Plenty of good mapping stuff seen on yesterday's walk:

* couple of postboxes in Tayport (a VR wall and a Scottish Crown lamp one)
* a defibrillator
* typical Scottish vernacular architecture along Ogilvy Street
* no picture, but aberrant house numbering on the same road, with evens on the left when oriented in the direction of ascending numbers
1/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

For the infrastructure geeks :

A couple of gas pieline markers, a substation and ground-mounted solar panels (outside the community centre).
2/n

@russss @trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

For history buffs:

* WWII tank traps along the shore just above the highest spring tide level
* a Pill Box associated with the tank trap
* information board on the historical port and ferry
* a bridge crossing the razed railway line

3/n

@BUnicycling @trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

The point of the walk was to look at nature and more precisely the range of biotopes in the nature reserve.

The first part had several in close proximity: tidal flats with plenty of waders and wildfowl; a small salt Marsh only inundated at the highest tides; sand dunes which transitioned in a few 10s of metres from dune grasses to Heather and other heathland species; conifer forestry plantations dating back to 1920s (mainly pine)

4/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

A couple of waxcap fungi near the start, one possibly White Waxcap. A vivid orangey brown mushroom in the heath, and a big group of Clouded Funnel inbthe forest.

5/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

Lichens.

At least two Clafonia species on the hesth. Commonest was one of the reindeer lichens, sometimes in large patches. The other gad brown potential (fruiting bodes). Light was very poor gor even half decent photos.

In the forest a birch tree was covered with Evernia pruinastri (Oak Moss)

6/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

Not much in the way of Plant Galls:

* Adelgid galls on skoots of Sitka (?) Spruce.

* Witches Broom in a birch

7/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

The forestry plantations were a pleasant surprise.
The Pines sustained a good heathy ground layer so seem quite close to semi-natural woidland.

Initially I found the presence of Beech saplings throughout the conifers a bit odd However we later encountered 2-3 stands of pure mature Beech.

Closer to Fetterdale there were stands of Sycamore (Great Plane), Norway Maple and even Lime.

At least 2 species of Oak too.

8/n

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

The bird hide at Morton Lochs was a welcome shelter. Posfible sighting of a squirrel outside it. Indide was abwasp nest (poor photo).

Not that many birds to be seen. Even the Grey Herons had had enough of the rain. There were around 10-15 Wigeon.

With the eye of faith I could almost convince myself that a tiny island in the lake could have been a crannog 🤥

9/10

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

Lastly @trigpoint mapped most of the benches we saw.

A plea to all #OpenStreetMap folk: please map benches. Knowing where they are can help people like me with COPD and other breathing conditions. Benches make all the difference as to whether a walk is pleasant or not, and sometimes whether one is possible at all.

I find hat still being able to walk 8-9 km walk sustain nmy mental health. Any infrastructure which helps is invaluable.

10/10

@ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

And adding pictures to benches also helps! (Can be done with @MapComplete for example)
mapcomplete.org/benches

@trigpoint @ultrazool @zverik @millerdl @gregorymarler

Benches

A map of benches

^{mapcomplete.org}