Big Family

Dismal day but not too rainy around here so late this afternoon decided to go for a walk along the well known local Lady Mary's Walk along the Turret Burn where it joins the Earn. I'd hoped for bluebells & indeed they were there but not in the abundance you'd want for a blip & certainly not in the abundance that the wild garlic grows! There were great swathes of garlic & some areas where it was mixed in with another white flower I think is sweet cicely (myrrh). Then I saw something I thought looked like a pulmonaria but with creamy yellow flowers. It was growing quite freely so a quick check of my wildflower book back at the house suggests its a form of comfrey.

I was taking pictures of all this & also of the standard river views but then I heard a quack. Now, I count 14 ducklings! I don't think I've seen so many in one family before. Either it was Mum's turn to do the local child-minding, or this part of the river is an excellent place to rear your young. They were whizzing about all over the place, shooting off in all directions then re-grouping back with Mum before shooting off again. Great fun to watch!