Weekend Walks

 A few walks this weekend! To start with, Crafty Green Boyfriend and I popped into North Merchiston Cemetery to check up on the snowdrops, which are looking beautiful at the moment 

Our next walk started at Blackford Pond, where we admired the bulrushes at the water's edge 

There were several Tufted Ducks on the pond, including these males

several Mallards too, including this sleepy looking drake 

We then walked alongside Blackford Hill 

and past Midmar Paddock 

into the Hermitage of Braid 

When you get down to the river at the Hermitage, you can look up into the trees on the high land at either side  

Then today I walked with a friend into the Dells alongside the Water of Leith. The Winter Aconites are still beautifully in bloom 

and more and more Scarlet Elf Caps are appearing 

I was also very pleased with this photo of the red female flower of the Hazel tree, they're so tiny it's very difficult to get a decent photo of them, it was particularly nice to get the flower in the same photo as the male catkins.