East Ayrshire Life

As you may have gathered, May is my favourite month of the year. Not because it is my birthday month, not really enjoying that as I am getting older and know it, no the fact that normally it always feels like Winter is at last behind us. The frost start to disappear, plants and nature seems to ground change at a rapid rate, fishing starts to improve (hopefully) and life feels more relaxed.

1st.

Bluebells have just appeared from nowhere and brighten our hedgerows and woods.

Conifers are sprouting away.

Our Maple has put on all this new growth in a week adding a bit more colour to the garden.

A massive hatch of Bibio (Hawthorn Flies) occurred in the Nature Reserve and that means I should be out fishing with a good sized black dry fly catching loads of Trout with my favourite fly.

2nd.

Just to emphasise yesterdays comments two more shots of plants on the move, the Ferns unfurling and beautiful bloom on the Willow (again).

This wonderful Warbler was chasing a mate before deciding to pose for me before resuming it’s courting.

3rd.

Above I showed a shot of a Bluebell, well this is the white version. Do you call it a Whitebell or a White Bluebell? Answers on a postcard please.

A Milkmaid.

Male Mallard.

4th.

It is so good to get out for a daily walk in the sunshine, though coats are still required as it is a brisk Northerly wind.

Just added these two to show when a shot of Mute Swans are a decent shot and when you have to guess what the subject is. These two are busy building a nest in a most in accessible place they could find.

10th.

Took the wife to show her my latest fishing loch today and thought we were in luck seeing an Osprey catching a fish. Turns out it was a Gull trying to retrieve a dead Trout from the water, this was a good one hundred and fifty yards away from us.

Not very clear as I didn’t have my big lens on but here it has the fish in its mouth.

Had to have its back turned towards me instead of a head shot, just my luck. But this is an attempt to take off with the fish. It didn’t succeed.

Flying off a bit disappointed I think.

One more circle of the fish realising it was just to big and off it went to pastures new.

13th.

Had to go over to Stirlingshire for a family funeral and stayed in a hotel on Loch Earn, Lochearnhead for the night before and this was the view from that hotel. In the second photo the Fishermans boat was going up and down the loch trolling for fish for hours, never saw him catch anything not even the hundreds of Rainbow Trout that escaped from the nearby fish farm , though I presume Salmon were their main prey.

The Anthony Gormly type statue was of interest while out for a ride along the loch and with the strong Northerly wind and atmospheric weather it was very bleak.

14th.

The funeral was in the village of Killin and to show how cold the day was there was fresh snow on Ben Lawers.

So much for my wonderful May, it has been the coldest windiest start to the month I have known, it better improve or this post may prove me wrong about my favourite month.

Not that I am wishing the days away, but, I do love May. Could be that the next two weeks brings a welcome change with frost free mornings and warmer days, since moving to Scotland May has always a good month but we will see, no harm in being optimistic.

19th.

A cold start but sun and an early walk to prepare us for the day a bit longer than our usual circular walk but a pleasure to be out and greeting other walkers that are a bit more cheery as the sun is out.

Started the walk along the estate road beside the Bogton Loch, not sure if you can see the white of the gulls on the water there must have been fifty or so bobbing along. Can you spot the two flying, one is a bit tricky as it seems attached to a sheep. My Mum always used to say “it must be rough at sea if the gulls are inland”, not true today mum.

The horses still have their winter coats on as the owners know it is cold at night and though the sun is shining it is certainly still a cold wind a blowing.

A Rove Beetle out in the sunshine for it’s walk across the road.

Cannot resist a Bullrush when out with the camera.

Looking across the nature reserve in front of our bungalow, the one to the left of the willow, tucked down below the fence is ours.

20th.

This mornings view heading towards Loch Doon, a single track road with passing places and some great scenery.

Going back to the photo two away of the reserve, we have noticed a white flower sprouting up all over it and as it was in the boggy area could not get close enough to see what it was. Armed with me wellies and camera I bravely went into the marsh to get a close up and record what it was.

A delicate flower much chewed by insects by the look of the petals and I will leave it until the end of the shots to tell you what it is.

As you can see it grows in large clumps.

Also it is throughout the meadow especially where it is particularly damp, and though the name is confusing as it is out in the open, it is a Wood Anemone. A plus for this plant is that it is the host plant for larvae of many butterflies such as the Painted Lady. It grows through underground rhizomes in deciduous woodland and (as is this case) damp meadows. So a welcome addition to the reserve.

I also took a shot of this willow in the meadow, which I am sure will be a good tree/shrub for insects and birds.

26th.

Out for a walk in the sunshine going on a quiet back road before entering the Scout Garden and heard the roar coming towards us and over thirty bikes came through had to capture a few. Perfect day to be out, very envious.

Walking by the river on the Scout Garden walk that I showed you the rubbish in a couple of blogs ago. Today the (due to no rain) the water was at it’s lowest we had ever witnessed and the clarity allowed to see the amount of rubbish on the river bed, again unbelievable.

Yes that is a Flymo grass cutter, thrown off the road bridge into the water??????

A tractor tyre and a car tyre.

Traffic bollard base.

This office chair was two hundred yards from the road , so someone was bothered enough to push it along the path before throwing it in????

The bike I have shown you before but uncovered by water and still looks in good nick.

Found another one.

THe garden chair fully exposed plus a long iron bar.

Finish on a positive note a Warbler of some description, singing it’s heart out on the other side of the river.

I must get onto the council or even the Scouts to see while the water is low if we can get this rubbish removed.

Same evening and at seven thirty it was still a gorgeous day, so decided to walk along the old railway single track line that plans are being drawn up to try and make it a walkway all the way into Ayr some eighteen miles away, no doubt I will never see that completed but a wonderful idea, my walk was a mere half mile but enjoyable.

This is part of the old line nearest our home.

Always need to find water somewhere on my walks, plus of course a lone tree to be included.

So good to see House Martins back from Africa,

27th

Because our garden backs onto the nature reserve which is part of a boggy flood plain our garden often gets some lying water which makes this particular area very soggy. So we got the experts in and they have dug two trenches, buried drainage pipes and connected it to the roof gutter downpipes , so hopefully draining the garden a bit. Did a real good, neat job and all done within a working day. Really impressed. Just need some rain to test it out, after all it is a Bank Holiday weekend so we are sure to get rain.

It is not until you go to different countries that you realise just how unique the Northern Europe climate is. Do not get me wrong I prefer it this way with four well defines seasons and not just more or less the same weather year round. Not that initially I enjoyed that change when we got home, going from twenty four/twenty six C everyday we were away and coming home to just two degrees and ice was hard, but it at least defined what season we are in.

11th.

Just to prove a point.

17th.

We both love Spring flowers so we consider ourselves very fortunate that the previous owners of our house did to. Following on from the Snowdrops we have literally hundreds of Daffodils, in various stages of development , which means we have a progress of flowers over a long period of flowering, a illustrated above.

18th.

One of my first jobs on the lawn before I mow it will be to try and rake some of the Moss out of the grass. Daily at the moment, normally just before lunch a pair of crows arrive on the front lawn and start to do the job for me. They just walk around the garden and pull the moss up (easier than grass I presume) and find grubs underneath. If they keep this up my lawn maybe moss free before I get the mower out, will save me a job, though Scottish lawns are always nearly all moss anyway.

21st.

Went for a walk through the Scout Garden again today, with it’s lovely stretch of water running through it, no Dipper today, to many people out for a walk in the spring sunshine , plus the water was low.

In fact not much wildlife at all, though plenty of frogs and toads around, the first was on the road so I put it way up the verge, while the second was on the footpath and very lively.

A cracking little stream that joins the main River Doon further along and it makes fort a enjoyable walk, but today I want to show you the other side of an water like this, which is more visible when the levels are this low.

Just going to highlight the rubbish that either comes from further upstream or is thrown in around the walk. Traffic cones are a common sight as they will float down until they get stuck somewhere.

Plastic bags who knows how far they have come or is it people just having a picnic and throwing them in?

Items like these have to be thrown into the water, a golf trolly, maybe an annoyed golfer that has had enough, a really good quality bike, maybe stolen and thrown in once the robbers have had their fun and the shopping trolly must be the most common thing thrown into the water.

Tin cans everywhere, my wife picks rubbish up from the roadside and people just throw there rubbish out of their cars or like this one out for a walk and just discard it. WHY?

Asking a neighbour, the water course is called The Muick pronounced muck, which at the moment sums it up.

Much rather finish on nature than rubbish, Catkins, Celandines, and Gorse all making the walk at least a bit more pleasant.

With this title I do not just mean the weather, because in Scotland we can still have unexpected changes as I hope to show below. But social life is moving on as well, though if you include fly fishing I suppose I am a bit anti-social as most often I am out on bank or boat by myself. Plus I have heard a new table tennis club is opening in the next village soon, so I will be out socialising.

5th.

Easter Weekend and Easter Sunday, a time of joy, , church services for the family, Easter eggs, a Bank Holiday Monday making it an extended weekend. So what did we get for weather ? Cold, Sleet , rain and as shown below the occasional hail storm. This taken through our dining room window while eating a wonderful Hot Cross Bun. Joy and sadness as you think of all the Easter egg hunts outdoors.

6th.

The weather has changed a bit, so out for a walk.

Part of our walk was watched by the king /queen of the neighbourhood the local black cat.

7th.

I have joined a syndicate fishery with just twenty eight members on this beautiful loch below, fishing for Brown and Rainbow Trout. Two boats and a rota amongst the members on your day of having a boat, though if not in use you can use it. Bank fishing any day, anytime, lots of wildlife as it is really remote, so looking forward to that. Had a couple of hours in the afternoon so walked the bank (with my fishing rod of course), just to familiarise myself a bit. Strong wind but fishable but didn’t touch any fish, just a really pleasant place to be, as I hope to show you in the future. At least the sun came out.

Boat anchorage.

Middle part of the Loch.

The far end.

16th.

Still the weather is cold, wet and frosty in the mornings, today (though a cold wind) was warmer and no rain so went for a good long walk. It is wonderful that things are beginning to grow, both in the garden and in the wild.

We have a saying “Ne’er cast a clout till May is out”. Meaning do not take off your Winter clothing , or plant tender plants in your garden until May is out. Some confuse this with the meaning being the end of the month May, but in fact it referring to the blossom on the Hawthorn tree, which though very close to flowering, is not out up here. So we should not really have planted these plants in the garden just yet, but they seem to be surviving okay.

Various forms of Pussy Willow are looking beautiful.

Marsh Marigolds out on the water.

Tons of Blackthorn blossom about, many people will be hoping the frost doesn’t get it, as this is the blossom that produces Sloes to make Sloe Gin.

Fresh leaves appearing on all sorts of trees.

A early Buff Tailed Bumble Bee feeding on the Gorse.

It is ten thirty here in Santa Monica, just looked at the weather forecast for home (where it is six thirty at night) and the temperature is eight degrees, rain and a forty mile an hour wind. Where we have just been for a walk in twenty four degrees heat, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. Just what the body and mind needs this time of the year. Virtually over the jet lag so we can enjoy the days. Below are our early Sunday morning stroll shots before the rest of the family emerge from their Sunday morning lay in.

1st.

The shadows are long on the oldies.

Long steps down to the beach.

Butterfly on the beautiful plants.

The tall trees really do not offer much shade.

Cliffs, three lane highway, houses, beach , walkway along the beach and then the Ocean.

The straightness of the grid system of roads, no following the old horse and cart tracks of winding home roads.

2nd.

Just a few from this mornings early walk .

I just love these gnarled old trees with trunks that have a mind of their own.

These ground squirrels have no fear and just come out and eat, far too many of them.

You know me can never resist a fire appliance.

On our way to lunch in Malibu went up into the hills of the Palisades where all the fires were, some areas are starting to be rebuilt, but it is obviously going to take a long while.

5th.

Reminisced by going for walk around the Venice canals such a peaceful haven away from the beach .

One of the six legs on the canal.

No wonder I never saw any fish in the canal with the White Egrets and Cormorants, though good to see the Mallard making themselves at home on the boat.

Loved the curls on this flower.

A Paddle board with a difference.

What a lovely lady sitting in a great spot to read her book.

6th.

I don’t think there has a been an occasion that we have come to Santa Monica that we have not visited the Getty Museum. Every single time we see something new and that is just within the grounds and this time was no exception, in fact we both said this was by far the best visit we have had here a large part of that was also the meal in the restaurant which was wonderful.

