Hurrah for Autumn

There are those who don't like Autumn, they see it as summer gone and winter on its way, with the days getting shorter and the nights getting darker and colder.
I don't look at Autumn like that at all, I love all the wonderful golden colours of the trees and the bright red berries they bear. With summer being surprisingly good this year, the Autumn berries are even bigger and juicier than normal, as I found out when I had a recent walk up Craigie Hill (a disused quarry near Dalmeny, which nature has reclaimed).

 

Brambles at Craigie Hill

Rose-hips at Craigie Hill

Rowan Berries



Looks like there will be plenty of berries for the winter birds to feast on this year.
Other "fruits of the wild" are also doing well, including the fruits of fungi...............commonly known as mushrooms or toadstools (they are not really fruits but are the reproductive structures of the fungi but that doesn't sound as appealing). Here are some I saw up at Craigie Hill:

Slimy Beech Tuft

Honey Fungus

Some fungi are edible and some are very poisonous, I don't know enough about them to positively identify the safe ones; that is why I always pick my fungi at Tesco's.

Last weekend the weather forecast was terrible for the Saturday but described as 'changeable' for the Sunday so we decided to take a trip out to Loch Earn and photograph the wonderful Autumn colours as and when the sun shone.
The weather forecast was spot-on as it was certainly 'changeable' - that is it changed from heavy rain to pouring down back to heavy rain, with occasional showers. But we are made of sterner stuff and were determined to get some photographs of the Autumn colours.
On our way along the M9 motorway heading to Callander Moira snapped a couple of horses peering over a wall:


Keekin' Kelpies

Crazy Horse

Yes that is a pylon in the background, these horse sculptures near the river Carron are around 30 metres tall (that's almost 100 feet in old money)
Moira also managed to snap a rainbow, which made us think the weather was about to turn..........how wrong we were!


M9 Rainbow

We kept hoping for a break in the weather but it never came. When we stopped in Callander to have our picnic (coffee and a sandwich in the car park) I braved the rain and snapped some autumn colours.

The hills above Callander

A leafy lane in Callander

The one positive thing about the heavy rain is that it turned relatively peaceful rivers into raging torrents of white water..............much more photogenic. This was evident when I nipped out in the rain again to capture the short stretch of river that joins Loch Lubnaig to the River Teith:

Garbh Uisge in full flow

Loch Lubnaig itself looks quite ominous in the rain-laden skies, with mist rising from the trees looking like smoke from camp fires:


Loch Lubnaig

Onwards and northwards to Loch Earn itself, where we took the scenic southern road round the loch, still hopeful that the weather would break and we would be bathed in gloriously golden Autumn sun............some hope! ...........it just kept on raining.
But this is Scotland and the one thing we do well is dramatic scenery no matter what the weather is:


Autumn at the Burn of Ample

The Burn of Ample was well named as there was ample water flowing down this burn, and the Autumn colours just added to the drama.
As we stopped along the side of the loch to watch some Mallards the rain got even heavier, but this did not seem to bother the ducks:


Mallards in the Rain

As soon as I got out the car to take a quick photo, the ducks took flight.........they didn't mind the rain but there was no way they were getting their photo taken with wet feathers!!

Loch Earn, with escaping Mallards

Another bird on the loch that doesn't mind the wet weather, and stayed long enough for me to get a picture, was my favourite bird...........the Dipper:

Dipper on Loch Earn

This little bird spends a great deal of time under the water searching for invertebrates to eat, so a few raindrops aren't going to bother it.
At the East end of Loch Earn is St Fillans, where we turned round and headed back along the loch, this time on the busier North road. The rain started to ease off as we headed along the north side of the loch so I stopped and grabbed a couple of photos:

Ben Clach

Towards Lochearnhead

 When we reach Lochearnhead we stopped in the Clachan Cottage Hotel for a warming plate of soup.

 

It was quite a cosy establishment with a warm fire and good soup, highly recommended.
When we came out of the Clachan Cottage Hotel the sun had actually come out and the rain had stopped (albeit briefly) so I grabbed my camera and took some autumnal snaps before the rain came on again:

Clachan Cottage Hotel, Lochearnhead

Loch Earn, towards St Fillans

Loch Earn, between the showers

As we left Loch Earn the heavy rain started up and continued for most of the drive home, but I have to say that we had a lovely day out despite the weather.
Scotland is a beautiful country and we should get out there and enjoy it come rain or shine; make a special effort to get out this Autumn and see the beautiful scenery in all its glory.

Take Care,

Teddy Edward