best part of the day: awol

25-09-25. A lovely day weather-wise if a bit disappointing wildlife-wise. Probably the last gasp of Summer and just splendid to be out. So can't really complain that there was no kingfisher action, the primary target today. (Although I'm going to, so brace yourself!)

We caught the tram to Murrayfield and then crossed the playing fields to the cafe beside the river. We both felt a little below par and that a coffee might perk up the team. No cakes though, too early and not enough miles to justify a cake stop a quarter of a mile into the day. 😁

a couple of RAs on the buddleias
just before the road crossing at Roseburn

Blue skies reflecting in a blue river. We had heard the kingfisher was active on this stretch just upstream of the gallery bridge. It was perfect conditions and we traipsed up and down this part three times hoping to get some photos. It flashed past twice, once going downstream, once going back up, but I never saw it land. Mary saw it disappear into a clump of bushes (perhaps left of centre of pic above) but we waited until bored and frustrated and then said fuck you kingfisher and walked downstream. (Which accounts for the title awol as well as being a play on the Water of Leith acronym.) It is difficult not to let things like this colour the whole day.

The reflections on the water kept catching my attention. It really was a delightful day although tempered by not much showing up. I was constantly on the look out for otters, dippers and even small garden birds but there was very little on the go. A band of LTTs flew through although they are so hard to photograph as they race about looking for insects on leaves.

long-tailed tits

admiral by the gallery bridge

cyclamen

no f'kingfisher!

As I said we walked up and down the same section three times hoping the kingfisher would show up. I was also surprised not to see a comma near the gallery bridge. There is often one around that area at the very start of the season and (less regularly) at the very end as well. It was perfect weather for an Autumnal comma and I was positive there'd be one lurking in the flowers at the bottom of the steps that go up to the gallery. There were cyclamen flowering and I couldn't believe the complete lack of commas. It was a bit galling.

Standing just downstream of the bridge we saw a comma over the other side of the river. At last! I was beginning to think I'd lost my touch. Or whatever luck or statistical probability that goes with being outdoors and seeing stuff. Still, no kingy. We bumped into a worker from the gallery who was having her lunch break wander with camera (her BF's (small, very neat) Olympus with vg 300mm lens) and she remembered the last time we bumped into each other I was flagging up a comma at the bottom of the steps to anyone who'd listen. I felt equal parts proud and cringe. To make us feel worse she showed us an excellent photo of the f'kingfisher she'd taken a few days prior. Bastardos!

elusive comma

It was a day of high contrasts. At the very darkest most stygian gloom there was a dipper bobbing around. I took some video (almost too dark to freeze the motion with stills) and for what it's worth it's in the video below.

All the way to Stockbridge before a decent bird posing nicely in sunlight!

grey wagtail

styling it out in Sauders Street

Mary's legs have a finite distance before they start hurting so we took a direct line to the Botanics. Which happily took us past this handsomely mounted toasty shop. Being Stockeroo it cost £4.50 each for a small spanakopita triangle - a filo pastry wallet of feta cheese and spinach. It was expertly heated to just right (important to avoid both lukewarm and nuclear meltdown) and had a sprinkling of sea-salt and herbs on the top. I surprised myself by reflecting it was actually worth the money. We really loved them. Perhaps just very hungry, but they were fantastic and worth the wander across the busy road to photo the shop sign photo while Mary waited inside for them being heated up. Very pricey, very nicey!

subtle signage of don'ts at the Botanics

Andrew had kindly done a screen grab map of where the white bush in the rock garden was. It was seemingly very popular with the butterflies. I thought I was aware of all the late season botanics butterfly hotspots - maybe this is a new addition? Things do appear to change there, although much stays the same year on year as well. They appear to have howked out the scabious japonica along the way from the rock garden which was good for October commas. I wonder how they come to those decisions? Anyway the white bush (next to the shiny yellow leaved bush and below/East of the waterfall) was good for 3 admirals, which posed reasonably.

this one

that one

even if the butterflies and birds are scarce
there's always an endless supply of beautiful flowers

We stopped for a seat and a product review. Happily (tinged with sadness) we chose Louis's bench. It was Mary who realised this bench remembered the tragically short life of Louis, son of Ellie and Gav, Porty runners and lovely people.

the pinecone and leaf art was installed before we arrived

I'd recently bought the Lidl version of Trek protein bars. Mary seemed to be aware of them already and described them as mere sugary biscuits compared to the wonderful health giving properties of Trek bars (?!!). Since I had one of either with me we should taste both and compare. Having had the Lidl bars disparaged I was prepared for them to be very substandard affairs. I usually get the Trek bars for longer walks and low blood sugar moments. Not for whipping out and scoffing on a lower-than-10-mile walk. However we needed to keep spirits up and the sugary treats worked well. I thought that although the bars were slightly different in texture they were both equally delicious. I suspected the Lidl bars were a tiny bit more sugary which is maybe what caused Mary's critique, but given they were also quite a bit cheaper (£1.99 vs £3.60 per 3 pack) I'd happily get them again. Like the packaging, they are a nod towards the original without being an exact copy. Best saved for double digit mileage walks though.

getting to that time of year when even small whites are photo-ed

lots of hovers on the Autumn crocus

I took another loop past the white bush (next to yellow shiny bush) while Mary sat on the comma bench near the verbena, (which can be good for commas etc.)

web of intrigue

these late flowering lilies are always a delight in the rock garden

ginko biloba

loved these backlit shots

Campbells magnolia: obscene seedpods

While there were 2 or 3 red admirals on the purple torch plumes in the herbacious border (finally!) I have to remind myself this is nearer a disaster than a triumph. A couple of years back there'd be maybe a dozen on the plumes and along several of the clumps of butterfly friendly flowers here. And occasional commas and small torts. A rather sad drop off in numbers, especially on such a perfect weather day.

at the beech hedge

best parts of the day!

an abandoned bag

I only knew the singer's name due to the bag having her name on it, otherwise I could have walked past T Swift in the street without recognising her. I couldn't tell you one of her songs although I hear she is quite successful and popular with young people.

Same for every reality tv (so-called) celeb out there. When I occasionally wander blindly through the terrestrial tv channels it makes me realise that I have missed NOTHING important and not wasted years of my life watching all that shite. Another thing I don't recognise or celebrate is Halloween. Some people seem to start celebrating this in September by putting purple dildo stickers on their windows...

crow

I quite liked the look of this vehicle. I think for environmental reasons they should scrap formula 1 and replace it (if they must) by racing these cars round a short figure of 8 track. I couldn't clearly see the occupant on account of the tinted windows but suspect he filled the majority of the interior.