Easter Craiglockart Hill and Pond

Yesterday we walked round Easter Craiglockart Hill and Pond. There are lovely views from the hill over to the Pentland Hills to the south of Edinburgh (the clouds look very moody in the photo below, but there was only the slightest bit of drizzle all day)

 The pond was quite busy with birds, though not many are visible in the photo below 

We were amazed by the number of Harlequin Ladybirds in the vegetation at the edge of the pond - the photos below show two of the very different forms of the adult Harlequins 

 While below shows a Harlequin larva 

It feels as though autumn is already here as the lack of rain over most of the year means that many trees are losing their leaves really early. 

 The Purple Loosestrife is beautiful at the side of the pond

 while it was nice to see these seed pods of Birds Foot Trefoil which demonstrate clearly why this particular plant was given its name 

After a nice lunch, we walked home along the canal and admired the Hairy Willowherb  

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I mentioned a few posts ago that I was considering shutting down my Crafty Green Magpie shop on Etsy. However, I've now decided to keep the shop open for another year before making a final decision. You can visit the shop here.