Saturday 14 June 2014

Blackford Pond and the Hermitage

We wandered round Blackford Pond and into the Hermitage of Braid today.

It was lovely to see a family of coots with their four ducklings, here are two of them

we were also delighted to see a pair of dabchicks (little grebes) building a nest, difficult birds to photograph but Crafty Green Boyfirend got this photo

Lovely also to see a mute swan family

Lots of mallards around too, I love the fact that the males' green heads are also purple in some lights

Lots of yellow flag irises around the pond at the moment, beautiful flowers which offer nice cover for the birds to hide in

Then we walked alongside Blackford Hill and into the Hermitage. Lots of snails around

and this wonderful group of newly hatched spiderlings, ready to launch themselves into the world on their strings of silk

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7 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

very cute critters!

Little Miss Titch said...

wonderful place,xx Rachel

The Weaver of Grass said...

I love the baby chicks of all the water birds but sadly few of them seem to survive (apart from swans who rapidly get to a good size).

Maureen @ Josephina Ballerina said...

Cute coots!
My adventures with wildlife today consisted of vacuuming up an infestation of ants in my kitchen, living room, dining room, and one even made it to the laundry room. Poor Josephine was scared to death of the vacuum. And the fact that all the furniture was pulled away from the walls so I could vacuum the edges of the room. To say she hates change is not strong enough. Despises is closer.
But JoJo is out in the yard hunting moths now,and I am going for pho with a friend now. It's the most calming food I know.

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful series of wildlife photos. The coot chicks are adorable and I love the pretty swans family.. Great post, happy weekend!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Springtime in Scotland! And isn't it beautiful. Darling bird families.

Halcyon said...

Those little ducklings are so cute! And love the swan family too. Must be an interesting place to visit.