The facia finish with this beautiful cream coloured stone makes it all look so clean.

Entered a similar one to this one in a NYCC competition a few years back and still love taking the shadows on the stairs.

A strange angle I know but just wanted to show the peace that is the Getty, compared with the outside world, the highway was so busying stretched for miles.

out across to the Pacific the bay where the Port of L.A. is and the shadow on the horizon is the island of Catalina.

The density that is L.A.

Then there are the gardens and art.

Every visit I photograph these islands in the pond covered in beautiful flowers and the main attraction of the gardens for me, though normally there are some beautiful ducks on the water today there were none.

Overall another four hours of enjoyment wandering that lovely place and so glad it was not affected by the devastating fires of last year in that area..

9th

Our final day in Santa Monica and we walked to the pier, a lovely warm day with a sea breeze cooling us down.

Pelicans look prehistoric and a bit ugly, but just look at the colours so I will say “ugly attractive”.

I think this is a Western Grebe, but I am sure Chuck will correct me if I am wrong.

This is a very friendly Willit, as I was photographing it close up I was thinking “Will it fly or stay”

Looking at the hills from the pier, the rocks in the foreground only appear at low tide and are covered in Cormorants.

A few in surfing and a few paddling, but a beautiful stretch of beach.

My son has two cats, sorry to say this is my favourite Pushkin.

On the last blog I stated we were over here for a special occasion and I can happily tell you that my son and daughter in law invited us over to witness the adoption of wonderful thirteen year old boy called David, who gave us such joy while we were there and to include him in our family, a truly incredible addition for us all.

A lot is going on in our little lives at present and at a months notice our son & daughter in law invited us over to California for a special occasion and we didn’t hesitate to accept and the weeks flew by and I just hadn’t got out to do any real photography, so it will just be images from our first two days over here in America. Even these may not be brilliant shots as with a long layover in Newark Airport our journey took twenty four hours from the time we got up in Edinburgh until the time we entered their apartment. Plus the beast that is called “jet lag”.

27th.

Awake early and a simple walk along the cliff top of Santa Monica.

The pier and beach with a few people on it already, plus the ship in the haze , coming out of Los Angeles.

Being watched by the LAPD. the word got about, us British type need watching.

We never take a trip over here without photographing my sister’s favourite flower.

28th.

It is Saturday , so it must be street market day in Santa Monica, a weekly site that hardly ever changes , but I still love seeing the variety of items available, mostly organic as well.

Very popular.

No uniformaty of shapes in the veg just very fresh and yummy looking.

Fruit galore.

As for the flowers an outstanding amount of choice and all so fresh.

Chinese lanterns still up from the New Year celebrations.

Had to include this Tesla Truck for a certain young man who happens to like it.

So folks that is it for the shortest month, another week or so here so expect a few more shots far from the Scottish West Coast on the American West Coast.

Shortest month and a unusual occurrence which according to the “inter web thingy” only occurs every eight hundred years or so, I am sure one of the followers will correct me if I read it wrong, but it is meant to be the only time we are likely to see four Sundays,Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, each set within a full set of days of the week starting on a Sunday, if you don’t understand me look at a calander and see how neat it looks. Unless some scientific miracle occurs I do not think many of my readers will live for eight hundred years to see another?

2nd.

Went for our daily walk and took my long lens in the hope of getting a close up of the Whopper Swans that were two hundred yards away from my nearest point to them.

Two youngsters and an adult.

Amongst the eight Whopper was this stroppy Mute Swan, here in attack mode.

This ended in a small fight.

Followed by a chase while the others looked on, including the pair of Mallard trying to keep out of the way in the background.

On the same piece of water was these Widgeon.

Just finishing our walk and this helicopter appeared very low belonging to the electricity board, presumably looking at power cables, though I could not see any cables on the shots I took.

6th.

Went out for lunch today in the tiny harbour village of Dunure about five miles south of Ayr. A restaurant we like called The Anchorage that does good seafood. As a bonus to the meal the village has castle foundations going back to thirteenth century but the ruins that stand at present are fifteenth century’s though it was a very cold windy day the camera had to come out.

