Saughton Park - a real wildlife haven!

 We're still enjoying a staycation here in Edinburgh. Today we popped down to Saughton Park. We entered at the bridge over the Water of Leith and within five minutes we had seen a Grey Wagtail, a Dipper, a Kingfisher  (look carefully in the photo below!)

and a Grey Heron! 

We wandered round the park, including the lovely demonstration garden managed by the Caley (the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society). Some of the flower beds here are looking very vibrant at the moment 

 

though there weren't as many pollinating insects as you would really hope to see, this Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus sp) was one of the few we saw here

and this Bumblebee (either a White or Buff Tailed Bumblebee, with her tail covered in yellow pollen)

 

Near the sports fields we saw a wonderful patch of Wild Carrot

where we saw a few Batman Hoverflies (Myathropa florea)

Elsewhere in the park, we saw this Epistrophe grossulariae (one of the many hoverfly species that doesn't have a common name)

 We returned to the bridge at the entrance and found this Pine Ladybird
 

then we looked over the bridge and an Otter raised its head from the water then disappeared again, before we had chance to get a photo! Lovely to get even such a fleeting glimpse of this lovely animal.