ADRC walk to Scaw'd Law near Durisdeer June 2011

I wonder where she has been?

Stiff climb up Durisdeer Hill (569M)

A curlew fledgling.

Lunch at the top of Scaw'd Law (663M)

Not in the same league as yesterday's bridge.

Me at the summit of Ballencleuch Law(689M)

Looking down on Dear Resevoir.

Walkers at the summit of Rodger Law (688M)

Golden Plover

Red Grouse



Short Eared Owl

For today's walk I was out with ADRC on an A graded climb in the hills near to the village of Durisdeer. Our leader today was the group's resident rambling twitcher so we all knew we were in for an ornithology treat and we were not  disappointed. Firstly today's 12 walkers  crossed the Cleuch Burn by way of a track which we followed for 2 miles until we came to an unnamed bothy we have previously visited on our walk with the Right Honourable Secretary (yes you got him the one with the grapes) except this time we approched from the opposite direction. After  a wee coffee break our first climb was to the top of Durisdeer hill (569M) which was quite challenging but got us all up to a good height fairly quickly. Some quicker than others but I won't go down that road! 2 short eared owls were spotted as they flew off from behind a wall again identified correctly by the walk leader.From here a small descent and then on to today's goal of Scaw'd law (663M) where we had an early lunch behind a stane dyke as the wind had got up and was blowing quite hard. Rain was promised today but up until now there was no sign of it as we looked South to The Lake District and North to the Island of Arran.After our refreshments we headed off to Ballecleuch Law (689M) and on our way came across a curlew fledgling on the ground beside the track. By the alarm calls coming from the parents overhead this bird was bettter off left alone. On our way to the summit we were very lucky to spot a Golden Plover giving out his shrill call and was the twitching highlight of the walk for me. Our next hill was Rodger Law(688M) which meant a slight descent of 200metres before we climbed to the summit. From here we had a wonderful view down to Daer Resevoir and over to the golf ball aerial on neighbouring Lowther Hill.The underfoot conditions up till now had been relatively dry but all that was to change as we descended to the track to take us to our final hill today which was Comb Hill (645M). There was lots of peat bogs to dodge and boggy ground. Still we all made it safely and enjoyed a wee break at the top to admire the wonderful views. On our way down to the finish we encountered more boggy ground where lots of moles had made their home as we trudged through it was fun to watch them darting into their nests. Red Grouse were also spotted at this time which was a super ending to a 9 mile walk taken in the dry weather but looking at the sky the promised rain was not far away. My sincere thanks to the walk leader without whom we would not have spotted half of the birds he identified for us it was a real pleasure to be out in that kind of habitat with a very knowledgable twitcher and we all look forward to his other walks scheduled in the summer programme.