A Bumper Fruit Harvest this Autumn

There should be a bumper crop of brambles and other berries this year. Have a look at this article to see why. www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11380925 Its all been to do with the weather, starting off with the very cold winter we had at the start of this year. So why not go and pick some brambles, make some jam and lets hope this winter is not quite so extreme !

September Walk 2010

Signs of autumn were appearing at Mugdock on my September walk. However we'll start with the most interesting specimen - this is I think a Pine Marten (Pine Martin?) dropping. You can see the berries in among. One of the Mugdock Rangers had pointed one of these out to us on one of the walks. We found this one on the path going towards the Visitor Centre.
On this tree you can see some of the swallow or house martin type birds having a rest. This tree is near Mugdock Castle on the road towards the gun emplacements.

In the next three photos you can see some of the swallow like birds flying around :

Below is a lovely dark coloured beech tree :

Blue bonnets :

Horse chestnuts or conkers - nearly ready !

A retriever enjoying a swim on Mugdock Loch !

Bramble flowers : (Black-currant)

Brambles :

A spaniel having a rest :