THE walk along the West Fife Way from Clackmannan to Dunfermline is always a great place to spot wildlife, given the abundance of trees and bushes along the route.

On my most recent visit, it was wonderful to see a flock of cackling fieldfares feeding avidly on crimson haws, only for these winter thrushes to be momentarily upset by a sparrowhawk that swooped low overhead on grey-flashed wings.

The fieldfares spiralled up into the air in a wide sweeping turn, but soon settled again once the sparrowhawk realised it had lost the element of surprise.

As I passed the heavily forested area at Brucefield, a red squirrel scampered across the track with an acorn held firmly within its mouth.

Red squirrels are doing well in parts of Clackmannanshire, especially in the east and north-east.

They are most endearing creatures and are probably benefiting from the recent establishment of pine martens in the Wee County, which find grey squirrels easier to catch than reds, thus helping to reduce competition between the two species.

A metallic ‘tchik, tchik’ call caught my attention.

It was a great-spotted woodpecker, but no matter how carefully I scrutinised the tangle of branches and tree trunks by the track edge, I was unable to spot it.

Numbers of our resident great-spotted woodpeckers are augmented by winter migrants from Scandinavia, arriving here to escape the worst of the cold northern winter.

Not long after Brucefield, I turned on my steps and headed back towards Clackmannan.

A steady breeze fluttered the last of the autumnal leaves to the ground and it felt wonderful to be at one with nature in this delightful corner of Clackmannanshire.