The ruins from the beach, the cone shaped building is the dovecot which held about two hundred nests and kept the castle supplied with meat and eggs.

The shingle beach and in the distance you can see (centre of shot)the dome shape of Ailsa Craig an island out in the Firth of Clyde.

Another shot of Ailsa Craig, it is un occupied island that is very special, it is the only island or place in the world that genuine Curling stone can be quarried from. A small company in Ayrshire has the sole rights to quarry there and produces the stones from the very hard granite that they collect. In fact as the Winter Olympics are on in Italy at present the one hundred and sixty stones in use at those games were made from here and shipped out as the only stones allowed for the competitions. Think there are many more years of quarrying left seeing the size of the island. Each stone can cost over three hundred pounds when being sold.

Caught the small tanker sailing past in just the right pose.

This is called “Browney’s Cave” and is believed when the castle was built, to be a tunnel that used to go all the way to under the castle for smuggling purposes.

14th.

Went into Ayr today for a quick bit of shopping after overnight temperatures of minus eight C and I have scraped the ice of the car. Got into Ayr and it was plus two, ridiculous.Parked in our usual spot with views down to the Firth and captured this ship at anchor awaiting the tide. After shopping drove down to the seafront and got a closer view of the ship, plus the snow capped Corbetts on Arran. Presume the highest is Goat’s Fell to the right of centre.

15th.

Just making a cup of tea at seven thirty this morning when this Coastguard helicopter came over our house, did two circuits of the glen and flew off. Checked it on Flight Radar and it had come up from Wales did the two circuits and went back to Wales, very strange at this hour on a Sunday, bet it woke a few in the village up.

Yes we are past the shortest day and we are slowly getting more daylight, but this month, after all the festivities seems to be a long month . A few days of sun and warmth would not go a miss and then February being a shorter month will make it nearer Spring. But let’s try and at least live through the rest of this month first. I must admit the daily walks around here help to lift you even if you just go on a thirty minute circuit daily it is so worth it.

17th.

Just going out of our gate for a walk and the house opposite had this “clattering” (that’s what they are called in a collection) of Jackdaws in their trees. “The Birds” all over again.

Am I getting better at capturing the bull?

Why bother with grass when this hay/silage is available.

19th

After we visited the tunnel (see previous bonus blog) we went along the sea front and saw these two ships in the distance waiting to go up the Clyde Estuary when the tide was high, not sure what they were carrying but big ships.

23rd.

Define happiness.

To me seeing the first bulbs of Spring the Snowdrops out and a sign that Winter will soon be gone.

24th.

Six Whooper Swans on the small Loch from along the normal riverside walk.

29th.

We have often been told to leave a garden for a year after moving into a new house, just to see exactly what plants you have inherited in it.

The people that owned this house before us obviously enjoyed their Spring bulbs as we have a good collection of them and cannot wait for them to flower. Below is a selection of the original plants that we can see.

A central bed in our rear garden showing a lot of Daffodils sprouting up plus (as shown in the second shot) a close up of our own Snowdrops opening up, the previous ones were growing on a bank on a walk. The Hydrangea took a bit of a battering in the cold, but I am sure it will start budding up soon, though may not flower this year.

A weeping tree we have in the garden which we are not sure what it is until we get some foliage has just started budding up.

This variegated Euonymous has given us a good bright colour throughout the Winter.

A very dear friend gave us this plant some twenty years ago when we moved into our previous home, it did not like our climate/soil much but we managed to keep one small plant going and even bring with us, only to find it was already thriving here, so the memory can continue. Not sure what it is called.

A bed between the path to the front door and our drive shows again a good selection of bulbs coming through.

A variegated Holly that has proved colourful throughout the Winter, plus a good hiding place close to the feeders when the Sparrowhawk is around.\

The most advanced Daffodil in the garden due (I presume) to the protection the shrub has given it in cold weather. One to remember to move once spent, away from the shrub so we can see it better.

During this miserable January boring month I thought I would add a bonus blog on the many shots I took when out for a morning ride/walk into Alloway, the area of Ayr which is the birthplace and home of Rabbie Burns. Here, with the aid of a Lottery grant and treemendous local support they have turned a horrid disused railway tunnel, dull, dirty, unlit, graffiti one, into a wonderful tourist attraction and some incredible art. Could not separate most of the shots I took into part of the next blog, so kept them all together to bore (sorry to entertain you) with an Ayrshire delight.

