Banks of Celandine

Lesser celandine on the banks of a little stream that runs through the Serpentine Walk.

A grassy bank covered in lesser celandine flowers

Lesser celandine flowers (Ranunculus ficaria)

Daffodils Line the Path

Clumps of daffodils line one side of the path in the Serpentine Walk in Largo. They are approximately a month later this year than last. As yet very little green growth on the trees.

Cuttlefish Bone

Cuttlebone - the internal shell of a cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)

There have been reports of cuttlefish bones being washed up on the east coast of Scotland after the recent stormy weather and today found two of them on the beach at Lower Largo.
In spite of its name, the Cuttlefish is actually a mollusc, belonging to the same class of animals as squid and octopuses. The cuttlebone is an internal shell which is porous to gas and air and used as a buoyancy regulator.

Sleeping Eider Ducks

Two male eider ducks asleep on the Lower Largo Harbour slipway.

I tried not to disturb them as I took a photo but they must have heard the camera shutter and next moment they were off into the water joined by another that must have been round the corner.

There were more eider ducks swimming in the shelter of the harbour.

Edinburgh Skyline from the Museum Roof Terrace

The Old Town and the Castle.
Took some visitors to the Chamber Street Museums in Edinburgh. There are great panoramic views across the city from the roof terrace of the Royal Museum of Scotland.

Edinburgh Castle and Esplanade.

The tallest spire in the city. The smaller domed building is the Camera Obscura.

The Carlton Hill Monument. 

The distinctive crown spire of St Giles Cathedral.

 

Greyfriars Church and graveyard.

The Scott Monument and beyond the River Forth and the hills of Fife.

Edinburgh University's  McEwan Hall which is used for graduation ceremonies.

 Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags.

Beyond the chimney pots the Pentland Hills still with some patches of snow lingering

Sand Star

Sand star (Astropecten irregularis) found on the beach at Lower Largo.

Saw this little stranded starfish on the beach and thought it looked different from the common starfish. From seashore guide identified it as a sand star. It is usually buried in the sand in the lower shore but sometimes washed up after gales which we have had recently.

Sand star (left) in comparison to a common starfish (Asterias rubens) of roughly the same size (around 9cms across).

Holes in Sandstone

Walking the beach at low tide and depending on how the sand has shifted often spot something that I hadn't noticed before. Yesterday, quite near to the rocky outcrop close to Lower Largo Harbour, noticed these flat red sandstone rocks pitted with holes. They are likely to have been made by a rock boring mollusc, such as a common piddock (Pholas dactylus) or more likely, since they are quite small, a wrinkled rock borer (Hiatella Arctica).

Also came across this small (10cm in length) piece of sandstone with some ring markings. Not sure what these have been made by - whether natural or man-made?