Somewhere else

I thought I’d go back to Luthrie but try the path to Ayton, then circle round and come back on the Norman’s Law path.  What a lovely path to Ayton – a farm track leads into a footpath which takes you up and over the hill then down to Denmuir.

I decided that one of my favourite wild flower combinations is Tuberous Comfrey, Wood (?) Forget-me-not, and Pink (Red) Campion.

There was lots of Yellow Figwort too.

It was good being somewhere unfamiliar – helped along by the mist which was hiding the views.

At Denmuir I decided not to go down to Ayton but to turn right, up the hill.  The first happy discovery was Hedwigia stellata, on a rock with Stonecrop (and fallen gorse flowers).

I found it all fluffed out on a nearby boulder too.

Round the corner, a sheep with lambs was not pleased to see me.

Then I came across a little rocky bank where there were all sorts of lovely things growing together.

A little Vetch and Lesser Trefoil.

Meadow Saxifrage and lots of Changing Forget-me-not.

Thyme (I think), Parsley-piert and the Lesser Trefoil again.  There was also Sheep’s Sorrel, a small Woodrush and some sedges…tried but failed to identify the sedges.

I followed a rough path through a field where there was a little boulder garden – Common Stork’s-bill, Sheep’s Sorrel etc.

Then I found a little red moss nestling in a knothole – turned out to be Ceratodon purpureus, of course.

I walked on and up until I felt I really should be seeing Norman’s Law – but hilly ground and mist were against me.  I was sure I was walking north, and would come to the path in front of it.  However, it wasn’t easy to go in a straight line…I ended up going through/under a couple of stands of gorse and was getting a bit fed up.  However, if I hadn’t gone that way, I wouldn’t have come across the biggest spread of Mountain Pansy, Viola lutea, which I’ve ever seen. More than one picture could capture.

There was also a very stylish Cress – not sure which one this is.

By this time I was really just wanting to find the path…any path…then I saw civilisation ahead of me.

Soon I was happily walking back to Luthrie, as I thought…only it turned out to be Ayton.  How did I manage to go in a circle?  I still don’t know how that happened.  However, at least I knew the path back to Luthrie.  And was able to admire this spread of bluebell and forget-me-not all over again.

Finding and not finding at Tentsmuir

I set off from Tayport hoping to relocate the Twinflower and find some Ptilium crista-castrensis, the lovely Ostrich feather moss. Things started off well.

Lots of it, roughly where I remembered. I had it in mind that there was also some Twinflower there, but couldn’t see any, so I headed towards the point where I first found it. However…it all looks so different now, with lots of trees felled. I should have stuck to the path but ended up going round in a big circle in the wood, crossing a drainage ditch on a fallen pine (twice!). And at some point I found these leaves:

Which might be what I was looking for, although when I saw them I wasn’t sure. Anyway, after many adventures I found my way back to the main path. On the way back to Tayport I found this little clump of flowers, which I think is Shepherd’s-cress, Teesdalia nudicaulis. A nice find.

I also looked at Field Woodrush, Luzula campestre, at different stages. I’d forgotten it’s also called Good Friday grass.

Later, I learnt that the tips of the leaves are rounded and often red.

Other things that caught my eye:

Not sure what these white dots are on the young birch stems.

Lovely Dicranum majus, several large spreads of it.

Things never quite turn out how you expect at Tentsmuir. But at least I found the Ptilium crista-castrensis, growing with the equally lovely Thuidium tamariscinum.

Hairy Violets

A tip-off and some great directions from Mgt took me over to Ruddons Point to search for Hairy Violets, Viola hirta.  And I found lots of them, dotted all over the turf, which was very pleasing.  What a wonderful colour they are.

The leaves are narrow and quite pointy, not rounded.

The stem is hairy and the spur a deep purple.

Trying to photograph them on a bright, sunny, very windy day was fun…

There were lots of tiny cowslips too, dotted about.  And the weather was constantly changing, with hail storms out at sea.  So glad I found them.

Bleak and beautiful

March is such a difficult month, with the snowdrops past and other flowers still to get going.  And the weather has been dreich.  But Tentsmuir suits all weathers.  On Monday it looked like this:

Not surprising that I had the place to myself.  The dunes were very wet and the usual paths impassable, but I eventually found my way to the Goose pools (Tufted ducks and Mallards) and then on to the Eden.

The beach was the easiest place to walk, and was wonderfully bleak.

The dunes at the far end are flattened.  The roots of the marram grass still run down the sand, but the dunes themselves are gone.

There were birds feeding on sandbanks near the shore.  I think these are Godwits, probably Bar-tailed Godwits.

And with some help, this was identified as a Dunlin.

No seals, but I did see some Eider ducks swimming up the channel from the Eden.

I tried to come back by the dunes, and got as far as the Water Dock pool – full of water again, and I disturbed some ducks which were enjoying it.  I was so pleased to find Marsh Marigold in flower.

Little spots of colour.  Like these beautiful soft feathers which were in the dunes.

And the mosses were good too.  A touch of red from Ceratodon purpureus.

Polytrichum juniperinum (male structures)

And its soft hairy capsules just beginning to mature.

There were wonderful sand flames on the beach.

