Walk on the Wildside: The sparkling lustre of a Wee County spring
Spring light has a sparkling lustre that is absent in the depths of winter or during the height of summer.
Spring light has a sparkling lustre that is absent in the depths of winter or during the height of summer.
Early morning in woodland by Tillicoultry and it was still dark, the sun requiring another hour or so until it brimmed the horizon. Yet, nature was stirring.
By a tangle of alder roots on the opposite bank of the River Devon, a black-furred scurrying caught my eye.
"The grass is spangled with thy silver drops," wrote the 18th century poet Charlotte Turner Smith in a tribute to the snowdrop, while another contemporary described this wonderful winter flower as “a beauteous gem” that springs forth “amid the bare and chilling gloom”.
It was enjoyable to watch a frenetic little pied wagtail on the riverside path at Cambus.
I have always been fascinated by the goosanders that spend the winter at Delph Pond in Tullibody.
The first signs of spring are unfurling like a gentle cloak and no more so than down by the River Devon where alder catkins have been catching my eye.
The rainy early part to winter resulted in the River Devon bursting its banks several times – and it is always an occasion when I like to venture down to the haugh to experience the wild drama of the swirling floodwaters.
As I crested the summit of Tarmangie Hill in the Ochils a magical panorama of shade-cloaked hill spurs, dancing sunbeams and darkling, rain threatening clouds unfolded before me.
When walking down a country lane near Vicar’s Bridge, the corner of my eye caught the merest hint of a dark projectile plummeting at great speed into an adjacent field.
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