Frosty Leaves

It was -5 this morning! That's cold! Slightly later in the day, when it had warmed up to -1, I took these frosty photos in a local park on the way to teaching a haiku class.

Crows and Flowers on Arthur's Seat

We had a lovely walk around Arthur's Seat yesterday. 

 The sky was wonderful, changing from this blue, decorated with delicate clouds 

to this overcast sky with the clouds lower down being lit up beautifully by the sun 

The Ravens were very noticeable, calling loudly as they flew around and being mobbed by large numbers of Jackdaws. The bird in the lower part of the photo below is a Raven, the others are Jackdaws

Both these birds are crows, the Raven is the largest of the crow family and uncommon in Scotland, though they nest on Arthur's Seat. Jackdaws are common, small crows with greyish heads and white eyes. 

There were a surprising number of flowers blooming around the hill, including Knapweed

Yarrow 

and Viper's Bugloss

Autumn Colour and Fungi along the Water of Leith

 I was pleased to find these fungi in Craiglockart Dells, alongside the Water of Leith. 

Oyster fungi 

 

Purple Disc Fungi

 

The autumn colours are still beautiful, although most of the leaves have fallen from many of the trees, we've had some high winds in the past couple of weeks. 

The light was beautiful too, giving the leaves a wonderful glow.

 

Swans on the River, Rabbits on the Golf Course

On Saturday we walked from Haymarket to Corstorphine, taking the scenic route, which includes Carrick Knowe Golf course and the Water of Leith. We watched this Mute Swan and it's companion Mallards swimming along the river

and three female Goosanders were sitting on rocks in the river, though we couldn't get all of them into the photo

 The golf course has a wooded perimeter path, which was looking beautiful

There's a rabbit warren somewhere in the golf course and often you can see lots of rabbits, but on Saturday we only saw this cute young bunny, who let us get fairly close before hopping away into the undergrowth

Wood Blewit Toadstool

 I was very happy to find this toadstool in Craiglockart Dell alongside the Water of Leith today. It's a Wood Blewit, quite easy to recognise with it's purple colour (though there are other purple fungi). 

 

 

Autumn Colour in Saughton Park

 We enjoyed the autumnal colours in Edinburgh's Saughton Park yesterday. Here are some of the highlights: