Amongst the first Primroses

Monday was one of those special early spring days when the new sun has enough power to penetrate clothing and skin and seeks out those winter bones that are aching for a degree of warmth. I took to the Firth hills desperate to make the most of this day. My route took me along some of Firth's nearly-forgotten hill tracks via Binnaquoy, Snaba Hill, Horraldshay, Burn of Geo, Burn of Vinden and Quoy of the Hill. The day was tailor-made for Buzzards - four of them circled on the thermals; and I flushed a Jack Snipe from a boggy flush and disturbed two feeding Red Grouse. But, birds aside, the day was notable for my first Primroses; in an ancient south-facing quarry, small clusters of 'the first rose' faced the sun. I thought this must be much earlier than previous years only to find my diary for 2010 recording them for February 27th on a Holm south-facing sea-cliff. Even though they weren't the earliest ever, they were still capable of putting a spring into my step.

The quarry at Binnaquoy - is that really a Primrose?

It is!.......

and more than just the one clump....

this is their view.