Bridle Path at Upper Ochils Woodland Park

It's not too cold for a walk, but it is very muddy underfoot. Everything seems to be sodden: the ground; the wooden fencing; even the bark on the trees - branches are squeaking as they move in the wind, and leaves are dripping.

- a still, damp and cold day.

Finally - sunshine and a bright blue sky in November! The leaves carpeting the path are now curled and crisped in the cold breeze. When the wind dies, there is a lull in the dry rustle of the remaining foliage.

A glorious surprise lay along this path today - clustered on the Rhodi stems were huddled groups of ladybirds, glowing in the sunshine like berries.

It is a wet morning. The shrubs have created a canopy halfway along the path, which I have to bend to walk under. The path is dark with rain and patterned with fallen leaves. The colour of the foliage is beginning to change and the grass next to the path has died back a bit. The noise of traffic is covered at times by the wind in the leaves and the patter of rain, and occasional bird song.

This path is a narrow border between the regularity of the farmed lands, and the house, on the left and the soft shapes of the woodland foliage pushing out from the right. It is an overcast but bright afternoon. At this time of day only a solitary walker and then a lone jogger have passed. The noise of the traffic is rising up over the field.