Land anemones

Another beautiful spring day in the Scottish Borders. I'm using Blipfoto as an excuse to poke about in parts of my town that I haven't explored before, and today I discovered a lush green valley hidden away behind some large private gardens.

There's no through path down it, so the easiest route was to follow the stream twinkling its way down to Jed Water, the main river that runs through Jedburgh.

Carpets of wood anemones (anemone nemorosa) and celandines were everywhere, taking advantage of the light before the canopy closes over.

As I teetered across some mossy logs to take this picture, I heard a scuffling coming towards me. A large and extremely healthy-looking rat was trotting along, using the stream bed as an expressway down the valley. With barely a glance in my direction, he made very rapid progress, occasionally splashing through a deeper part. I love being reminded that all these creatures live so close by - last night while I was out running, a fox darted across in front of me, and there are always dozens of bats flitting about each evening.

I just discovered that common names for wood anemones include 'windflower' and 'smell fox'. I wondered why I could smell a fox when I lay down to take the photo - now I know!