The Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather and the seasons, plus the flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. This separate "colour supplement" displays some more pictures, in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!
This dahlia is lit up by the rays of a low sun, while behind it are dark clouds, threatening yet another shower of rain. Just about sums up much of the weather in October!
There are reports that a combination of poor weather over the summer and then colder than usual nights recently have combined to produce better than usual autumn colours this year. This magnificent tree in the gardens of Drummond Castle in Perthshire certainly supports that view.
No matter the weather, these Acers, which grow in the formal gardens and parterres in front of Drummond Castle itself, create a marvellous display every year!
It's always great to see the visiting winter birds arriving from more northerly summer breeding grounds, replacing the summer visitors who have migrated back to Africa and the Mediterranean. These Whooper swans, with their distinctive yellow beaks and even more distinctive whooping calls, have flown into Hogganfield Loch in Glasgow from Iceland.
Rhododendron flowers are usually one of the signs of spring, but they do sometimes try to produce a few flowers in the autumn too. Usually they are stunted and not worth a second glance, but this specimen in Finlaystone Country Estate, on the border between Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, has managed to produce a perfect pink bloom.
There are now three Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers being fitted out at the BVT Surface Fleet yards on the river Clyde at Scotstoun, Glasgow. HMS Daring (nearest the camera) was launched in February 2006 and HMS Dauntless (behind) in January 2007. HMS Diamond, launched in November 2007, is in another nearby dock. They will come into service in 2009 and 2010. The Clyde yards will also build HMS Defender, Dragon and Duncan in the next few years. The ships are fitted with state-of-the-art technology, including the Principal Anti-Air Missile System, which can provide airspace cover for hundreds of miles.If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page
