Bog Myrtle & Peat

Worth commemorating the fact that I managed to get up over Glenshee on Tuesday afternoon after running some errands in Perthshire. Heading up from the ski centre is always a mixed blessing, with the roar of the ski lifts, the grind of the piste bashers and the whoops and chatter of snow enthusiasts. On the plus side, it is a fast and easy means of accessing alpine conditions within an hour’s drive of Perth and after just a short half hour walk. I will cover the birds and beasts in more detail in due course when I get a moment, but I thought that it was worth posting this photograph of a ptarmigan cock which the dog disturbed from a bank of exposed scree on Meall Odhar. In a moment of comparative stillness and peace, the little bird scraped and rattled beautifully amongst the stones before taking to the breeze with his hen and following the contours out of sight to Aberdeenshire, where, after a stunning day of clear sunshine, the smoke from heather fires was just starting to dissapate for the evening.

I seem to be on a very fortunate and serendipitous streak with my photography at the moment – long may it last…