After telling you on the 14th about the harsh weather we have been having, I finished on a more optimistic note with the last shot seeing the snow disappearing. Fortunately that weather continued & we had a week of the temperature staying above zero & all the snow disappearing, causing some very high river levels and very soggy ground underfoot. Of course it was not exactly tropical & overnight temperatures stayed around 1C, so therefore some heavily iced areas took some defrosting, but eventually they have disappeared over the month. This always leads to false hopes that winter is over and metrologically the 1st of March is the start of Spring, but we have been known to have heavy snow falls in May, so we realise we could easily go back to the very cold temperatures and more white stuff. But it is good to see green grass for a short while.
I think the above demonstrates my point, this is a small stream entering the River Fender that took at least four more days to disappear, but was beautiful to photograph, even if a bit precarious to get down to to take this shot.
I hope this portrays the speed of a spate river like the Fender, this was a trickle while the snow was on the ground & once the melt began all the hill snow quickly finds its way down the river, onto the Tilt, into the Garry & then ends up in the River Tay & out into the North Sea.
My little garden pond took over a week to thaw out completely & then the sadness began as I pulled out 3 of my biggest Goldfish that I had had since moving here frozen solid in the ice, followed the next day by a Golden Rudd I had had for 20 years that I had bought up from the West Country when we moved, that one really upset me as it was a specimen fish. Have not seen the other 4 Goldfish, so I expect they are dead somewhere in the weeds, though they normally migrate to the bottom of the pond where the water is a bit warmer, so they might one warm day appear.
The field in front of the house has spots where small amounts of water collect when a quick melt happens, but this one was exceptionally large this year, which most probably demonstrates the depth of snow we had accumulated.
I thought “I know, I will go up the hill & show you the snow melt from the Munro’s, only to find the mountains engulfed in cloud, so took the photo anyway just to show you it is not always blue sky above us.
Sorry but it was pouring with rain on the 20th so it was the wife’s Peace Lily that got photographed, one of four blooms she has on it & it is very majestic.
Considered this a real encouragement that Spring is around the corner, our first Crocus on its way out. I realise all you in the South are saying “ours are finished & we are on daffodils now”, but with our weather conditions we are way behind you. As I write this on the 28th, loads more are out & they really cheer you up, well until the Sparrows & Chaffinch find them & snap them of at the stem.
Walked up Glen Fender, still small amounts of snow on the Munro, but the little cottage sits in sunshine. The cottage is next to some ruins, which I have been told is the church that used to serve the Glen, though after writing this I made be told different by the locals.
I have always been told that Lichen in abundance (as it is on our Azaleas) is a sign of good clean air & I have no doubt that that is what we have in the garden, we are so privileged to live in such a beautiful place.
Again just to show how pleased we are to see Spring flowers actually emerging from our, for so long, snow covered garden. This Primrose may be tiny but a very welcome sign to us.
Not that good a rainbow, but had to take it so that when I go up the Glen opposite us I know where to look for the pot of gold.
Walked down to the Castle grounds to see the Snowdrop Walk & they are magnificent this year, but due to the fact that no visitors are allowed to visit the grounds this time of Covid, wildlife was in abundance. There was in fact 3 Roe Deer casually walking through the woodland, not greatly bothered by us, but it didn’t take them long to realise that we were a danger to them & off they ran.
Daily we get about 12 Blackbirds visiting the garden, mainly to the back door where they know there is a never ending supply of sultanas. This is one of the Males who tend to dominate the females when it comes to getting the majority of food, though already we are noticing that the females are not coming so frequently& we think they are nesting, so hopefully we may have a few more mouths to feed come summer.
Last day of the month, metrologically the first day of Spring tomorrow, so I thought it appropriate to end on a lovely Spring bulb (or is it a tuber?). This miniature Iris comes out only lasts a couple of weeks but has such a stunning purple colour, as I hope you can see in this shot. Taken on an overcast day that was forecast to be a sunny, bright one, the reason I had left it for today, in the end I had to use a diffused flash to bring out the colour, but it really is a lovely little plant of which we have six all close to each other. I may have to break my no repeat shots on this 365 day shoot to show you it when it is out.
One of my greatest followers of the blog (Donna), has come up with the idea of naming your favourite shot each month & the winners going into a colander for next year. Let me know what you think of that idea, if you like it tell me this & last months favourite.