Winter Walk - Blackford Pond and Hermitage of Braid

It's a lovely clear cold winter day today. We started our walk at Blackford Pond where we were most surprised to see these two female mallards fighting

The rest of the birds were more interested in the food that was been thrown into the pond by two families, though this young mute swan seemed to remain calm in the face of all the action (the photo doesn't capture the action around the swan as well as it does the calmness of the swan)

The tufted ducks are looking smart just now with their tufts showing well

We walked from the Pond past Midmar Paddock

and, on the other side of the path, Blackford Hill 

 There are some lovely mosses on the walls here, they look particularly beautiful in the bright sunshine. This is capillary thread moss (the only moss I can identify!)

Then we walked into the Hermitage of Braid, where the Braid Burn runs at the bottom of a steep sided valley. I always like looking up into the trees high above on the hill. 

We were delighted to get really close views of this dipper

and this grey wagtail, which wouldn't stop moving, so the photo is quite blurry!

It's a lovely walk to do on a cold sunny day (or any day in fact).

Thanks to Crafty Green Boyfriend for the photos of the birds (other than the swan) in this post.