18/01/2013

Today has been a hectic day so not managed a walk today yet but thought I'd share some images from last year.

This is a view of Loch Leven from near Loch Glow last summer it shows the trees in the foreground and the start of the Lomond hills in the background. When I was younger I used to walk all over them hills many a lovely day spent there. The wee island you can see in the middle of Loch Leven was 1 stop when Mary Queen of Scots was being taken to London to be beheaded.

This is just a nice sky I thought hope you like it!

These both show a wee burn that as kids we all drank from when playing in the forest. Can you Imagine doing that Now? I'd not lol.

This is quite a dark image but thought it'd give you a laugh. I was walking up here in the dark and saw those eyes glowing just at that time a tawny owl decided to hoot its head of, Damn what a fright I got poor katie dog almost jumped into my arms to lol but didn't have any constipation for few days after lol. Well thats it for today folks be back soon.

16/01/2013

Well folks my lovely Katie dog is 13yr old today so thought I'd share a few pics of her.

She might be old but so am I and we're just the best of pals and love wandering in the woods. I did have a thought today mind, what is the likely hood of sighting wildlife with her running wild? Pretty slim I'd think eh? Now I'd like to share a couple of pics from our walk today. These were taken just after lunch time when it was still -2, poor Katie I know.

These don't look over cold but believe me it was frozen. Think I was walking with 3 Adam's apples lol. You can see from these pics how much of the forest has been damaged with windfall. Even packed in as tight as the forestry commission have them they still topple with any strength of wind.

Well more windfall and more icy feelings for me even several hours laters sat here sniffling nose reckon its from the walk earlier was worth it though. managed to clear my mind a bit and have a chat with my best friend as I walked so it was all great. Now I thought after all that snow frost n cold you might to warm up a little so here are a few pics I took ages back with bit more colour in them.

As I've stated before on here I enjoy walking up the forest in the dark as you can see from both these pics. You do see some awesome sights though as I hope these show.

This shows with the correct flash you can get some good flower images at night to.

These are the seed heads of a dock plant but at night even they are kinda nice, long as they ain't in my garden.

Last few days

The last few days my health has prevented me from walking. Annoys me so much but can only hope n pray it improves. So I thought I'd talk a wee bit about my previous walks and why I enjoy them. To start with I enjoy walking in the forest when its dark. It is so peaceful and you see so much you'd otherwise miss.

I love images like this showing a bit of colour from the sunset and so much detail of the tree but mostly darkness and peace. What do you think?

This pic was taken on the way up to where Katie and I walk at night. I just love the detail of the tree shown by the colour behind. One thing you'll learn if you read this blog regular I adore almost all trees.

This one was taken just as we arrived for a walk. You might notice I do like trees with the light/sun behind them I just think it brings them even more to life than normal. Something I can't show you pics of but something that left me breathless was. While walking in the forest one night with no warning at all a mass of bats flew from nowhere right over my head. I'd have paid money to see the expression on my face almost had a coronary lol. It was all over so quickly haven't a clue what kind of bat they were or how many. One thing I did realise is adrenalin is brown and smells really bad hee hee just teasing. My heart did race and I was a little shaken up but its one of the best experiences with wildlife I ever had. Well I hope you like this wee entry and that I'll be able to walk real soon adding more here when I can :-)

6/01/2013

I should have introduced you to my Katie dog. Katie is a 13yr old Afghan/Deerhound cross that I rescued from the Dogs Trust 3yr ago and my constant companion when I'm walking. Here she is-

Well today was bit milder than the last wee while. On the drive up to where we were gonna walk, there was a common Buzzard perched on a tree top but was to slow with the camera. Need to learn to be prepared eh. At the start of this walk some would see it as being knida bleak I like it especially this time of year as you can see all the little things the things you miss when all the foliage is out. Here are a few examples-

Look at the colour of this foliage and you would prob miss it if the grass was growing etc.

More foliage this time shining so brightly on a dull day well I adored it.

The moss on this tree showed me where J.R.R. Tolkien got his imspiration for treebeard from, for me the greatest character in the Lord of the Rings.

Believe it or not this is the same tree. Picture was taken the same day within seconds of the above pic and shows how different a few feet can make when taking those outdoor shots.

Both of these pictures how attractive Lichen can be when seen in the correct light at the right time of year.

If these had been taken in summer I doubt they'd look half as good. They both show Larch cones, twigs and fallen trunks.

Thought I'd drop this one in to show those straight lines that where created by the foresters who originally planted these trees. A sure sign of a maintained planted forest

This however shows that even in maintained forests the financial situation we are in is having an effect.

This shows how bad some areas are after the recent strong winds and you can understand the forestery worker can only do a limited amount with limited resources. However it does allow mad auld men like me to see the smaller details that might have been missed if they'd all been growing.

Last picture for the day showing the young growth of Broom all spiky and fresh looking. A sign that spring is definitely on its way. While walking today it was great to see 2 other dog walkers and 3 mountain bikers in the forest and must have been 15 bikers on the wee minor road to get there. I often think we don't spend enough time just looking at the world around us. We speed through life rushing and missing so much beauty. I hope this has shown you that even at this time of year there is much of beauty to be seen if you just stretch your legs for a wee walk.

My 1st entry will show pictures of several places where my walks start from. As a kid we played up the woods often. We were very lucky in that the local forest came right to the edge of the village. This was before construction of a motorway passing by. This pic shows the view we had but is up to date well from Google maps so a year or 3 old.

When I was a kid the foot bridge you can see wasn't there. The trees came right down to the garages you can see on the left of the picture. They seemed huge to me at the time but probably were 30/40ft. Many changes since then. The forestry commission who own the forest have even added hard path surfaces just over the bridge for easier access. This area is called Clentry. The area just over the foot bridge and to the right is one of the rare deciduous parts of this forest and will form a main part of my diary readings. The second area of the forest I will be looking at is-

This picture shows the main entrance to the forest 1 I rarely use but do sometimes. It is however and other entry into Clentry. The 3rd and last area I will looking at is shown in the following pic-

At the back of the trees on the left of this pic is the cottage we had to go for our fishing permits for the nearby loch. Walking along this road is quite good as it reminds me of being a kid and walking up to that loch. I will eventualy be looking at 3 other areas as well here they are. The 4th area is called knockhill wood I believe but on Google it doesn't have a name. It is not far from the junction of the B914 and the A823. I found it when I was looking for somewhere remote to walk my dog.

I am very lucky with the 6th place I plan to use, it has a small nature reserve and a birdhide that all can use. Not much of a pic for it just the road onto the site really. Showing the entry from the Great North Road into Lochore Medows Country Park.

You can see the lovely landscape in the background its an awesome walk. The last place although not finished yet means so much to me. They are creating a country park just of the M90. Here is the pic

This is taken by Google from the M90 but there is none of what you seeing left at all. In the distance though you can't see it is the village my Mum was born in. Lovely place called Lassodie but it was demolished with all you see here so they could opencast the site. They didn't even fell the trees just bulldozed it all including the houses. This is what made me decide to do this blog if they keep going the way they are none of it will be left so I want to record what is there before its to late.