Robin

At Blackford Pond with T. Neither of us had been there for ages, but we were reminded that there is nearly always something interesting to see. This robin obliged by letting us get very close. There are now four cygnets with their parents at the pond, presumably the other three have left for St Margaret's Loch, the Esk at Musselburgh, or somewhere else where there are other non-territorial cygnets and swans.The male mallards were looking very fine in their breeding plumage, there were lots of black headed gulls, a pair of coots, a few moorhens, a pair of tufted ducks and a little grebe - it's the first time we've seen one there in the winter. There was also a group of long tailed tits flitting about. A bonus was that you can now get coffee at a police box at the main entrance to the pond! It was quite cold so we didn't sit for long. There was a thin sheet of ice over part of the pond. The sun doesn't get above Blackford Hill at the moment.