On the Beat

Walking beside the Water of Leith – and last week on the canal, too – I have often seen large ducks with a somewhat vicious look hooked beak. I know these ducks are either goosander or merganser, but I can never remember which.

Instead I just call them “funny ducks”.

After taking this picture last Thursday, I once more had to look them up in my bird book to see if they were goosander or merganser.

I realised why I find it so hard to remember. They are goosander; the latin binomial for which is Mergus merganser.

So goosander are M. merganser.

Just to make sure we’ve got this straight, merganser are M. serator.

The other day I was walking to work beside the Water of Leith when I noticed a heron sitting in a tree; a magpie was anxiously hopping about it in the tree, flapping at the heron. The heron sat there, only occasionally pecking at the magpie. I think the magpie was trying to make the heron fly away, but the heron just sat there – I thought perhaps it might be unwell.

Today, near the same stretch of water, I saw a heron waiting in the water. It was much closer. I watched for several minutes, to see if it would find some fish. It felt quite privileged to watch the bird.

I took these with my little pocket camera over the last month, and I have only just edited them.

( More pictures behind the cut! )

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on the bus on the way to work, staring out of the window; as we drove down the Shore, the autumn sun was rising above the buildings behind and shining on those across the Water of Leith. It created some beautiful reflections in the water.

I wished I was outside, looking at the colours and reflections.

And then I realised I needn’t sit on the bus; so I got off, and took these photographs.

( More pictures behind the cut )

The skies this last week have been beautiful. I (try to) always carry my small pocket camera with me, and on Monday the light whilst I was walking to and from where I am working at the moment was intense and beautiful; I took many pictures, and when the next morning was the smae - or perhaps even more intense - I took my SLR to work, too.

The Moon on Monday was very beautiful, and it was still there on Tuesday morning.

But of course it was the buildings I noticed most.

( More pictures beneath the cut. )

Suddenly, autumn has come to Edinburgh. The leaves have been falling since August, but this week we had some beautiful days, the clear autumn deep blue skies offsetting the golden and crimson leaves.

( More pictures behind the cut )

I don’t believe in god.

Indeed, I believe there isn’t a god.

But sometimes there are certain things that make me wonder.

Blue skies, for instance – why are they so beautiful? Perhaps – probably – there is an evolutionary reason: particular wavelengths, maybe (but would that explain why we find them beautiful?). Or mountains: a broad view of snowy mountains can be moving.

I was walking along the river on Tuesday, a beautifully sunny morning with crystal-blue skies. I was listening to the radio as I walked. A beautifully haunting a cappella choir called The Persuasions singing a Kurt Weill song, O Heavenly Salvation – a spiritual (as if the title didn't give that away). It was quite stunning, moving – and very powerful - and not a style of music I would normally listen to. It literally stopped me in my tracks.

Whilst I cycled to work this morning, I must have caught some falling cherry blossom in my hair and on my clothes. As I walked through the corporate corridors to my desk, I noticed I was leaving a little trail of pink blossom behind me.