I have been trying for ages to take this shot, but a fair few things are against you in your attempt. Firstly I have to use my big telephoto lens which weighs in at just over 4lb & when fully extended (as it was for this shot) is just over 16″ long, is a fair old lump to swing about above your head. My Canon camera has a great & fairly fast auto focus, but the Buzzard doesn’t hover like a kestrel it goes around in circles trying to catch a thermal to go higher. So I have to follow the bird the best I can, wait until the sun catches it’s underneath and (unlike many ) I just take a single shot instead of a burst of shots. On this occasion I was able to get 2 decent shots off before it disappeared over our tree line, surprisingly both of them came out as fairly sharp images, something I had never achieved before. So you can imagine I rate getting this one to show you high up in my favourite shots.
I knew there would be days on my quest to get a shot a day that would be difficult, today I had a migraine, a very rare event for me. But those who have suffered will know that fairly often as part of this you will get an aura of darkness around the eyes, which makes seeing very difficult & looking through a viewfinder on a camera even harder. So I was struggling, but I did notice 2 Thrushes doing what the Crows had been doing, turning over the horse manure to find worms. As I was indoors I grabbed the camera went into the bedroom, stood on the bed (only high latched window in there) opened the window & got a few shots off. Though a good 50 yards away I cropped the shot & tonight can see that it wasn’t to bad. So quest completed & I didn’t have to photograph my bedroom as todays shot after all.
One of our local lairds is a pilot & has a few aircraft of his own, was out up the hill today when he went for a spin in his old bi-plane, this is him heading towards the top of the Munro ,Schiehallion. Must be wonderful freedom up in such a magnificent flying machine, though the open cockpit must have been a bit chilly today, but for once a lovely sunny day.
Okay I apologise, three out of the first four shots on this blog are of birds, but you have to grab the shot when the opportunity arises. I think I can count the number of times on one hand I have seen Oystercatchers in the field in front of the house let alone photograph them. So when I saw a couple in front of me this morning I just had to get the camera out. It is only when you examine the shot close up that you realise, one, the colour of it’s eyes & two, the length of its beak & I witnessed it probing at least half of that beak into the ground that I could see how useful it is to the bird. Not sure if it helps opening oysters though? I like these birds now, but when a flock of them fly over the house at 4.30am on a summer morning, squawking their heads off, I am not such a fan.
About 100 yards down the road from the house is this lovely memorial bench and as it is more or less South facing the surround always has the first miniature Daffodils out. The bench is dedicated to a couple who used to live within our little hamlet and loved this spot. It has a plaque dedicated to them by their family saying “Always lovingly remembered, Agnes & Willie McNicoil”. When we first came to the glen our neighbour Kyle used to maintain the older bench & when he was unable I did it for a season, until it started falling apart. The family were shown it on one of their visits up the glen & they replaced it with this sturdy one.
So today I have taken the view from the bench (honestly I did walk all of that 100 yards to take it on a different day) I wish I had a panoramic lens as goes further to the right with distant views of the hills. The beauty of the spot the bench is on is that it is well protected from the strong Northerly wind, plus the South facing sun on your face. Add to that it is halfway up the hill from the village and a wonderful place to have a breather on the walk up the glen. The big house on the left horizon is Tom of Lude, which has 3 converted stables next to it, that are holiday lets. The light patch near the top of the hill on the right is where the stone quarry is, a very busy place at the moment as it is supplying most of the aggregate for the dual carriageway being built on the A9 coming out of Perth. Will not be long before the field in front of the shot, will be full of lambs. Another chance of some photographs.
I know the 4th bird picture in 7 shots on this blog, but who could resist this wonderful bird posing so graciously on my garage roof. Well of course I couldn’t for those who are not “birders” it is a Pied Wagtail. It is one of a pair we saw this morning, 2 years ago a pair nested in one of my wood piles about 6 feet above the ground under a wooden roof, had babes and then something predated it, took the babes & destroyed the nest, so disappointing. So we have high hopes that if they are a pair we may have more success this year. That would cause me a dilemma, if I took a shot of the babes & put it on here, would that be classed as a repeat photo of the same bird? Not sure how far I can push the rules, maybe I would just have to put it on as an additional shot, like I did the Iris.
Oooops 8 in 10, couldn’t work out why the birds were not on the feeders, then looked just beyond them & there he sat as cool as you like, not taking his eyes of of the feeders. Had time to get the camera, go out the back door, get a little closer & reel off a couple of shots & still it just sat there. So down with the camera, pick up a handful of gravel & throw it at it, then it moved. like most birds it has also worked out an easy source of food is in our garden, I realise it is only natural but it does upset us both when we see a pile of feathers in the garden. I will try my hardest in the next 10 days not to include anymore birds in my photos, though there was also a Magpie in the garden that I haven’t got a shot of yet. Sorry.
