The Hut Circle

I set off for the Drummuie hut circle this morning in stunning weather, with hardly a breath of wind and the sun gloriously warm. 

The insects were out in force, with peacock, orange-tipped, white and tortoiseshell butterflies much in evidence and....

....more tiger beetles than I have ever seen. My experience has been that if you see one, you're lucky; today I must have seen fifty.

The birds were celebrating the warmth with their songs, the most common bird up on the moorland now being the willow warblers with their beautiful, cascading refrain.

More of the summer flowers are beginning to appear. This lousewort is the first of its species to flower.

This is the hut circle. I sat for some time on its wall, looking out at the view and savouring the weather. I didn't see a soul and, were it not for the distant murmur of the traffic down the A9, humans might have disappeared from this planet.

The circle of stones is very clearly visible at the moment but, sadly....

....the first of this year's bracken is beginning to sprout, so in a few weeks this ancient and remarkably well-preserved dwelling will be buried again, not to reappear until the bracken has died back early next year.

The builders of these huts, some over 2,000 years old, chose superb sites for their houses. The Drummuie hut circle is exceptional in having wonderful views in almost every direction.

So I sat on the stone foundations of their home and wondered what those ancient people would have made of the frenetic world in which we, their descendants, choose to live.