Sunshine at Silverknowes

 I met a friend for lunch in a restaurant today (while we're still allowed to do that). Beforehand I went for a walk along the fields at Silverknowes. The fields are looking beautiful in the autumnal sunshine 

A roe deer was grazing in this field, though I don't think it's in that photo! 

Across the road from the fields, the sun caught the white trunks of these silver birch trees in the golf course
 

This whole area is a haven for curlew and other wading birds when the tide is high on the nearby Firth of Forth. Today there weren't many birds in the fields or golf course as the tide was very low

Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op have ambitious plans to 'transform' the fields into a local food hub. On first look the plans (which you can see in some detail here) are exciting and seem to promise a nature rich future for the site, but on closer inspection it seems clear that the project hardly factors in the fact that the fields are already vital for considerable numbers of wading birds, many species of which are in drastic decline in the UK. Wading birds that currently spend time on open, undisturbed fields will not be able to adapt to spending time in urban food gardens, busy with people planting and harvesting food. If you share these concerns, and want the project to include space for wading birds in its plans (or have other feedback on the project) then you can respond to their survey here.