Saturday 29 November 2008

Dalkeith Country Park

frosted woodland -

the constant chatter
of jackdaws

We visited Dalkeith Country Park today, just a short bus ride out of Edinburgh. The trees near the entrance to the park were full of redwings, feeding and chattering. It was freezing cold.


We walked through to the ancient oak wood, which is full of the most magnificent trees, many of which are decaying and falling apart, offering wonderful homes for insects and food stores for birds. There were several wrens hopping around!

On the river
a dipper bobs on a rock
and flies upstream.

When we came back to the entrance, we saw a fieldfare with the redwing flock that was still in the same area. Then we walked into Dalkeith town centre for lunch.

leafless tree
alive with the bustle

11 comments:

Susan Richardson said...

Beautiful juxtaposition of the frosted woodland and jackdaw chattering - so evocative from a sound point-of-view - I can hear the crunch of the frost as well as the jackdaws!

Dave King said...

Lovely pattern of frosted ground, and I enjoyed the contrast in the last haiku between the leafless tree suggesting lifelessness and the bustle oflong tailed tits. It works very well.

Janice Thomson said...

Wonderful haiku full of delightful bird and landscape imagery. Love the contrast between the silent frosty woodlands and chatter of jackdaws.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Sounds like the perfect day.

Anonymous said...

I can almost smell the moisture in those photos, and that last haiku in particular is wonderful.

rivergardenstudio said...

Wonderful words and images of these birds that I love as well... all of our, though have migrated south. Thank you for reminding me of their beauty! Roxanne

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Atmospheric and evocative, but BRRR, time for tea.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Love the haiku and the descriptions- love long tailed tits - they are always so busy.

polona said...

wonderful imagery in photos and haiku, and this sounds like a great day in spite of the cld.

Christy Woolum said...

What a beautiful post. The combination of words and images is lovely.

Teresa said...

Hi Juliet,

Enjoyed reading about your walk through Dalkeith Country Park (I love anything to do with old trees). Glad you stopped by my blog recently - please visit again!