Entrance to Upper Ochils Woodland Park

Wet. Wet. Wet.

Against the rain-darkened forms of the trees, the glimmer of the muddy path leads the way in.

The trees beyond the firs are now totally bare. It is a still and damp morning.

There is a considerable change from last month. The branches stretch sparely against the blue sky, and the bright sunshine is striping the shadows of exposed tree trunks across the path.

In the fore-ground, the hawthorn bush is a spiky skeleton, save for some scarce leaves and berries.

The entrance to the wood is brighter today because there are more gaps in the tree canopy - the foliage is thinning and changing colour. Two intrepid and well water-proofed Dutch tourists created bright splashes of colour against the soft greens and browns - but were moving too swiftly through the rain to appear in the photo! The movement of the wind and rain in the leaves does little to cover the noise of the nearby road.

The path approaching is open, bright and warm but the shady wood is inviting, as an escape from the considerable noise of the traffic at this point.