Kirkton to Rathen in 'just Spring'

Crocus vernus, naturalised along the Line near Philorth Halt 

Yesterday the wind was so strong and the cold so intense that we were forced to abandon the Line and walk out towards Rathen through Philorth Woods. We were rewarded by the masses of snowdrops in the woods. Already the wild garlic leaves are starting to unfurl and the lesser celandines have lush, mottled green leaves; flowers are surely imminent. Close to Rathen Station an ermine ran across the line just in front of us and stood for several seconds weighing us up before gliding down the embankment to peer out from the shelter of the undergrowth. It was the most beautiful creature with snow white fur, yellowish about the shoulders and with a black tip to its tail. Today  a weasel darted  across the Line near the Golf Club, again an inquisitive beast who stood for  a moment to consider us.
To day was a complete contrast, the sun was warm on our backs as we walked along the Line towards Fraserburgh, we had heard larks over the bents and seen  buzzards over the castle woods. There are several small clumps of snowdrops at the lineside all the way along this stretch. From Philorth Halt to the Golf Club the grass is studded with little patches of pale crocus, their chalice like flowers wide open in the sun. Willows have silky grey catkins and the alder catkins are fully open, there are swollen buds on the hawthorns and apple trees. Spring surely has arrived at last.

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.

Hogmanay Walk: Kirkton to Rathen



Fields flooded with still partially frozen melt water, wreaths of snow on Mormond and in the ditches, is there still more to come?



The flooded fields support large flocks of wildfowl, hundreds of unidentifiable ducks in Wet Fold and on these fields near Kempen Hillock, whooper swans.There were curlews and dismal crows in the fields, a patch of white feathers on the Line  where a pigeon had met its end.

This morning we enjoyed most of an end of year walk from Kirkton to Rathen Station, round by Hillhead of Cairness and Invernorth returning along the line. The last mile was marred by coinciding with another walker who decided to walk along with Rufus and me, completely ruining the last part of the walk. How much one misses when having to emerge from one's head make conversation.The thaw which began several days ago has melted most of the snow but wreaths remain in the shade of the embankments and in places on the line. There are filthy black piles of snow dumped by the snowplough at the roadside The extent of flooding in the fields is extraordinary. By Rathen Station we saw roe deer tracks in the snow and noticed that the young chestnut saplings near the Golf Club have been striped of bark, presumably by the deer.

An original Harper Ironworks gate close to Mill Farm.

Close to Rathen Station this fireplace, complete with fire basket, is all that remains of a linesman's hut. It is usually well hidden by the rosebay willowherb - now reduced to bare stalks.



Thaw

What a difference  a few days and a temperature increase can make. Since yesterday morning  the temperature has gradually risen and by this morning had reached a balmy 8.5c. The Line is now merely flecked with patches of ice and snow, as are the fields towards Memsie and Rathen, Mormond Hill remains a monochrome.The fields by the Line, which were under a gleaming white blanket on Tuesday, are now under water. The meltwater from the snow has flooded the fields and filled the ditches alongside the line with icy water. The floods make one more aware of the contours of the land, not as level as it seems.  The ditches are overflowing with mushroom coloured water on which sheets of ice float, the Water of Philorth running fast and high. How easily one could slip down the embankment and quietly drown. The ducks in their pond at Craigewan were standing huffily on a sheet of floating ice. There were geese, gulls and mallards in the floods, starlings, curlews and corvids feeding in the softened fields.Our walk was cut short at Craigewan by the depth of water (with miniature icebergs) in the dip where the road crosses the Line, a digger was trying to clear the drain as we turned back.

Kirkton Halt to Philorth Halt in the snow

Looking back towards Philorth Halt, ominous snow clouds gathering over the Broch yet again.

This morning there were dire reports of snow related chaos in the Central Belt but only a  couple of centimetres fell over night in Fraserburgh, where it was a crisp sunny morning. Grey Granite and Rufus were inspired to walk down to the Line, side roads are still treacherous and Grey Granite is a coward about driving on snow. We were rewarded for the trudge down the Fraserburgh bypass with  a glorious walk in easy going along the snow covered Line.

Looking towards Rathen from Philorth Halt. Normally our default walk takes us past the farm on the horizon but having walked for an hour before we reached this point we turned back before the Line crosses the Water of Philorth.

Philorth Halt



Rose hips glowing in the sunlight, not many have escaped being eaten. This morning we saw remarkably few birds, just a occasional crows sitting dejectedly on fence posts. 

Rufus getting his lead in a fankle. He tried eating the rose hips and seemed to find them quite palatable.

Kirkton Halt, the Line under snow

After a week of snow, even the section of the Line close to the bents is under about 7 inches of snow. This shot was taken looking towards Fraserburgh close to the site of Kirkton Halt on the St Combs Line.