Category: Birds

A cold and frosty morning – 17 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bWell, that’s the way it looked when we got up.  When I say ‘got up’, I really mean got out of bed, looked out the window and went back beneath the warm duvet again.  I’m not sure if it had snowed during the night, but the temperature was hovering around zero, so it might have.  Didn’t do much in the morning apart from clear up the kitchen a bit.

In the afternoon I struggled into my boots and gaiters to take a walk across to St Mo’s.  Lots of deer tracks, but no sign of the actual beasts themselves.  Spent some time watching the coots and ducks sliding across the frozen pond.  Managed to find a puddle hidden under a covering of snow on a layer of grass.  It was deep enough to reach up to my knees and cold enough to take my breath away.  That alone shortened my walk.  No tramping through the trees today, not with frozen tootsies.  Got a few photos of tracks in the snow, but nothing interesting.  There wasn’t really enough directional light to create the shadows you need when photographing snow.  Came home, dried off and stared at a glowing screen 1 for an hour or so.  I don’t suppose I will ever learn.

That about wraps it up for today.  We should have gone to salsa tonight, but the weather station said it would snow and the temperature was dropping from its high of 3ºc and we weren’t really all that bothered.  Hopefully we’ll go to class tomorrow.  Tomorrow is another day.

  1. “Maybe we spend too much time looking at glowing screens.” 22 December 2015 ↩

On the go all day – 15 January 2016

Posted on by Zogman

combo bBusy day, that’s why this entry is a wee bit late.  Up early to get ready for Crawford and Nancy coming for dinner.  Between us we made the soup, the main course which was Scamp’s Chicken in Breadcrumbs Twice 1, made the pudding which was ginger cheesecake and all before lunch.  We went out to Costa Robroyston for lunch 2.  Fleeting snow showers while we were out, but it was icy underfoot.

After lunch, we did some extra shopping, tidied up the living room, hoovered (or Dyson’d to be more exact), cleared and set the table and in the midst of that I even managed a short walk, a very short walk. I had forgotten my boots and normal street shoes are no match for sheet ice. Discretion was the better part of valour and I retraced my steps, but not before I got this shot of Mr Grey’s cousin out on a limb.  One or two shots and then he decided that it was time to leave.  I was quite impressed with the quality of the shots from the Tamron lens today.  It’s easy to see how the acutance is masked by the heavy noise when the ISO is up in the five figure bracket.

The visitors arrived about 7.30pm and we did have an entertaining night as usual.  Unfortunately, our young neighbours were also having an entertaining night and the music finally finished about 2.00am.  I hope it’s a one off.

  1. She didn’t make it twice, it’s just it’s marinated in breadcrumbs with lemon, garlic, parsley and stuff, then coated in breadcrumbs again for cooking. It’s got a fancy Italian name too. ↩
  2. We must be almost on first name terms with the folk that work there. ↩

Happy Christlefridge – 25 December 2015

Posted on by Zogman

comboChristlefridge, as far as I can remember was a give away game at Christmas for the Sinclair Spectrum, round about 1980 something.  I remember it was a good fun game, but can find no reference to it on the internet.  Maybe my memory is playing tricks again.  “So”, as John Lennon said, “this is Christmas, and what have you done?”  I usually ask this question at New Year, but Christmas is as good a time as any.  So what have you done?  What good?  What not so good?  Possibly more important, what are you going to do about the latter?  Think about it.

Why does everyone say “Merry Christmas”?  It must be the only day in the year when we use the ‘Merry’ word.  Merry usually means drunk, so are we wishing (hoping) that everyone is drunk at Christmas? The SNP won’t like that.  Wee Mooth, AKA Nick the Chick, AKA Nicola Sturgeon won’t like that.  It goes completely against their Calvanist policies.  You’ll all go to Hell, you know and Nick the Chick will be standing there with the pitchfork.

Today we went for our usual Christmas walk around, not St Mo’s for a change, but Broadwood Loch.  Not a real loch, but manmade about twenty odd years ago.  Not a very interesting walk, but one we always indulge in at this time of year.  Saw some gulls, some cormorants, some geese and hunners of swans.  That was about it.  No herons and definitely no deer.  Dull, dull, dull.

After the walk, we had lunch and then settled down to watch tv for an hour or so before we started to make dinner.  Ate and drank too much as usual and are now resting while watching the Titchfield Thunderbold (c1953, although it could just as well be 1593).  Totally innocent fun, but in colour.  Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

Today is Fred P’s birthday.  His reply to my birthday wish text was:
“Many thanks, Fred (or as others have said ‘Oh Christ it’s him’)”

Hope my readers have had a happy Christmas, or even a merry one if you’ve been living dangerously.

