Lisa G Saw • August 3, 2022

Woods Mill Pond

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment. It’s about being aware, calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, bodily sensations and the surrounding environment. There’s no judgement. The idea is to merely witness your own experience. The reason why so many people do it, is because of the potential health benefits, such as reducing stress and improving overall happiness and wellbeing.

For about 15 minutes I enjoyed a mindfulness moment beside the pond at Woods Mill on a summer’s day. Mostly I sat, but occasionally I stood up to see things from a different perspective. I was truly submerged in the moment. No camera or binoculars were in hand. I didn’t even worry about identifying exactly what I was seeing. I just enjoyed the simple pleasure of noticing. Being aware.

It was mostly overcast, but warm – hot even, when the sun periodically broke through the cloud. There was a lovely gentle breeze cooling my skin. I noticed a large white seed head softly float down towards the water, then suddenly, it was scooped back up again in the wind. For a fleeting moment, I was fooled into thinking it was alive - an insect.

There was so much activity on and around the pond, and I daresay inside it too. The water level was noticeably low. The bases of the tall reeds and other vegetation around the edges were exposed. A lot of flies were close to surface of the water near me. I even saw a wasp on the water, or maybe it was a hornet – it was quite large. A pair of blue damselflies were mating, a small red dragonfly hovered close by and a much larger one patrolled the pond with wings that shimmered gold in the light.

I didn’t notice the female Mallard at first, having a snooze amongst some of the vegetation. Then I noticed a solitary duckling nearby fast asleep, even more obscured. A family of Moorhens made their way across the water feeding on whatever they could find. “Peeps!” were heard sporadically from the chicks – gorgeous little bundles of black fluff. One took a little dip in the water, shook itself and then repeated the process a few more times. I watched another scratching itself whilst standing on a large floating leaf. The chick was so light the leaf barely dipped under its weight. A Red Admiral came into view just near me and a Large White butterfly was on the wing at the end of the pond. A Heron flew past overhead. I barely noticed the sound of a plane in the distance or the occasional car driving down the road. There were hardly any people. Just me, immersed in nature. Simply blissful!

My heart rate slowed down. I was so relaxed – very deeply relaxed. It’s hard to put into words exactly how I felt. It was like a very soft vibrating energy from inside the body that allowed the peace and calm to expand and reach my extremities, almost creating a tingling sensation. As far as mindfulness moments go, it was pretty fantastic! Simple. Effortless. Enjoyable. I look forward to the next time, somewhere else. I can’t recommend the experience highly enough.

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Autumn in Scotland 2025

By Lisa G Saw • November 23, 2025

This autumn Bob and I returned to the Highands, two years after our last trip to the area. With his son Matt and fiancée Emily now living there, it was a great opportunity to see them, enjoy some wildlife watching and spend time out in nature. The weather forecast for our time away was less than ideal, but we were determined to make the most of our visit, even if that meant wearing waterproofs most days! We stayed in two different self-catered accommodation in the Aigas Valley near where Matt and Emily live, on the west side of Loch Ness. It was lovely staying somewhere new and very picturesque, especially during the autumn. The only downside about the holiday was that I managed to hurt my back the day before leaving. It was very frustrating, but I didn't want it to ruin the holiday, so I tried to focus more on enjoying the experience of where we were and not worrying too much about the photography. That being said, I did use my camera on the first morning as a little test. On that first day, and on two subsequent days, we explored Glen Affric. It looked beautiful with the autumn colours (top and below). On every visit, we stopped at Dog Falls, where the picturesque River Affric tumbles and cascades over the rocks. For a stretch, a path runs alongside it, providing us with plenty of opportunities to stop and look out for any Dippers. As luck would have it, I did spot one very early on. It flew across the river to the far side and proceeded to bob up and down, periodically diping its head into the water looking for food. It was wonderful to have some time watching it, and keeping up with it as it worked its way down river. But eventually, it flew off and we lost sight of it. Unfortunately, it was to be our only Dipper sighting the whole time we were in these parts and none of the photos were worth keeping.

A Day at Minsmere

By Lisa G Saw • July 6, 2025

Bob and I had just experienced a wonderful four days in Norfolk in search of the Swallowtail butterfly , which I'd never seen before, and we decided to head home via RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk. Both of us had only ever been to this reserve once before, many years ago, before we knew each other. That first visit for me was a memorable occasion because it was the first time I saw Eurasian Otters in the wild and my first ever sighting of an Eurasian Bittern. Aside from it being a lovely nature reserve to visit anyway, it was the lure of the bittern that was calling me back. We'd already had two lovely sightings of this shy and elusive waterbird in Norfolk, but I had higher hopes for a better, closer sighting at Minsmere having seen some fabulous photos on social media from a few weeks prior. So, whilst we were sad to be leaving Norfolk, I was eager for the day ahead and what we might see. Things were off to a great start as we followed the woodland trail to one of the hides and saw a small cluster of people on the path ahead looking up. Someone had spotted a Tawny Owl high up in the trees. There was even a scope set up pointing towards it. The gentleman who owned it kindly invited us to have a look. It was fabulous to see the owl nestled close to the tree trunk and with its eyes shut, having a few winks. They sleep a lot in the daytime since they're mostly nocturnal. After looking through the scope, it was a case of trying to locate it it with my bins and see if I could take a photo. I was pleased with the image I was able to capture. More people came along the path and some people were struggling to spot it. Bob and I both ended up helping others try to locate it. It can be very difficult describing to others which line of trees and branches to follow with their eyes!

Swallowtails in Norfolk: Part 2

By Lisa G Saw • June 30, 2025

In the first part of this blog post - Swallowtails in Norfolk - I wrote about our first two days spent mostly at Strumpshaw Fen, where I successfully saw my first ever Swallowtail butterfly. Following this, we had two more days exploring the area. I still hoped I'd see more of this beautiful native species at some of the other reserves. DAY 3 The forecast for this day wasn't great, but at least dry. There wouldn't be much chance of any sunshine until the afternoon, when it would warm up a bit. So, we decided to head to Buxton Heath, on the other side of Norwich. Bob knew it was a good site for the Silver-studded Blue butterfly. It's a species we have in just two locations within Sussex - both of which we've been to. It's a species that thrives on heathland and can be found in good numbers in the right habitat if it's managed well - with grazing or periodic burning in patches. It turned out the forecast wasn't very accurate. When we arrived, it was already brightening up and our chance of finding roosting butterflies disappeared very quickly. However, it was lovely exploring somewhere new and aside from one other couple and a man working there, we didn't see anyone else for the three hours we were there. We left the car park and headed towards the northern corner of the heath first and in next to no time, Bob spotted one flying. I stopped and looked down and saw there was another right beside me. I used my bins to take a closer look and suddenly noticed there were ants crawling around it. Instantly, I knew this was something special. The butterfly had only just emerged. I quickly took some photos but was having real issues with my camera. I was so disappointed not to get any good photos. The butterfly is out of focus but the ant is sharp!!! Hmmm! Not what I was going for! This close relationship with ants occurs with a few of the blue species of butterfly, such as the Large Blue, Adonis Blue and Chalkhill Blue. It's the first time I've ever seen the ants in attendance of a new emerged butterfly, so I was thrilled at least to have seen it.