For the first time on the blog I am giving you a Marmite moment with one of my photographs. It will be a case of you like the shot above or you think it is horrid, it is in fact a shot of our hills taken through the window while we had a brief shower. I use Rainx on my car windows which just takes the rain off the windows without having to use the wipers & thought I would try it on the house windows, it does clear them quicker but the rain goes into droplets first as seen here. So I have tried to convey the dullness of the day using those droplets. By the way I hate Marmite & only use it as a flavouring on bread to catch fish when by the water fishing.
Back to more normal photography, just to show things are moving in a Spring like direction, I hope over the next few days to show you some of the plants that are out in the garden. Though I will have to keep my fingers crossed for at our height, snow is forecast tomorrow.
Okay so we will start with this bunch of Grape Hyacinths that have come through the ground, such strong bold plants, the wife is not that fond of them as they do tend to spread, but a good dash of colour in the garden. You will note that the leaves have all been cut, not by us I hasten to add, we think it was either that deer we had in the garden or a Hare that may have sneaked in when we have left the gate open.
This is not the best of shots, so I apologies, but it was taken in a howling gale and heavy snow ( I will add a bonus picture at the end to show you ). But I feel it does show the contrasting colours of one plant that you get with Pulmonaria, which are fairly common up here in roadside banks as well as gardens. This plant is a member of the Borage family and is also known as Common Lungwort it is a plant that our few Bumblebees that are out & about are loving, The colour change is as the plant is maturing, not sure of the pink or the blue comes first.
As I said on the 26th I took that days photo in horrendous conditions, as a bonus this is what it was like 5 minutes after taking that picture. Admittingly within 10 minutes of this shot, the sun was out, but by this time the lawn was white.
Another little plant that really thrives in our garden are the bulbs above, which are Scilla’s. These bulbs have a range of shades of blue going from this paler version up to a deep Tottenham (the best team in the world) blue and have spread throughout the garden, though are at their best when in the shade. They add a real colourful, bright edge to the garden & definitely bring a touch of Spring to what (as shown yesterday) a very unpredictable weather wise, time. Clocks changing tomorrow& we are still waking up to snow on the mountain tops & just a tad cold first thing.
Went for a walk today & ended up with this splendid view of Blair Castle, normally the front of the small buildings would be spoilt by cars queueing up to pay for their visit to the castle. With no visitors still not allowed the village seems so very quiet & the castle must be looking forward to once again opening up, soon be here we hope. Get Easter done & we should be on the home straight.
I have put this shot up on a forum I am in & the main comment I get is “why didn’t you post process the power cables out of the shot?” Of course the shot would be better without them & I could purchase an app that would remove them, change the sky to a lovely blue one or even add a flag to the flag post. But I do not like altering anything on my shots, the cables are there, that is what I saw, that is what the camera saw, If I had the camera on different settings & it turned out to dark, maybe I would brighten it a bit, nothing major like taking things out because they spoil the image to much. I even went as far as to say it was cheating on the forum, never had so many comments after that one.
Just another sign that we are turning the corner towards Spring like weather with this Red Currant coming into bloom . I just liked the way this has just grown & appeared over the last week really, well unobservant me hadn’t seen in until today. The sun made a brief appearance when I was taking a shot of it & gave the emerging leaves a bit of brightness.
Gone slightly over the top for todays selection, see one get three free. We know these as Pom Pom Primulas and we have a good selection of them in the garden. Every year we get them come up, last year was not a good one, but as they have just started, this year seems like it might be fairly decent. The beauty of them is in their colour range, hence why I have put 4 shots up for today, these are the main colours they appear in, but sometimes they cross pollinate & we will get an in between colour. White appears to be the rarest in the garden but whatever colour they seem to perk you up when they come out.
I know, back to birds, but this is a first for me, yes we have had Red Legged Partridge in the garden before, but have never been able to photograph them before. I also know that this is not the best of shots, but it was taken through the double glazing & in pouring rain, so fairly happy. What lovely little birds only here to be stocked on the hills for shooting, but this pair seem to be clear of that hazard now as the nearest shoot that has them is some four miles away. So let us hope this is a pair & feel safe enough to set up home here & bring their babes to feed later in the year.
We knew they were about as we have come across them nearby & they have flown off, but who knows we might be able to get them used to us (like the Wren), thus enabling me to get some decent outdoor shots.
We have come to the end of the month & still I have managed my different shot every day, let us hope I can keep going in April. Shots should be easier to come by as things start to grow, birds (yes there may be more) start to nest & have babes COVID restrictions lift giving even more chances further afield. So stay safe & sensible & I will keep snapping .
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