Mid-summer is upon us, and it may sound strange, but it is a time of year that brings a tremor of sadness upon my soul because the recent verdancy of spring in Clackmannanshire is now past.

The sweet songs of blackbirds, song thrushes and other birds are now diminishing in intensity in the gardens of Alloa and other towns in the Wee County, and in the next few weeks the air will fall silent.

Now, nature remains hidden under the thick leaf cover of our woodlands where recently fledged robins and wrens scuttle in among the tangle of twigs and tree roots to feast upon the rich bounty of summer invertebrates.

A pair of blue tits successfully raised a brood of six youngsters in a nestbox in our Dollar garden, and I see them occasionally as they forage in among the branches of an overhanging sycamore.

The abundant feeding in the shape of caterpillars and other small creatures gives these young tits the opportunity to fatten-up in preparation for the dark, cold days of winter.

Birds of prey have also been busy rearing their broods, and over the next few weeks, many parts of Clackmannanshire will ring to the plaintive calls of young buzzards.

Their 'mewing' calls sound similar to a seagull, and the noise is monotonous and repetitive. In my part of Clackmannanshire, there is an extremely healthy population of rabbits, and they will form an important source of food for these young buzzards as they continue to mature.

The cuckoos that only so recently could be heard calling across the glens of the Ochils have now fallen silent and are slipping unobtrusively away to their wintering grounds in the jungles of central Africa.

And our charismatic sandpipers that have brought so much vibrancy to the River Devon will also be migrating south over the next few weeks.

The season of procreation is coming to a close, and already I have seen the first signs of autumn in the form of newly developing haws on hawthorn bushes.

I have never become accustomed to the shortness of spring and early summer, which is why melancholy envelops my body at this time of year.

Yet, it is a feeling I should learn to shrug away, for there is so much wonderful nature activity around us at the moment, and later this week, I will venture down to the River Devon at dawn to seek out otters.