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Early summer gold
Walking around Taynish woods in the early summer sunshine, I was reminded of these words by the American poet Robert Frost. The newly-emerged leaves of the oak trees were making the hillside glow with a rich gold. It won’t last long – every day will see them turn a slightly deeper green, as summer gathers pace – but while it lasts, it is pure magic. “Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.” Robert Frost
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The trees of Dollar Glen
At Dollar Glen in Clackmannanshire, a steep-sided gorge contains an emerald world where the trees bend their mossy branches to the water
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Cherry galls on oak leaves
Look at this beautiful little orb on an oak leaf! Intriguing but certainly not innocent, it's caused by a tiny wasp - one that knows how to ride the gravy train!