Red Admirals, Earth Stars and a Wood Mouse too shy to be photographed

Knowing how terrible the weather is in some places at the moment, I was particularly keen to make the most of today's glorious weather here in Edinburgh. I made my weekly patrol of the Dells along the Water of Leith today.

A beautiful moon hung in the wonderful blue sky

nearby a grey heron was resting in a tree (I know herons nest in trees, but they always look somehow wrong standing in among the branches like this...)

There were earth stars everywhere - these lovely looking fungi seem to be spreading across Edinburgh

Also spiders webs everywhere, this conifer bush in Colinton Village particularly caught my eye

while the wildflower meadow in Spylaw Park still looks stunning in the sunshine

and is still attracting reasonable numbers of bees and hoverflies and this lovely red admiral which was happy to pose for photos

I also saw a tiny wood mouse, that ran under a plant and stayed there shivering, it looked a little ill and I didn't want to disturb it by taking a photo.