But overall, it was the emptiness and the tracking back and forward over soggy dunes which I’ll remember most about this day.

Snowdrops and storm damage

The snowdrops at Kenly Den are really just as spectacular as the ones along the road at Cambo, and were showing off to perfection in the winter sun.

I liked how they echoed the waves of white in the burn.

This was a moss hunting day, but it was so good to see the snowdrops, along with the first Dog’s Mercury and aconites.  I had hoped for a celandine, but not quite yet…

I’ve never noticed this rock “doorway” before.

It was sad to see large trees uprooted and lying in the burn.

Down at the beach, the waves were impressive, with spray being blown back off the tops.

I was really shocked to see how much damage the storms have done this winter.  The stone jetty has been uprooted.

It always seemed so permanent – a nice place to sit for a sandwich.  And further on, I decided t turn back after the path disappeared completely.

Nothing lasts for ever, but this level of damage and erosion seems different.

However, not everything has changed.  The Hart’s-tongue jungle (plus added snowdrops) is thriving.

And I took a detour coming back and was delighted to find the early primrose flowering down at Shelduck bay, just as usual.  My first primrose of the year.

Winter fields

So cold but no wind which made it a beautiful day for a walk through the fields.  The pond at the wood was completely frozen over.  The ground was hard underfoot but not at all muddy.  I decided to follow the farm track onwards instead of turning down as usual, and ended up crossing a field with a ruin.

The track went into a woody den and then – no further for me.

The burn was full of beautiful ice.

Ice bobbles were bobbing about in the current.

Coming back, I could see steam rising from the landscape.

Such a lovely day to be out and about.  The birds were all seeking out the sunny spots in the hedges, including these Fieldfares.

You really can’t beat a sunny crisp winter’s day.

Eider duck

One of the highlights of a blustery walk at Shell bay was this Eider duck, back in his full glory after the moulting season.
I never noticed the white head stripe before.

Bright spots in December

December seems to have been terribly damp and grey.  Birnie/Gaddon didn’t seem very enticing but I ended up being glad I’d gone (new year plant hunt recce) and found plenty to take my mind off the lack of sunshine.

This beautiful yellow fungus on a mossy elder tree was really eye-catching.

The birds out on the loch were Swans, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Golden Eye.  Think I also saw a Little Grebe too.  On the land, I’d forgotten how tame the small birds are here.  Every time I stopped to look at some moss, a robin would come over to inspect me.

The moss tree was looking spectacularly green and furry.

On one of the branches I found Metgeria furcata (I think) with lots of gemmae and also some sporophytes.  If the sporophytes belong to the Metzgeria.  Really not sure.

A group of four bullfinches was a lot easier to identify and a pleasure to watch, as they hopped between the old dock stems, pecking seeds.

I also got a glimpse of a Goldcrest.  Then further along, I was watching a group of long tailed tits in this tree…

…when I heard calls behind me and was just quick enough to catch a group of geese flying over.

Other nice things were the Jellyear fungi, all over the place.

And the bright red orange of the rosehips.

I was just thinking that it wasn’t a great place for our new year plant hunt – I’d only spotted gorse – but then some hazel catkins gave me hope.  Nearly open!

All the time, the robins were watching.

Rainy woods

Hunting for leafy liverworts to a deadline, I ended up at Hill of Tarvit in the rain.  But as ever, once you’re outside looking at stuff, rain is just part of it.  The leaves were full of their own sunshine.

I liked the way that some of the beech leaves had stuck to the smooth wet trunks.

There were some weird black fungi emerging from a fallen branch.

I had a quick flip through the book and wondered about the fantastically named Hairy Earthtongue, Trichoglossum hirsutum.  But it grows in grassland.  Maybe Geoglossum umbratile, Plain Earthtongue?  But I didn’t have a proper look at it and don’t know enough.

I found my Lophocolea bidentata and headed back to the car.  On the way, this face caught my eye…not quite sure what expression that is…

Tentsmuir settles into winter

Autumn is transitioning fast into winter at Tentsmuir, with flowers all but gone and only a few leaves left on the birches. But it was winter perfection yesterday – frost on the ground, clear blue sky, no wind.

I wandered along, looking at the mosses. Decided that the tight upright shoots of Dicranum scoparium reminded me of Broom branches. Or the other way round.

There were lots of different fungi, including these ones with frosting.

I was watching the birds in the enlarged pool, when there was an unexpected arrival in the grass nearby – a Little Egret.

Such a treat. I watched it feed and preen for a while.

So elegant. Eventually it flew away, but when it circled round another one came to join it – and then they both disappeared.

As for the birds in the pool, I’m not sure yet what they were.

There was a lot of water lying not only in the dunes but on paths and – as I found too late – on the heath, which had turned into a squelchy bog. Careful walking was required. I went over to the Alders, which now have little purple catkins, firmly closed. And cones.

The dead trees are so stark. But the new growth round one tree is making a rather nice shape.

I came back by the beach. In the inner dunes, there are good spreads of tiny moss plants – signs of stabilisation I hope.

Back through the forest, where I noticed this green-covered tree trunk. Up close, it turned out to be a huge colony of Metzgeria furcata.

Finally, I couldn’t pass by this clump of lichen, which looked so like a lawyer’s wig…

What a place. There’s always something different.