Arthurs Seat

daytime moon
above the stone circle -
a hare in a ditch


This is for Weaver of Grass, who asked for a hare haiku.
The stone circle in the haiku is Brodgar, Orkney.

Nature Poetry Group on Read Write Poem

Some of you may know that Read Write Poem has now developed and expanded into a social networking site, complete with discussion forums and themed groups as well as regular prompts and articles. It looks great and promises to be a very exciting place for poets and poetry fans to meet online.

Due to popular demand, I've set up a Nature Poetry Group on Read Write Poem. You can have a look at it here. There are discussion threads to share your nature poetry, discuss eco-poetry and share your ideas for maintaining your connections with nature.

You can join Read Write Poem here - look forward to seeing you there.....

Musical rabbit haiku

The second of my collaborations with Belvedere Mountain Express is now up at their Myspace page. It's worth browsing all the tracks there..... Our latest collaboration is currently the fourth track down and is called Aux Champs des Lapins (In Rabbit Fields). You can find it here. I think it will surprise no-one that my contribution to this piece is a group of rabbit haiku....

One of the featured rabbit haiku appears on Summer Haiku today - you can read it here.
I also have two other recent haiku on Summer haiku, here and here.

Birds along the Water of Leith

I walked along the Water of Leith again today - it was a lovely day and there were plenty of birds out! Since starting to do this walk regularly I have been impressed by how many bullfinches there are along the river. Click on the photo above to see one of the ones I saw today. Today I saw a heron for the first time in a while, herons always look too big and flamboyant for a small urban river but they do like the Water of Leith. As I was watching the heron it was joined by a grey wagtail, which rushed around busily while the heron just stood quietly and patiently.

Weaver of Grass recently commented that I seem to walk along the Water of Leith rather a lot. Well that's because I'm a volunteer for the Water of Leith Conservation Trust and I aim to walk this stretch of river every week, noting the birds and butterflies I see, cutting back any obstructive vegetation and picking litter. It must be one of the best voluntary jobs in the world, particularly as I have the most beautiful section of the river to look after...

Shadowy Moss

I took this photo yesterday as we were walking along the Water of Leith. Close up the moss is full of wonderful small insects, including tiny orange ladybirds with white spots.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Weekend Walk

Today was lovely weather, hurray! so we walked to Inverleith Park, next to the Botanics.

sedges in the new wildlife area (above and below - I'll need to look up which species these are!).

Adolescent mallards too, not to mention aggressive coots attacking moorhens. Then we walked through Stockbridge (second hand clothes and books) then along part of the Water of Leith (not my usual part).
Bees everywhere, enjoying the sunshine. Then we had a snack and a drink in a riverside beer garden.....