Natural highs and lows

A few of our day trips were to wildlife sites about an hour away from the cottage, not too far to travel, whilst at the same time being an exploration of locales for future holidays. One of these sites was the national nature reserve at Tentsmuir, on the east coast, where we visited Morton Lochs on the warmest day of our trip in the hope of some early-emerging dragons. No such luck, unfortunately, but we were rewarded for our dedication with several flybys from a Kingfisher. We also drove most of the way to Tay Reedbeds, but with temperatures in the mid 20s, we didn't fancy a 6km walk on dusty tracks, opting instead for an ice cream in a nearby village, followed by a meandering route back to the cottage and an  appointment at patio o'clock. An Orange Tip nectaring on apple blossom Grey Heron A reflective heron Probably our most adventurous day was another gorge walk, this time at the Birks of Aberfeldy, where the Moness Burn tumbles its way through a beech wood. We found severa...

Crivens! We've been back from holiday for more than three weeks and I still haven't finished my round-up of goings-on. The month of May is impatiently drumming its fingers on the table top of life and exasperatedly wondering just when it will have its moment in the spotlight. So let's sum up the last few days of our sojourn to the Cairngorm area and the trip home. Although there was an abundance of wildlife around our rented cottage, for the final day of our holiday, we decided to go further afield, and drove via Tomintoul and the Lecht Road to the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve. En route, we stopped off for breakfast at an excellent roadside cafe near Corgarff, and we can recommend the black pudding and egg rolls. The Nature.scot website has this to say about the Muir of Dinnet reserve: " The sheer variety of habitats and landforms makes this an amazing place for wildlife and people alike." Which is good enough for us, we needed no further encouragement....