Out of the Fog

On Christmas Day we had intended to drive to Falkland or to Shell Bay at Elie for a walk, but early morning it was icy and foggy so decided to stay close to home. We walked along from Lundin Links towards Leven and crossed into the woods at Silverburn, grey squirrels darting about on the path in front of us. As we walked down the path between the two golf courses -Leven and Lundin, and looked back towards Lundin Links, the sun suddenly broke through and the top half of Largo Law appeared through the mist. We turned back to Lundin Links along the beach, with Dunlin accompanying us at the edge of the waves, and like Brigadoon the village itself rising out of the fog.

Pitlochry Interlude

Enjoyed a short break in Pitlochry at the excellent Green Park Hotel, which overlooks Loch Faskally. Awoke to a light covering of snow yesterday morning, but it soon turned to rain, which cleared away in the afternoon. Took a short stroll along the shore of the Loch. Groups of mallards at the edge of the water. Spotted two pairs of tufted ducks in the middle of the loch. One of the nature highlights of the trip was seeing a red squirrel running across the road in front of the car between Killiekrankie and Pitlochry. Fortunately we didn't hit it! There are few enough of them as it is. Didn't get the chance to take a photo of it (I was driving at the time!), but came across this carving of a squirrel on a bench in Faskally Woods.
A pheasant seemed to have suicidal tendencies. It darted in front of the car. I stopped to let it cross, expecting it to carry on crossing, but it got half way across the road changed it's mind, ran back again, turned again and finally made it to the other side.