Glorious Gorse

 I joined Crafty Green Boyfriend for a lunchtime walk round Corstorphine Hill today. The front part of the hill is bright with gorse at the moment 

The air is filled with the coconut scent of the gorse and with birdsong. Several willow warblers were singing along with blackcaps and chiffchaffs, all of which are summer visitors. It's lovely to have them back. The very similar looking chiffchaffs and willow warblers can best be identified when they're singing, and they were certainly putting a lot of effort into that today!

In the shadier woodland parts of the hill we were impressed by how many forget-me-nots were in bloom 

and this colourful display of Spanish bluebells 

The wild garlic (ramsons) is starting to bloom 

We saw a number of different species of bees and hoverflies, though none stopped for a photo. It is noticeable that solitary bees have been mining nest holes alongside the paths, I always worry whether they'll be safe when I see this, but they do it every year so it must work for them!