I’ve been taking a day a week off work this summer to go hillwalking. Yesterday I didn’t really feel great so decided to give it a miss. After a morning looking at screens I changed my mind and though to go for a short walk in the Kilpatrick hills.

 

This is 15 minutes drive from where I live, just about countryside and no more, but a great place for a walk.

There is a metalled road all the way to Loch Humphrey from Old Kilpatrick closed to traffic. It is a favourite walk for lots of folks.

I’d not been for a couple of weeks setting off from the Gas Works things had changed, the hedge had a Presbyterian short back and sides, brambles are is flower and meadowsweet was blooming.

Up the path I usual cut up a field leaving the road, today the grass had shot up to about a foot and a half high wild flowers everywhere:

The lesser spotted orchids, mostly gone, but there was:

Buttercups, hawksbeard, bedstraw, selfheal, clover, eyebright and lots more. Ringlet and Small Heath butterflies all over the place. I spent a while trying to catch slo-mo videos on my phone. I wonder if a selfie-stick would help?

Through the few trees and the edge of the moor is fringed with purple from the bell heather, lots of Tormentil too. Once on the moor common heather took over, not in flower yet, but there were patches of purple, yellow and white from the bell, bedstraw and tormentil everywhere.Â

Â

I’ve been finding camera+ on the phone pretty good for ‘macro’ photos.Â

 

I was hoping to see some ravens or even a peregrine. Ravens are common and I’ve seem a few peregrines recently, one close in hot pursuit of a kestrel. Caught a quick glimpse of ravens and heard some nice croaking but no peregrines. I did see a nice kestrel hovering at my eye level.

I usually rejoin the Loch Humphrey path but today went round the moor to the Slacks trig point, before heading back down. Away from the road I didn’t meet anyone else, a beautiful couple of hours.