A thin mist is drifting across from the high tops, but it’s the only hint of grey in a landscape that looks as though its just been newly laundered. There's a feeling that summer is just around the corner.
All my favourite birds are out this morning, and in fine fettle. Who can fail to be moved by the bubbling crescendo of the whaup, or curlew? I listen to the thin call, rising slowly and then becoming faster until the great climax to the song: a bubbling sound, a liquid trill that is loved by walkers everywhere.
Combine that particular music with the plaintively shrill peewit of the lapwing, the song of the moors and the wide-open skies. But what a miss-named bird.
How much more evocative and descriptive are the local names of “peesie" and “teuchit” or even the more popular “peewee”.
Add the high pitched piping of the oystercatcher and you get a medley of wader song fit to lift the heart, and this morning my heart is well and truly lifted by the sound of it all. As I wander home for breakfast a robin chortles out its sweet song in the woods, and a wren scolds me for making such a
noise. There’s a skylark in the field and the sound of it cheers me like no other sound can.
I find these early morning walks uplifting and I most certainly hope that readers of Walkwise will continue to get as much out of these strolls as I do.
This is the last issue of what has been an exciting journey for all of us who have been involved in putting Walkwise together.
All of us at Walkwise have thoroughly enjoyed our journey with you and it's our hope that you will continue to explore the wonderful byways and footpaths of Scotland. Perhaps I can be a little cheeky and suggest you join us in the great outdoors with TGO magazine, the UK's best hillwalking and backpacking monthly. You'll be assured of a warm welcome. Meanwhile, the trails await and I hope this final issue of Walkwise will be as much a celebration of walking in Scotland as its predecessors.
