Spring

I started the sketch below last week whilst waiting  for the Corran ferry . I had just enough time to get some paint down before I had to drive onto the ferry. On Friday I was again waiting for the ferry so added some finishing touches to the sketch.. I realised that I had missed out a patch of green ;or rather the green hadn't been there last week. In the last few days the leaves have appeared on the birch trees. I wonder how it is that all the birch trees in Lochaber can be so well synchronised as to come in to leaf within a few days of each other; is it the daylength or the temperature?
This evening running home from work, the late evening  sun was shining on the woods near Torlundy The newly emerged leaves were glinting and  shimmering in the golden light. It was  glorious!  In the other direction  Ben Nevis looked majestic and formidable with its cap of snow and  deep shadows creeping  up the corries. As I ran roe deer crossed the track in front of me. Primroses and  wood anemones peppered the woodland floor. Finally crossing the Spean Bridge I saw a cloud of bats wheeling and darting above the river. Truly Sprng is here!

Ben Keil from Corran.