Peacocks on the Pentlands

The weather has been glorious the last few days, so I had to go out this weekend and do something fun and a bit different for Missy. A friend of mine had suggested doing the Pentlands a few times, the first attempt was snowed off, the second I called off owing to having some teeth pulled (orthodontic work, every tooth pulled has been good and healthy, if a bit squashed) so this was actually the third time we've scheduled this and I think possibly half of Edinburgh too!

We met at the Flotterstone Information Centre and, at 10 am the car park was full, but thankfully I got a wee space in the small overflow section. My friend has walked the first reservoir a thousand times, but has never actually climbed them, despite living only five minutes away. We decided to do both the reservoirs and have a bumble about the bottom of the hills, but not actually walk them this time (we've got an action plan picked for next time!) owing to the fact its lambing season and, whilst Missy has no real inclination to sheep and would be on a lead, I didn't fancy the risk of upsetting a farmer with my big scary flobble dog.

I feel that comment needs explaining. Owing to her colouring, people at a distance (and sometimes rather close up too) think she's a rottweiler and her habit of running and showing of her sparkling pearly white teeth can give people a fright. Hence her pink collar. And the pink raincoats. And the little red parka jacket. And her cupcake one....

I do my best, but At 20 kg of pretty much just muscle, she's a sight to behold when running full pelt towards you, so I concede to the fact that people automatically see a big scary dog.

Anyway. It was a beautiful day for it. There were people fishing in boats, anglers out on the shore, dog walkers, joggers, cyclists and plenty of walkers. We could hear shooting at the MOD base there were running an exercise, but loud bangs don't bother Missy, so we spent a good 4 hours enjoying a nice walk and exploring a bit.

There was plenty of wildlife. As the title suggests, in addition to the sheep and local birds, we saw a peacock. Just strutting about like it owned the place! I need to stress that the Pentlands is fairly remote, and peacocks don't fly so well, so I have no idea how it got there or what it was doing, but it was certainly a highlight. Missy will flush birds but wont actually hunt them, and she was certainly curious and bemused in equal measure by the electric blue monstrosity strutting about. I feel a need to confess that, as it was on a wall far too tall for her to jump, I wasn't worried about the bird, however, I did not expect it to actually fly down right in front of her. Needless to say, she instantly went to flush it and the peacock very quickly went back on the wall, feathers ruffled but none harmed! My poor heart though, after Missy being so utterly well behaved I'd have died if she'd caught the thing - I'm too used to bunnies and squirrels that do their utmost best to keep out of the way of anything of the canine persuasion!

After the peacock we saw some toads which rounded off the end of a really nice day and we made a slow trundle to the car. By this point there were cars everywhere, both carparks full, the nearby pubs was full and people were parking on the street and verge, which really added to the impression of how busy it was. Still, it was really nice seeing people out and about enjoying the nice weather, and Missy got to bounce with lots of dogs and is now snoring away on the sofa. 

A very good day!