H is for Heron

It's mainly been a quiet working day for me, but it was prefaced by a lovely walk around the paths and up to the weir in the bright morning sunshine. Mr Heron was sitting on one of the temporary mud islands in the middle of the river, just below the weir, when we wandered along, but as soon as I started to point my camera at him, he flew off, and landed on the weir, somewhat further away from the shore. It was ok, though, as I had my big fat lens on, so I was able to take quite a reasonable picture of him, and then crop this out.

I took quite a few other pictures of the blossom and some spring flowers like bluebells and wood anenome. I've posted a blossom picture as an extra.

The only disturbing part of the walk was coming across a very young girl who looked as if she might have been in a fight. She was clearly shaking and quite disorientated (possibly cold as she was scantily clad...) and wanted to know the direction to walk to Corstorphine. She said she had no money for the bus, and said that she was underage so only needed 80p. I gave her the full amount for the adult bus fare, in case the bus driver didn't believe her, and she set off in the direction of Ferry Road for the 21 which she said would take her home. If she'd not been able to give me that information, I think we might have walked her home and given her a lift. I was mightly bothered by the state of her. She said that she had got drunk, fallen over and slept at her friends, but I have to say I wondered whether she had been assaulted, as she was covered in bruises and scratches as well as dirt and what might have been finger marks on her skin. It was a bit shocking. Mr A kept his distance as we didn't want to frighten her, but when I gave her some money she gave me a hug and eventually walked off with a sense of purpose towards Ferry Road. I hope she is ok.