Late summer, Colinton Dell

This is a view of one of the wildflower meadows that the Water of Leith Conservation Trust has planted along the shores of the river. This one is on the site of the old Bogs Mill. The old mill house, now a residential home, is just behind the bushes on the right of the picture. The meadow is apparently a favourite grazing area for roe deer, though I've never seen them in this meadow (I've seen them several times in other places along Colinton Dell).

The rose hips are already starting to ripen

though the roses are still in bloom

Meanwhile the shaggy ink cap fungi are already old and dripping with ink

(they're not edible at this stage, though when younger they are).

This isn't a perfect photo, but I love how bumble bees (in this case I think it's a white tailed bumble bee) bury their faces in the flowers (in this case common knapweed).

And not caught on camera were my brilliant views of kestrel, sparrowhawk and kingfisher.

Meanwhile, over on Shapeshifting Green, I've posted some photos of a different part of the Water of Leith, better known for its industrial heritage.

as ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.