We are getting very close to the full Moon and my theory is coming together again. The sky becomes clear at night and the temperature on a full moon plummets, especially over the Winter/Spring months and this month is no exception, the last two nights have gone down to minus seven and minus three, but the beauty is the lovely daytime in between. A good start to getting out for walks in bit warmer conditions and a bit of sun on your back, definitely makes for a happier me. If this weather keeps up I may just believe that Summer is just around the corner.
17th.
A busy day photography wise, I always take my camera with me when we go for a walk and the sunlight on the underside of the Buzzard was wonderful. Then seeing the local farmer having just fed his sheep heading back across the fields , most probably heading for a cuppa after another completed daily task.
Then around dusk my wife alerted me to a sight we have not seen in the field in front of the house before. Normally we would get a maximum of three Roe Deer coming into feed, but tonight we had five. Of course one of the three bucks headed in a different direction to the others ( must have been camera shy ), but I did manage to get four together and lots of single shots, so below are a few of those.
The bucks in the last shot (furthest left and nearest the camera watching me ) have just started on their horns and in this stage are known as “in velvet” as the horns have a velvet finish on them.
18th
The weather is wonderful, heavy frost’s overnight and glorious sunshine all day. This of course has got the Spring flowers going , though the seed heads are still about from last year.
19th.
All the early flowering HJeathers are out and by about midday when it has warmed up, so are the Honey Bees, not very clear, but at least one in the centre of the shot.
22nd
Went down to Loch Dunmore to check on the 390 Tench we have stocked with yesterday, all between 6 and 8 inches, travelled up from a fish farm in Shropshire and not a dead fish in sight, a great addition to our stock.
While I was there I was surprised to see these nine Tufted Ducks, we often get a pair, but never seen this many before. Plus of course our resident male Mallard, showing off his reflection.
A busy day, as it was so beautiful in the sunshine we went for a walk up the glen in the afternoon and managed to catch a shot of two of the four Wagtails hopping along the stone wall, plus a pair of Geese waddling around the field.
26th.
I am sorry but this sunshine is to good to miss and I have gone a bit mad with the camera today. Spring is well and truly sprung with all the wonderful colours of the flowers, just love this time of year. The first butterfly in the garden, the goldfish coming up to the surface of the pond instead of sulking all winter in the depths. A very grumpy looking Toad that hated being on the concrete so I moved it to nearer the pond and it still didn’t have much of a smile. Lastly the squirrel saying ” I do wish the leaves would come on this tree then he would not see me to photograph me”.
27th.
The price we have to pay for all these glorious days is clear skies at night also, clear skies at night means at this time of the year, cold nights and in the last eight days we have gone below zero centigrade every single night. Last night was no exception when we went down to minus three and the resulting frost on the grass. I put the above picture on to show the warmth in the sun doing it’s bit to make it another great day, where the sun is on the turf no frost, the shadow from the house stops the sun getting to the rest of the lawn hence the white stuff still there. I know what you are all thinking, “that’s a lawn?” yes it will be once it starts growing and the roughness is due to the wives hard work in raking out the moss, which in Scotland is no mean feat.
Sorry it has been a fabulous day and we had some wonderful sights on our walk after lunch, so loads more shots for you to see.
Just to show what a beautiful day, look at that sky not a cloud in sight. These two paragliders were well over a thousand feet above us, soaring like a hawk on a wonderful journey.
As you can see not much snow left on the Munro, but we are expecting another load later in the week, so this picture could well change.
This doe Roe Deer spotted us way before I spotted it, finding a bit of shade.
Finally on our walk is this pond that has the most wonderful clear water and small Brown Trout in it, But today none of that mattered as the frogs were spawning in their hundreds and yes I do mean hundreds, the noise was incredible and to be honest I must have taken thirty shots , but will only bore you with these three.
31st
Today our youngest son moved from Sheffield six and a half hours journey from us to East Ayrshire, just two and a half hours from us (well pleased). So we went over for the day to help them construct flat pack furniture and establish the kitchen (food has got to be a priority right?). This is the view from their bedroom, a bit different from inner city Sheffield and nearly as good as our view, all facing South. Our moving in present to them was two bird feeders, seed and peanuts, within a couple of hours they had about thirty Goldfinch down on to the feeders, along with Sparrows a Redpoll and Siskins, a real cheery site for us all to see. Did you know one of the names for a flock of Goldfinches is a Charm, well it certainly was a charming site.