New Aberdour: A single ragged swallow

A perfect May  morning we decided to go in search of primroses. This involved a leisurely walk along the gorse lined  track behind Aberdour School to Mains of Aberdour. here we saw  the first butterfly of the season, a small tortoiseshell feeding on dandelions along the track. we crossed the road, found that the gate was open so walked  and down the field to the headland above the caves. 

First glimpse of the bay, looking east towards Strahangles Point

Walking down we were accompanied by larksong  and saw Kathleen Jamie's 'single ragged swallow' sweep in from the sea and a male yellow hammer conspicuous by his bright yellow head fussing about the dyke. 

The beach was almost deserted, the sea really was this blue!

The south facing bank at the top of the cliff between the Boat  Shore  and the Aberdour beach was studded with violets, primroses and celandines.  

We visited the kirkyard for the pleasure of sitting on the dyke enjoying the peacefulness and looking over to the den. many of the graves near the dyke are of Pennan folk, Gatts, Watts and Wests, some of the earliest carried here along the corpse road.

Rufus enjoying the sun in the kirkyard, too hot despite having recently been divested of his winter coat.  The temperature was 19c when we reached the car.

Greater stitchwort, (Stellaria holostea),  a modest member of the pinks family,  growing at the roadside  opposite the kirkyard.

Green  Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) bright and colourful at the roadside, there were also the first flowers of ground ivy among the grass on the bank.

This is a familiar walk to childhood haunts which Grey Granite likes to do each Spring, today was the perfect 'Glad that I live am I, that the sky is blue...after the rain the sun, this be the way of life till the work be done' sort of  day for such a venture.

Strichen;down by the Ugie

Writing his railway guide 'The Howes of Buchan' in 1865, William Anderson  eulogised : 'Strichen which is without exception, the most attractive and picturesque spot on the whole line. Lying in a snug little valley, with the towering crest of Mormond on the one side, the limpid waters of the Ugie on the other, and embowered among trees - Strichen is, without doubt, one of the prettiest little villages in Buchan.'

Anderson's description of Strichen seemed particularly apt between the hail showers as we walked along the riverside path from the railway viaduct to Howford. Within the last week the wood anemones have come into flower, hawthorn leaf buds are at last opening, there was much bird activity suggesting nest building, larks over head and  a pair of roe deer peered shyly at us from the trees near the foot bridge.

 

Wood anemones, (Anemone nemorosa) and the occasional Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) on the banks of the Ugie

The 'bridge of the three sevens' built in 1777, carries the old coach road over the Ugie at Howford

Looking over the village from the coach road close to the junction with the road from Skillymarno. This time last year the trees were in leaf.

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The verge near the old parish church and graveyard is bright with masses of Lesser Celandines, the gutter running with water from  a passing hail shower.

Marshmarigolds in the Kessock Burn

The usually dull and rubbish strewn Kessock Burn  outside Fraserburgh Tesco was this morning suddenly transformed by the  flowering of the glorious Kingcups, variously known across the British Isles as Mayflowers, Marsh marigolds, May-blobs, Mollyblobs, the Publican  or Gollins (Calthera palustris)

Marsh marigolds are one of our most ancient plants, surviving the last glaciations and flourishing  in wet boggy areas after the ice retreated. They are currently in decline as farmland is increasingly drained and extensively cultivated so it was a particular delight to see such a splendid cheering up the muddy banks of the Kessock.

Fraserburgh Dustbowl;sandstorm in the Broch

The first four of these photographs were taken within seconds of each other at lunchtime as an extraordinary sandstorm blew dry earth from the fields along Boothby Road over Fraserburgh.

Strichen Road Roundabout - now you see it

Now you don't

Mormond Hill going..

Gone!

Later in the afternoon a trip to Tesco was an amazing surreal experience, Fraserburgh Bay was invisible, the sea hidden indistinguishable from the beach under a cloud of sand. It was so dense that visibility in Tesco carpark and at the bottom of Boothby road was dangerously reduced. There was strange orange cloud blocking the sun -apocalyptic in its eeriness. The sand coated clothing stung eyes and left a muddy deposit on the lips. In Tesco there was a loosing battle to keep the floor clean. This was reminiscent of the 'pea souper' fogs on the industrial north of England half a century ago, except that this stung and choked.

A Post script: the wind, according to Wednesday's (day after the storm) Press and Journal reached 65 m.p.h and the sandstorm was widespread, although particularly bad in the Fraserburgh area it affected Moray and much of Aberdeenshire. This morning the garden has a thin layer of alien soil, reddish in colour plant leaves and the collar of a shirt worn outside for only half an hour are coated in it. The window ledges inside the house also have  a dusting of sandy soil.

Late afternoon and the wind direction had changed clearing the air. Daffodils in Strichen Road Parkbrought out by temperatures of 16.5c yesterday and being flattened by today's wind.

Rathen, birthplace of Frederick Stewart

This time last year there was cherry blossom overhanging  St Etheran's Kirkyard dyke, the daffodils on the bank on the left were in full flower and the lane over Gallows Hill had violets in bloom. This year the daffodils are scarcely in bud and the lane is white with snow.A farmer was busy attending to his new lambs, using a quad bike and trailer to take some back to the shelter of the yard.


This cottage small cottage next to St Etheran's Kirkyard was originally Rathen parish school. It was attended by Frederick Stewart, (1836-1889) son of a Rathen tailor who eventually went on to reform the education system in Hong Kong. 

George Halket, author of the poem, later set to music, Logie o' Buchan was for a time school master, precentor and session clerk at Rathen. Halket was a suspected Jacobite sympathiser who in 1715, is recorded, as being required to give security to guarantee his  future loyal behaviour.

Frederick Stewart and his siblings walked to Rathen School along a this lane. they must have looked at this view, minus the telegraph poles and wind turbines of course, towards  Mormond Hill.

Lesser Celandines at last

Today began as a real Spring morning at last, the temperature reached a relatively respectable 8.5c, since there was virtually no wind this felt very pleasant.

The Wastart has a lot of dry, dead grass away from the burns, bogs and temporary winter lochans. Yesterday we saw a grass fire break out and rapidly take hold on the dunes beneath Tiger Hill in Fraserburgh. This phenomenon has been widespread across Scotland during the last week, partly due to muir burn getting out of control due to the relatively dry conditions.

Abundant Coltsfoot (Tussialgo farfara) flowers by the Swine Burn

 It was quite noticeable that the several patches of coltsfoot which we saw in flower today were all on slightly west facing ground which caught the sun.

At last Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) are just a starting to come into flower, whereas on Monday the celandines at Philorth were hardly open in today's  bright sunshine  those by the Swine Burn were opening.

Spring, still unsprung

Snowdrops at Philorth

The wood at Philorth is still carpeted in the white drifts of snowdrops. By the end of March last year they had almost all vanished to be replaced by celandines and the first of the wood garlic.This year the are only a very few celandines in bud and the margins of many of their leaves are brown and frosted. The wood garlic has not yet started to open, nor has the grass started to grow and there was still ice on shaded puddles at mid morning. Most trees have enlarged buds which have not yet started to open. Only the raucous rooks busily fussing about their nests and the very occasional daffodil seem to be aware that it is actually spring.