Saturday 4 January 2014

Dalkeith Country Park

Just a nice wee weekend walk round Dalkeith Country park we thought. Oh look there's a riverside walk we've not tried before, we said. But it turned out to be an obstacle strewn track, falling away steeply to the river and leading to scenes of what any film classification board could only describe as 'relentless mild peril'.

Still, we can laugh about it now and we saw some interesting birds (including some unexpected wigeon in a flooded field, next to the less unexpected oystercatchers, mallards and mute swans), made some new animal friends and I got some nice photos, mostly from the road before we reached the new riverside walk.






Needless to say we won't try that path again, even if the ground is less muddy!

Linking up with Saturday Critters

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Meanwhile, I'm delighted that one of my items has been included in this UK Upcycled Etsy Treasury, curated by Tanglecrafts.

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

10 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i like the rural route, though.

eileeninmd said...

Sounds like great walk as far as the birding goes..Not too sure about the obstacles. Nice shots of the critters. Have a happy weekend!

Dartford Warbler said...

That sounds an eventful walk. Not a day to get too near the riverbank!

The cattle and ponies look as fed up as their counterparts here.

Crafty Green Poet said...

TexWisGirl - so do I!

Eileen, yes the birds were great!

DartfordWarbler - we've not had the flooding up here that you've had down there, and the river wasn't too much above it's normal height.

Maureen @ Josephina Ballerina said...

Juliet, the blue cuff you made is really neat. As for your mild peril walk, I had a similar experience at a park on the Potomac River near Washington, DC. Why I didn't think twice at walking "The Billy Goat Trail" is beyond me. Pebbles, to rocks, to boulders to a 60 foot vertical climb up the Spiitzbergen Cliff! I was too darn tired to turn back, so up I went. One of the prouder moments of my adult life, if I do say so myself. :)

Bill said...

"Relentless mild peril" is such a beautiful phrase.

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Juliet,

Glad that you were able to see some lovely birds, even if the track was not the best for walking.
Enjoy the weekend
hugs
Carolyn

Little Miss Titch said...

Stay safe on your walks more bad weather on its way,xx Rachel

RG said...

Sounds like a description of my life!

Glad you survived and with the humor to write about it. The Path Less Taken.

Greenpatches said...

Glad to see that you're not snowed-in up there. It sounds like a walk and a half! Love the photos.