Nutscale

The heavy rain we had yesterday cleared the humid atmosphere and left us with a beautiful day of brilliant sunshine. I took the dogs up onto Nutscale and it seems as if all of nature was out enjoying the fantastic weather - the air warm and soft. The skylarks were in abundance and seemed to be vying with the stonechats as to who sing the loudest! We took a break down by the river where I watched the vivid dragon flies dancing and the fish darting amongst the stones – so visible in the clear water.

The dogs spent a great time sloshing about and then digging in the banks. Soda was kept happy by a continuous supply of sticks being thrown into the deep pools where she swam to her hearts content. Further on, a herd of hinds kept an eye on us from the brow of a hill. Across the valley, one barked at us in rapid succession to warn the others of our impending arrival in their space.

The moor is looking so lush after the warm rain and the heather is starting to turn purple. Amongst the bracken, the purple foxgloves stand tall, waving in the breeze and playing host to bees busy in their pursuit of nectar. On the way back, something caught my eye on the road and on investigation it was a slow worm basking in the heat. I carefully picked him up out of the way of the vehicles so he could enjoy another day!

The scent of the moor is beautiful and in the 2 hours I was walking, I didn’t meet another soul – it was so quiet and peaceful and on reflection, it was a most perfect walk.