A Stroll at Dusk

I went for a short stroll up the Roskhill lane to the viewpoint. The sunset was amazing with wonderful hues of grey and pink. The air was full of fragrance from the gorse shrubs and pink purslane which, grows in the ditches on either side of the lane.

I could hear the song of the sedge warbler as I pass the nest. As I crossed the bridge I could see the new leaves on the ivy. I thought about the nesting blue tits last Spring who reared their brood amongst the leaves. The river is quite low due to the lack of rainfall and I could just see ripples on the surface as the seatrout snatch at the floating flies. The bright yellow from the flag irises glowed on the river bank beneath the bridge.

There are a few midges around but, they are not biting yet. As I near the middle part of the lane, a pair of pipistrelle bats are flying between the willows. They are so acrobatic as they swerve passed my head, searching for moths and other insects. I can hear geese calling in the distance and smiled as I remembered the family of geese I saw on the shores of Loch Dunvegan yesterday. They were greylag geese with five goslings waddling towards the sea.

The lane continues up an incline with Willows and the occasional Rowan tree lining the sides which, all smell wonderful in the evening air. Once you reach the top of the lane you have a perfect view of MacLeod’s table mountain and Loch Vatten. The mountains had an amazing backdrop of colour with whispy grey clouds.

I could hear the snipe calling as it flies over the moor behind the bench.

When I first moved to Skye I heard this sound in the evenings, it is quite eerie when you don’t know what it is. I love to hear it now. Here is an excerpt from one of my poems.

Summer Eve

Hear the snipe drum and glide to the ground,

with his enigmatic and haunting sound.

Sue Wood

As I returned to the garden I could see the moon shining above the pines. The night was so bright for 10.30pm. The night never gets pitch black this time of year between the hours of 11.00pm and 400am.

Timeless Shores poetry book available on Amazon in paperback and Ebook