Blackford Pond and the Hermitage of Braid

It's a lovely sunny Spring day today, though still quite chilly. We had a lovely walk today around Blackford Pond and through the Hermitage of Braid. 

The pond looks lovely though there aren't many birds on it

it's lovely to see a few clumps of marsh marigolds round the edge

and a few clumps of frog spawn in the water (there are two clumps in the photo below, to the left of the large stick)

We walked through Midmar Paddock 

and into the Hermitage of Braid, to walk alongside the Braid Burn. 

It was lovely to see a pair of sparrowhawks flying around the tops of the trees in the Hermitage, hopefully they were checking out a nest site (or even starting to build a nest!).