos are any kind of decent, more just as a recollection there are plenty days when things don't go swimmingly, when everything seems to have stayed home and maybe I should have as well. It can't be a bowl of cherries every time I go out. You knew that though.

fancy new bridge up near the Morningside entrance

I haven't been here in ages. Often I'll pop by early on in the butterfly season as there is a good chance the first commas, peacocks, admirals and small torts will appear by the butterbur next to the burn. That is still a month or 2 away, although with the improving climate there is a chance of butterflies anytime the temps go above about 12°. Today was nowhere near and gloves-and-hats-on weather let me know there wasn't a chance. Nervetheless I checked out the only flowers (some heather) in the raised beds of the walled garden. Not even a bottle, bee or hoverfly. And the bird feeders were depressingly absent of birds. Nice to see they've re-done the large butterfly chart wooden sign which had hand painted wood sections that were weathering badly. Instead they have photo-ed the paintings and printed them. Not the most accurate of sketches but what they lack in ID-ability they gain in handpainted charm and quirkiness. And anyone can google on their phone what the species actually look like from the names.

no fly zone

new sign

nae burdz

nae dippers
I seem to remember this as a hotspot for dippers?

Maybe I missed the early morning dipper rush? Maybe they were all sated by the time I got there? It seemed unlikely, so I retraced my steps back up the river. Still nothing. Okay, rather than get stuck on just dippers I'll try a wander along through the trees above the river - maybe smaller garden birds, treecreepers and woodpeckers? Foxes and kestrels? You have to operate positively otherwise you'd be on the next bus down the road.

a chaffinch

2 rather scruffy dunnocks

 a treecreeper
(at last a rubbish photo of an exotic bird!)

a kite up a tree

and its twin across the field
(this is getting depressing)

At last I threw in the towel and wandered over and down to Blackford Pond. I knew there would be ducks there and I had some bags of food to lure them over for a photo. Actually the pond turned out to be rather nice - lit in a glowing golden light with small groups of tufted ducks, mallards and black-headed gulls. With a few squirrels at the South-West end. And the best thing: very few people. Less than 5 folk wandered past while I was there maybe 30mins. Just checked my GPS output because I was in the zone and lost track of time. I was actually there for 53minutes - it felt like 30 perhaps because I was having fun. 

unhelpful goldfinch

tufted duck (m)

mallard (f)

doing it!
(female submerged underneath)

The black-headed gulls are elegant and swift but also harsh and squawky. They make a fuck of a racket while pouncing on bread, and slightly detract from the ambience. The tufted ducks were far cooler and take a while to saunter over; keeping a respectable distance but enjoying a few seeds and corners of bread. Most of the time I felt just inches away from a decent image while also not quite there either. I was having trouble lining up the sunlight with the birds and the angle of the idiot with the camera. I do enjoy the challenge though and time passes quickly all of a sudden.

winter gnats

There was this semi-friendly Teal (f) beside the mallards and tufties. Actually she wasn't that keen on swimming close enough for a decent shot. It was very similar looking to the female mallards but was about half the size and had a teal speculum. (The term for the brightly coloured secondary feathers on the wing - look it up if you don't believe me - I too was surprised when I first heard that word used outside of an exam room.)

I was about to leave the pond having seen there was nothing extraordinary hanging about, when I saw some squirrels at the South West end. I put some peanuts on the fence they were using as a perch and look-out post. They obliged and sat eating nuts making sure I stayed 12 feet distance at all times. Okay the long lens covers that ground nicely. While I was there I saw a shadow sneak up just the other side of the bottom of the fence. Pretty sure I know what that was! I put a handful of peanuts on the ground there and held my breath for about 5 minutes before the rather shy and yet obliging rat got the nerve to return for a treat. She took one and scarpered but I knew she'd be back. Another few minutes and I got the photo and video.

a pair of stock doves 
I got nowhere near!

rat-tastic!

smooth-tailed squirrel?

on golden pond
a dabchick or little grebe (left) has bants with a moorhen

dabchick kept its distance

yawn - I am not even that much a fan

As I was contemplating leaving the pond area for pretty much the final time, a wee treecreeper flew over and landed about 9 feet from where I was stood. I rushed the camera to my face and just got a couple of shots and some video before it hopped up, up and away and was gone. Not sure what I did to deserve that, but it was the nearest thing to some good luck that I got all day. I can't recall ever being so close to one and I nearly had to stand further back to get it all in the frame. If it had given me 3 more seconds standing still I'd have nailed it, but the pics aren't bad, given I had about 1.5 seconds rehearsal before it started quickly hopping up the tree pecking in every crevice.

not even going to say how badly the LTTs were jumping about
entirely taking the michael

I walked back over to the Hermitage just in case there was a late afternoon flurry of dippers and woodpeckers. You'll be surprised to hear there wasn't and on the third riverside inspection, the dipper count remained zero. The weather if anything was deteriorating and it was time to go stand by the bus stop and get a free ride back to Leith. I had quite enjoyed being out in a place I hadn't been for quite a while, although it only just produced the bare minimum of results worth immortalising here. And yet if I had anything else important to do (and come to think of it, I do) then this day would fail the litmus test and be dumped in the to-be-scrapped pile. It's really only habit that has me while away the Winter blogging days like this. It is something to do when it stays grey all day and there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to get out of bed. Too dark?

very nice signwriting seen from bus home
(Cafe Grande, Bruntsfield I think.)

some of the Blackford Pond collective
click twice

4.64miles in 2hrs54mins