I saw the sun today – 20 December 2015

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combo bToday we woke to sunshine.  Real sunshine from a blue sky with little pink clouds.  After half an hour, the pink clouds had turned gold as the sun rose a bit higher in the sky.  Amazing.  It didn’t last of course.  An hour later the rain was torrential – but the sun was still shining!  It wasn’t a sun shower though, the rain went of for a full 15minutes without relenting and the sun still shone.  Then, just as the sun disappeared behind the grey clouds we’ve become accostomed to, the rain stopped.  Strange weather.  At least the rain stayed off for most of the day after that although the clouds stayed, always threatening more of the wet stuff.

Since Scamp had done most of the cooking yesterday for J&M, I though it was only fitting for me to ‘recycle the dishes’ as they used to say in the Fairy advert (other washing up liquids are available).  Most of the heavy lifting had been done last night by the dishwasher, it was just the garlic encrusted pans and trays and the bowl that had contained the marinade (garlic) that formed the bigger part of today’s work.  It didn’t take that long really and I felt better for doing it.

After lunch I made the decision to risk getting soaked in the hope of getting some photos over by St Mo’s.  I was just walking over to the pond when heard a loud croaking above me, and there was my old friend Mr Grey, flying in for his own lunch.  I stalked him for a few shots from the relative cover of the Scots Pine wood, but I really wanted to get some photos of him taking off and soon I got my chance.  I thought I’d got some decent shots, so set off to annoy the deer.  The deer must have heard me coming because they were all hiding.  I did find some deer hair on the ground.  I remember deer hair from using it to tie fishing flies – many moons ago.  No blood, so are the deer moulting, casting, whatever it’s called when they lose their winter coats in this strange warm, dull, damp climate we live in now.

Daylight was fading so it was time to head for home.  At the wee pond, there was Mr Grey again, so I got a few more shots of him flying off to the middle of the big pond where he knew he would be safe from my depredations.

Such a (Mr) Grey day.

Hard Travelling – 15 December 2015

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combo bOut to the doc’s just after 9.00 this morning, then off to Larky to get my glasses fixed after they broke last week. It was no fun driving through about 10 miles of motorway roadworks. I’d hate to have to drive this twice a day, five days a week. It’s never ending too. I think it’s been going on for about a year now and it looks like it will go on for at least another year.

Larky hadn’t changed much, but I did see a strange sight. There was a flock of birds circling round the railway station. At first I thought they were rooks or crows, but then I noticed gulls, starlings and pigeons in the flock too. So strange to see such a mixture of different raucous birds.

Drove back through the same roadworks (there’s almost no way to avoid them) on the way home. I did take one diversion to pick up some icecream from Souave’s in Muirhead, and Edinburgh Rock too, of course.

There was just enough light left when I got home to get out with my new boots and get them dirty, or at least wet – and maybe get some photos. I walked along the railway walk and got what I thought were some good shots of an old twisted tree. When I got back, I realised that it just didn’t work. That’s how it goes sometimes. The boots survived the trip. I managed to get them wet and dirty, but my feet stayed dry. Success!

The morning after … – 14 December 2015

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGot in late last night (well, this morning actually) and didn’t get to bed until about 1.30am. As a consequence, we didn’t rise until after 9.00am. There was no need to rush because it was dull and rainy outside.

Later when Scamp had her Gems Christmas party, I vamoosed to the gym for a swim. That’s one of the great luxuries of being retired, being able to go the gym when it’s quiet.

Tonight was the last salsa class of the year and as usual it was great fun. Just a mix of dancing and games – daft games. Jamie G had provided us with far too many goodies and it would have been churlish to not have partaken of some of them.

Today’s POD, in fact the only photo I took today was starlings sitting in the tree outside the house indulging in their tuneless singing that they always produce on dull days. Maybe they’re fed up with the rain too.

Cold and Frosty – 13 December 2015

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combo bOut just after 10.00 this morning to make the most of the bright light, blue sky and ground frost.  Just a quick trip to St Mo’s to see if there were any deer around (there were) and if there were any photo opportunities to be had (there were).

I had hoped that Mr Grey would be out near the shore fishing for food, but as I was walking across the road, he was flying above me in the opposite direction.  I did get a shot of two one-footed coots on the icy pond.  I guess it doesn’t hurt so much if you only stand on one foot, because only one foot freezes at a time.  I walked down through the deciduous woods without a sign of any deer, then when I was almost at the small pond, two of them ran across my path about 100metres away.  I walked on a bit and startled another group of five or six younger animals who sped away fast.  I didn’t attempt to photograph them, it was just good to see them run.

