Wildlife watch Taking time to enjoy the forest and play name game
Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Falls of Clyde Wildlife Reserve Ranger Laura Preston is taking her own advice and immersing herself in forest bathing.
It’s amazing how quickly the seasons change, especially when you’ve been immobilised for most of October.
I apologise for my absence, but I fell off my mountain bike on October 2 and only made it back to work last week. A big thanks goes to the Mountain Rescue and Ambulance Service at Glentress.
For anybody who remembers an article I wrote at the beginning of the year about Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing: well, now I am in the perfect position to do this!
All I can do is slowly hobble about the place, so it has allowed me to really take in all the sights and smells of the forest.
The autumn colours at the Falls of Clyde look truly spectacular at the moment. We have been fortunate enough to have lots of photos shared with us, so if you were unable to visit I would urge you to have a look at our Twitter @ Thefallsofclyde
My inability to get out much has also given me time to catch up on some reading.
I’ve recently started a book by John Wright called ‘A Curious History of Latin Names’.
Each species has a Latin (or scientific) name and a common name. The Latin name is universal and the common name can vary upon where you live.
I’m also intrigued to know the translation of the Latin name.
One example is Somateria Mollissima; ‘soma’ means body, ‘erion’ is wool, ‘mollis’ is soft and ‘issima’ means very. So we have ‘thing with very soft body wool.
It wouldn’t surprise you, then, to find this is the common eider – a duck whose feathers we use in eiderdown pillows and duvets!
You won’t find common eider at the Falls of Clyde, as they are found along coastlines, but now is the perfect time of year to go and look for them.