The Road to Duddingston Loch

The weather was (to say the least) very changeable yesterday! We went for a walk along the road at the base of Arthur's Seat all the way to Duddingston Loch.

 

 

This road is much more sheltered than the usual route we take around Arthur's Seat and did protect us from the worst of the wind. The views were lovely as ever and lots of different flowers were in bloom, including Vipers Bugloss, which seems to be much more common than it used to be in this area

Rest Harrow 

and Forget Me Nots

We were delighted to see two Cinnabar Moths, although the bright yellow and black caterpillars are very common on Ragwort plants, we very rarely see the beautiful adults (thanks to Crafty Green Boyfriend for the lovely photo)

We also saw several damselflies, mostly Blue Tailed Damselflies (this photo is the best I could do!)

 

though also other blue damselflies that we didn't get close enough to identify to species level. 

Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Mallards were gathered at the edge of the loch. 

There were also three odd looking geese, which are hybrids between Canada geese and Greylag Geese.  

The loch was looking beautiful in the sunshine, especially with the Water Lilies in bloom!