Walked on over the hill at the road and got a few more shots of frozen leaves and dried thistles.  The stuff most photogs like me take.  My kind of photos, Scamp calls them.  I liked the light on the pine trees beside the path from the boardwalk and got some good directional light on them.  After that, it was back home for tea and toast.

Didn’t do much else other than make some bread and cook the venison I got yesterday for my dinner.

At night it was the Salsa Christmas Ball.  I think we both had a ball, despite the floor being sticky with something unmentionable and there being very little room to dance when it seemed that everyone was on the floor at the same time.  Because neither of us had work in the morning, we could stay as long as we liked.  We liked midnight as a time to stay until.  By then I’d danced with seven girls which must be a record for me.  Still to see the Photo Booth photos, but I’m sure they will be hilarious.  Great time with great people.

Here comes the sun – 6 December 2015

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combo bToday announced itself with sun coming through the window, no wind and no rain. What a difference from last night.

After tidying up after yesterday and Friday, Scamp settled down to catch up on the TV she’d missed and I pulled on my boots and went out for a walk in this welcome break from the stormy (I’m not going to mention ‘D’ – You know who) weather. Got a walk along the old railway. The Kelvin Burn which becomes the River Kelvin a few miles downstream was very high, as you might imagine after the unremitting deluge of the past week or so. Unlike the last time the burn was high, this time I chose my route with care and avoided wet feet.

At Dumbreck Marshes I managed a pen and ink sketch of a farm a far distance away. While I was attempting to get a record shot of the farm and was watching the light change on it and the field in front, I caught sight of a cock pheasant gliding over the field. I just managed to grab one shot of it and not the best view of the bird either. By the time I reacted it had passed into the area in direct sunlight. Also, as the sun was low, the light was and orange/brown colour and the combination of the two meant the colour was all but drained from the shot. Such a pity.

Walked back to the car, passing a group of ‘real’ walkers, complete with nice clean jackets, rucksacks, walking poles, expensive boots and even gaiters. Oh I wish I was a real walker.

Unsettled – 11 September 2015

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combo

For the last ex-work day this week, I was up and out by 7.20 to wander St Mo’s.  Took some old bread to feed the ducks, but they didn’t seem all that interested.  The swans were happy to snap up their allocation, but the ducks raced halfway across the pond, then just sat there watching.  Look ducks, coots and sundry waterfowl, this is just any old bread, this is Marks & Sparks bread.  Ok, have it your own way (or don’t actually), but the seagulls will be mobbing in a couple of minutes for it.

No deer, and the light just wasn’t what I wanted this morning.  I can’t explain it, it just wasn’t right.  Yes, it was bright and directional, but I didn’t find it creative.
I got a few shots of a spider on its web and another of backlit leaves.  My third one is one of a flock of birds that kept flitting across the trees.  The rest of the shots were deleted.  The images from both the Nikon and Oly are taking up an amazing amount of space on the drive and I have to be more exacting in my attempt at reducing the amount of junk photos on the drive.

Scamp thought I was looking a bit fidgety and took me out for a coffee at lunchtime.  I have to agree that I was a bit restless this afternoon.  That’s what happens when you don’t get the photos you wanted in the morning!

Larger versions of today’s pics are available for viewing on my Flickr account.  All photos copyright of Donald Campbell and are digitally watermarked and therefore are not available for use by anyone except me.  If you wish to use them, please contact me in the first instance by using the comment section on this page.

Coffee and a scone – 14 August 2015

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DSC_3282- blog--226I was up early(ish) this morning and managed to get a few photos of the dunnock searching the garden for food.  There was plenty of birdfood there, but the dunnock is shy and won’t feed when there are other birds around.  I looked it up on the RSPB site and it confirms my observations.

Gym and a swim later in the morning and a painting done – a very quick one.  A monochrome sketch totally done in paint with no pencil sketch.  A time limit too of 30 mins.  Like most of these ‘works’, it had it’s good points and its bad.  Also as usual, to my eye, the bad outweighed the good.  Strictly not for publication, but a useful practise piece.

Couldn’t find anywhere to go for lunch, so we had a swift sandwich, then went out later for a coffee at the ice cream shop in Muirhead.  Real old fashioned cafe.  Old fashioned coffee too.  Bought some ice cream to have with our dinner.

All in all, not a bad day.  There’s been worse.