'Hello Toad!'

Toad was probably a little tired when I took this portrait since a mere fifteen minutes or so earlier, I had taken another of four toads in a hole, which you can see in the extra.

This photo doesn't really show how energetic it all was - it is March, after all!

We encountered the toads on a walk round Portmore Loch, in the hills to the south of a misty Edinburgh, where we were hoping to find -  and did find - some sunshine!

Portmore is a place of great peace and tranquillity, popular with anglers.  I first went there with my father nearly 70 years ago and have been visiting on and off ever since.