Rathen to Kirkton

A glorious sunny morning, the beauty of the day overshadowed by frequent shots and pheasant scaring noises from a shoot in the woods at Cairnbulg Castle. There was also someone preparing to fly a hawk in the field by Kirkton Cemetery where there is a large rabbit colony. Following a walk along the bents to the Water of Philorth,  we walked back along the Line from Rathen Station to Kirkton.   We were privileged to see a magnificent buzzard wheeling over head near Islamor and being mobbed by crows.

A small patch of snowdrops growing by the approach to the Line at the Craigiewan

The bark of some apple trees, the occasional sycamore and a horse chestnut sapling along the Line has been nibbled by deer during the harsh snowy weather. None of the willows appear to have been eaten. We frequently see roe deer in the fields next to this stretch of Line. 

Frozen points

The Line at Strichen remains heavily iced, making walking very difficult. The hard core on the path is completely glazed by a sheet of solid ice so we had to pick our way carefully along the frozen edges of the path. A buzzard flew noisily overhead as we walked.  The Line and the fields close by are under a thin layer of frozen water and there are many temporary ponds, all of which are iced over to the apparent consternation of a heron which flew ponderously about the field near the Stone Circle path. Such difficult  conditions for wildlife, we saw far fewer small birds than usual in the woods. As I write this there is a report on the radio of the 'biblical floods' in Queensland, Australia, their extent and devastation are unimaginable.

The lake in Strichen is also iced over,  these mallards were slipping about on the ice near the small area of open water near the inflow.  Encouragingly daffodil shoots are showing through the frozen ground by the lake.