Corstorphine Hill

 Yesterday we had a lovely walk around Corstorphine Hill, starting from the top of the hill at the back, where there are good numbers of Common Spotted Orchids

 

even a few very close to this bus stop, where the surrounding vegetation is managed for wildlife. 

The back part of the hill is largely grassland, much if which is being allowed to grow long, with paths mown through

For the first time this year, we saw a good number of insects of various sorts. There were red soldier beetles everywhere, most of which were intent on making sure there is another generation of red soldier beetles. 

 There were also lots of black aphids, which were attracting ladybirds including the Two Spot and Seven Spot ladybirds in the photo below

It was nice to see a few Meadow Browns

and the occasional Small Skipper 

Luckily there's plenty of woodland on the hill where you can find shade on a hot day like yesterday

On the other side of the hill, we saw a few caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth 

which when it's an adult will look like this (photo from last week's walk to Duddingston Lock)