Arthur's Seat

As usual on our jaunts around Edinburgh, we took in the delights of Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat. The circular route around the park, known as Queen's Drive, was closed to traffic on this occasion to allow workmen to repair some of the roadside paving. So, it was unusually quiet as walked round.
We started at St. Margaret's Loch...

The ruined remains of St. Anthony's Chapel keeping guard over the loch, it was strangely calm here too with none of the usual frenzy of ducks, swans and pigeons to disturb the scene.

A little further on, we came to the second of the small bodies of water, this one known as Dunsapie Loch.

Rather more bird-life was to be found around this loch, with a few Mallards, a lone Mute Swan and lots of noisy Jackdaws disturbing the peace, while a single Grey Heron stood at the water's edge.

Further on and we got some lovely views across the Duddingston and Portobello regions of the city and out to the North Sea.

In the far distance, the triangular form of Bass Rock - some 21 miles away - was just visible through the grey weather.

Round a bit further, the views were of Duddingston Loch and the small Duddingston Kirk, which dates back to the early 12th century.

The Loch is protected as a bird sanctuary, while the Kirk hides some ornamental gardens on the banks of the loch, known as Dr. Neils Garden.

Much more to come, but that's enough for today!