Walking Again!

For one reason or another, I have not been walking--beyond the odd potter in the garden or toddle into the shops. It was a celebration to be on my favourite little patch in the neighbourhood between my house and Loch Heilan. It has been an odd spring-some things late; others early and some new characters and others missing or perhaps not coming at all.

The Hawthorn is blooming--the fragrance is lovely and as you can see from this photo, the gorse is also blooming. Gorse is always blooming so that's not unusual, but it has been fulsome and early. The combination of the gorse (whins) and hawthorn was refreshing both in sight and smell and there were birds all around--larks high above, an oystercatcher circling like Daedalus in the empty sky, and tiny birds whose voices came secretly from the hedges.

Close up of Hawthorn blossom or May flower

The walk was a pleasure also in rediscovering my legs. We weren't moving fast or far, but we had rhythm--my legs and I. Who can ask for anything more? as Gershwin says or is that Cole Porter?

I took a photo of this little white moth because it obliged me by sitting still long enough. The curious but fast moving moths that I've noticed are the Silver Ys. They moved into the neighbourhood but no one knows if they'll take up residence here or just pass through like all the tourists in camper vans--another seasonal marker up here.

And the last little surprise on my walk was finding Bird's Foot trefoil on the verge where I don't recall seeing it before. A neighbour suggested it might be thriving or more apparent--or both--as a result of mowing the verge. At any rate, here in all its goldenness are some Birdsfoot trefoil.

The idea is the flower looks like a bird's foot, and the leaf--you guessed it--is threefold. In case you're wondering, here's a good look at the leaves.