The Wastart springs to life

The Pouk is running high and there are still many temporary lochans and dubby patches on the cliffs.The grass has not yet started to grow.

The first coltsfoot flowers of the year are always to be found near the Swine Burn. Later they will be replaced by kingcups.

A warm (16.5c) sunny day with a warm breeze from the SW and we enjoyed a walk over the dubby  Wastart to the Pinkie Shore. It was windy enough to be a 'dirty British coaster butting through the Channel on the mad March breeze' sort of day. In London last week, Grey Granite had seen violets and primroses in full flower but doubted that this would be the case on the Wastart. A search of all the usual places for the first violets drew a blank but there was one solitary primrose in  a sunny but inaccessible place on the cliff at the eponymously named Pinkie Shore. There were masses of colts foot flowers by the Swine Burn and lesser celandines in the grass close by. The grass has not yet started to green up. The clump of saffron yellow crocus by the Furling Gatie is in full flower, Grey Granite notes that this clump, presumably from a garden throw out corm, has steadily increased in size over the last twenty or so years . All along the coast there was great bird activity, several eider fly pasts, and cork like eiders bobbing on the waves along with cormorants and gulls. We sent a flock of curlews up as we crossed the first field. There are cattle out at Poukburn. Rufus celebrated the beautiful day by dashing madly up and down the sides of the Pouk and other nameless burns barking at the water which is still running fast.