Weekend Walk around Corstorphine Hill

Yesterday, we had a lovely walk round Edinburgh's Corstorphine Hill. It's a place we particularly enjoy walking round, especially as there are so many different routes to take. So, yesterday, we walked from the wooded area at the back of the hill

 over this lovely rocky area

to the front of the hill

The hillsides are vibrant with Ragwort and Rosebay Willow-herb

We saw good numbers of hoverflies, including this Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

and reasonably good numbers of Cinnabar moth caterpillars on the Ragwort

Ragwort is a great plant for many insects, pollinators love it and Cinnabar Moths absolutely rely on it, but it's considered to be a pest species by farmers. "Gold Beauties or Toxic Weeds?" is an excellent essay about ragwort on the Stories of Co-existence Substack blog.

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I'm delighted to have a haiku included in today's butterfly themed selection over at Haiku Girl Summer.