Winter observations
Day-to-day notes on the things I noticed and gave attention to in winter, during my walks along the river and further afield.
22.12.19 Driving up to Lossie, bright winter day. Frost just north of Aviemore gave the hills + sky + birch + stones + sheep all washed-out hues, glittering in the low evening light.
23.12.19 Walk to Lossie beach but no further. Needed coffee and breakfast. But where the path met the beach - sea buckthorn! Berries were partially dried out, a gorgeous color. Another walk in the evening, tide going out leaving a mirror along the beach.
24.12.19 Foamy bubbles, kelp, little worlds at low tide in the rock pools by the lighthouse. So many pebbles washed smooth, in so many colors. Where do they all come from?
27.12.19 Into the Cairngorms for a few days. Old giants in Abernethy Forest at Loch Garten. Gnarled pine branches in the boundary layer. The thinnest sheets of ice in the protected bays, pinecones and lichen-covered branches resting on top. Floating in the reflection of the sky. Gusts of wind on the surface, scattering the water in fans and swoops. Crested tits! Wishfully thinking every dark stump is a capercaillie.
28.12.19 Red squirrel on the feeder this morning! Squeak of ancient pine branches and every shade of green - pine, moss, juniper, heather, bilberry. Two ducks made a bee-line for us from across a pond with an island where old pines were growing. We didn’t have bread for them so they stayed close and snuffled about for food in the shallows instead. Burned peat for the first time, a soft glow of slow flame, releasing carbon breathed in hundreds, thousands of years ago.
29.12.19 Is there anything gentler than washing your face in a basin of rainwater, warmed by a wood-burning stove? Wall of cloud blowing along the mountains, bands of light breaking though every so often. Bucket shower in the woods at sunset, warm unsettled wind not chilling me. First glimpse of the crescent moon.
30.12.19 Hike into Glen Feshie. Young Scots pines clustering around ancient mothers. Ice cold stream crossings, boots around my neck and feet finding their way across stones worn smooth.
31.12.19 Hundreds of geese spiralling into a field. All coordinated somehow.
6.1.20 First walk along the river in a few weeks. Something is going on with the pigeons today. Rosehips are dark and shrivelled. Looked down into the river and could see large boulders resting below the surface, have never seen them before.
7.1.20 Warm, spring wind. Scattering the surface of the river opposite to the direction of the river’s flow - making it look like it’s standing still.
9.1.20 Bullfinch, nuthatch and great tit all perched on a branch. Watched a tree creeper creep up a tree for a few minutes until he flew off and went past me at arm’s length. Stood beneath the silhouettes of long-tailed tits, looking up until they flitted away.
12.1.20 Longer walk to the next village today. Lots of thinking, less seeing today.
14.1.20 The first day I have ever been along the river in proper rain. I have a rain jacket and trousers so don’t know why I’ve avoided going out in the rain before. Splashes on the surface. Boundary between the clear flow of the river and confluence of a muddy stream.
15.1.20 Cormorant perched on a tuft of reeds near the bank, wings spread half-open, facing the wind. Saw a trout jump and for the first time I saw the full arch of its body.
16.1.20 Sound of two swans flying overhead. River low, and with the wind I couldn’t see its current. Ducks are the queens and kings of ferry gliding. Thankful for the young beech keeping hold of their rust-orange leaves on dark, squelchy days.
18.1.20 Into the Lakes we went today, to Rosthwaite. The weather was gorgeous again, we’ve lucked out every time we’ve been to the Lakes. We had a steep climb through a scraggly, beautiful oak forest, rocks and stumps covered in bright green moss. Light breaking through the clouds in beams, striking crags and the knobbly bits of these hills. Distant valleys and snow-capped peaks are inviting. Wind lightly skirting the surface of Dock Tarn. Old massive trunks of ash, limbs all cut back but new growth sprouting at Watendlath. Old warts now a home for insects. The dry stone walls in the Lakes are the most beautiful I’ve seen. Must look into their history.
19.1.20 River low, watched an acorn’s cap float in the current from Larch Beach. White duck with the mallards - do you get albino mallards?
20.1.20 Golden hour is stretching out - can draw out my walks in the afternoon just a little longer.
21.1.20 A heron swooped in front of me and then to the top of a nearby Scots pine. When it landed, another flew off from the same spot! Can just make out a nest at the very top. Grey and heavy sky today but when the sun came out the early evening chorus started! Magpie flew off with a twig in its beak. Three herons, not the two in the tree, flew in a low circle above the river.
22.1.20 The robins were incredible today. Calm day, sun is out and feels so good!
23.1.20 Sound of wind through bare branches, rattling. Ivy cloaking tree trunks and beech leaves still hanging on.
24.1.20 Why do I find it so difficult to tell the song of a robin and blackbird apart? It was the afternoon of both, and the chattering of starlings high in branches creating their other-worldly sounds, mixed with the tap tap tap of a woodpecker too.
29.1.20 The orange feet of ducks perched on the slope down to the river. First hazel catkins and first leaves budding on an unknown tree.
31.1.20 Glint of a heron’s beak poking out of the upper-most branches of a Scots pine. More hazel catkins today! So delicate. Very warm and sunny, surely this is tricking everything into thinking it’s spring?!
9.2.20 Full moon close to perigee, clouded when it was setting in the morning but saw it just starting to wane when it rose in the evening, yellow.
10.2.20 Flooded paths by the river, squelching. Storm Ciara. Sting of sleet on my face.
11.2.20 Beautiful things about stormy winter weather: the rattle of bare branches against each other, the intensity of wind chimes, when the sun comes out for a minute and there are suddenly shadows and birdsong and a hundred little lens flares from the melted snow on my glasses.
12.2.20 Warm spring sun and all the birds seem to be in pairs today.
14.2.20 Is there anything so lovely as the glint of a heron’s beak catching the sun from its nest at the top of a Scots pine?
15.2.20 Drove to a known murmuration site, only to have rain from Storm Dennis come down in waves. Saw the river muddy + swollen + powerful like I’ve never seen it before instead.
16.2.20 Aftermath of Storm Dennis. River the highest I’ve ever seen it, completely covering the path closest to the river. Branches flowing downstream and small burns completely backed up into the woods.
17.2.20 Morning sun, morning of the robins.
18.2.20 Stood on Larch Beach this afternoon where the water would have been well over my head two days ago. Strange sounds coming from one of the herons’ nests…mating? Laying eggs?
20.2.20 Heavy rain this morning made the river high again. Walked west on the path closest to the river only to find it under water 20 minutes later when I turned back. Second bridge fully under too.
22.2.20 Terry saw a kingfisher!
24.2.20 Early morning to catch the train to Aberdeen. Everything blanketed in a thin layer of snow, wet flakes still coming down. Snow!!!!
26.2.20 One of those days where bright sunshine cuts through a cold, clear sky and warms your bones.
2.3.20 Finally a still day, no hearing the wind whistling in the chimney. Herons are quiet too. Spring sun feels good - high enough to cast shadow on the surface of the river. Hazel flowers blooming.
3.3.20 Ahh no wind and sun is shining!
4.3.20 Blue tits chattering in the cherry tree, morning sun melting the frost, steam rising.
[8 - 22 March away at Blackhills Pottery, ash glazes and wood firing]
19.3.20 Equinox on our day of rest after stoking the wood kiln at Blackhills Pottery
