Djouce

A lovely 23 km return walk from Curtlestown Wood to the summit of Djouce (rhymes with mouse) along a part of the Wicklow Way. The view from Crone Wood down over the Powerscourt Waterfall always surprises. I heard and saw lots of chiff chaffs, wheatears and ravens. The sky larks and meadow pipits display flights caught my attention just because I realised how far they travel in the wind. The purple colours of the heathers and foxgloves were striking against the ground greens.

Seeing the bumble bees on the purple foxgloves set me wondering. Are their compound (arrayed, external) eyes more suited to seeing short wavelength (ultra) violets in the opposite way that the kestrel's single large eye is adapted to seeing the longer (infra) red colour of heat in the grass. If the last thing to pass through the mind of the bee as it hits your windscreen is its tail, could we protect the bees by making our windscreens purple? Should we slow or indeed stop for bees as seismic boats stop for whales? Or as they try to limit industrial noise or disturbance a week before the start of deer hunting in the US - are nervous deer tougher to kill?

There was almost no one out in the Wicklow Mountain National Park - it was mine, all mine and the views were fabulous. The only downside were the vile horseflies that savaged me alongside the Glencree River.

Thank you Swiss Steve!