Coming down from the road on the lefthand side of this shot, you have no idea that the tunnel entrance in front of you will be one hundred and fifty yards of delight.

The first part of the mural is of course Rabbie himself sitting at his desk with his ever faithful dog and all the animals he wrote about.

Tam O Shanter fleeing on his horse from the evil things going on in the Kirk behind him.

Ploughing from the poem To A Mouse.

Rabbie’s sheep in it’s splendid tartan scarf.

Scenes from his garden.

Scenes of the local industries, curling stones on the cart mined from the island Ailsa Craig, the only place in the world where real stones originate from and the paddle steamer Waverly

Locals were asked to contribute to the artwork by paying for their faces to be included within the murals, though the figure in the last one reminds me of our King Charles, I wonder?

The artwork is not yet completed and this was the end piece ready to receive the last few yards of uncompleted mural.

The art is on both sides of the tunnel and even the ceiling is decorated around the lights.

At the far end the railway crosses a bridge over the River Doon, the first bridge you see is the road bridge outside the Brig A Doon hotel and beyond that you can just see the edge of the actual Brig A Doon.

As you turn round and come out of the tunnel in front of you is a small road tunnel. I wonder if that will be next to get some art?

Hope you enjoyed.

Well the year has started off well, a meal out with the wife, youngest son and his partner at The Brig O Doon Hotel which has a well laid out restaurant over looking the River Doon and the bridge over it from Robert Burns famous Tam O Shanter poem.

Then today went for a short walk in the sunny below zero temperature and captured a (not to sharp) an image that I have wanted to bring you for a couple of months.

2nd.

The Bull

Still room for improvement, so watch this space.

3rd.

Been getting up to the clear skies and low temperatures and this full Wolf Moon, so got up at seven went out in the garden in my dressing gown and filmed the moon today as it was 99.99% a full moon at the moment I took it very low over the garden. I tried getting it through the shrubs to show how low it was, but ended up with the shot of the shrub in focus and the moon acting as a back light. moved slightly and got the second shot.

It was only when I went in that I realised the twenty minutes outside had made me so cold, looked at the temperature and it was minus two point seven, dressing gown was a bit inappropriate.

3rd.

Lights down, decorations packed away, all the lovely baubles and streamers the lot, now up the loft. Finally death of the Christmas Tree hacked to pieces ready to get to the dump and be recycled.

6th.

Just to show you the morning temperatures for the last four days, the two days before that were also below zero on getting up but never recorded them, as you can see at last the temperature has crept up today to be above zero, mainly because we had snow overnight. Not a great deal but enough to christen my snow shovel for the first time since last winter, put it this way a lot less hard work than the new owners of our old house is having to do at present.

9th.

Went into the village for some shopping and crossed the Parrie Burn and though earlier in the week I am sure it would have been more frozen, there is still a good amount of ice still on it.

12th.

A walk along the river today and came across this very friendly Dipper. Normally as you approach them they are off at lightening speed along the river. This one sat on the branch, pretty well hidden , but I was just on the opposite bank shooting away and the song it was singing was a real surprise to me, very vocal. There is always a branch in the way with decent shots of shy birds, but this was the best I got.

15th.

Went on a new walk today (sun shining for once), along the old railway line embankment, a bit muddy but will be a great spot to walk in the summer.

You all know me by now and I have a built in magnet that attracts me towards water and fishing, this wee lochan has apparently got some good Pike in it so shall give that a go sometime. It is only a half mile walk from home , in fact if you enlarge the shot above , in between the two sets of mounds (roughly dead centre) are some trees and where they stop, to the right of them are a row of white, the first one of the white is in fact our bungalow.

Two swans on the Lochan, plus in the distance I saw at least three other water birds, must take my bigger lens or binoculars next walk.

Self explanatory. At the end of my walk.

The old railway line goes all the way into Ayr and the ambition is to make it walkable the whole way (12 miles or so) into Ayr. In the meantime the sheep seem happy to graze here.

Those that know my photography know I am a sucker for single trees.

Just shows that even with snow, frost and bitterly cold weather, things continue to grow.