Category: Birds

Baking and house building – 28 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

We thought it might be a good idea to go out early for our walk, and it was.

We walked down round the path to Broadwood and, after some discussion, went round the boardwalk. At first there seemed to be no birds on the water at all. Then I spotted what looked to be a grey heron, but a small, scraggy one. It was standing on the ice that still coats Broadwood looking very sorry for itself. I took a few photos, expecting it to fly off immediately it saw me, but instead it decided that it too wanted to go on a walk and disappeared round the corner, on foot (or on claw). I’m thinking now it might have been a young or perhaps sickly bird. Must check the next time we’re down that way.

We walked round one of our normal routes, noting the speed at which the new Covid testing station had been built in the carpark of Broadwood Stadium. It shows what can be done if the need arises.

Back home and after lunch the weather closed in even more. That fine smirr of the morning was now a drizzle and heading to full tilt rain. I decided the grey heron photo from the morning would be PoD. Scamp decided it was time we started making the Gingerbread House. That is, it was time I started making the Gingerbread House. She was simply the overseer, the ‘Gaffer’ and I was the labourer. I know my place. Bear in mind that this project started out as hers, then became a joint effort and now it was all mine. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I know, I’ve been there before. Apron on, time to get started.

Melted the butter over a low gas and added the sugar, then transferred the dank brown sludge to a big bowl and after letting it cool a bit, added the flour then kneaded it into a soft(ish) ball of dough. Chopped it in two and rolled out each piece and placed two templates on top and cut round the rectangle (Roof/Wall) and the triangle (End Wall). Did the same with the other piece of dough. Crushed up some sweets and poured the resulting scraps into the window holes of the Roof/Wall. We should have made a video of me smashing a poly bag of sweets with a claw hammer. Really funny, really satisfying! Scamp cut out two ‘adorable’ gingerbread people from the leftover dough, two Christmas trees and two candy canes, all using templates she’d prepared earlier. Baked the lot in the oven for about 15mins and surprise, surprise they actually looked like they’d work!

We let the gingerbread and our tempers cool while I made Carrot & Lentil Curry with Flatbread for dinner. Curry was good. Flatbread was exceptional.

Assembly was the bit that worried me, but the glue we made with beaten egg white and icing sugar was fantastic, if a bit messy, especially when a bit of back pressure on the piping bag allowed some of the mixture to escape back up the bag and onto the carpet (oops!). Actually, the assembly was a dawdle. I was expecting some of the disasters you see on GBBO, but it just worked. That’s what happens when two professionals follow the instructions. Decoration was a bit clumsy, I admit I have to work on that, but the overall effect was ok and much improved by Scamp’s careful placing of the Smarties, althought I do believe she sampled a few. Thank you JIC for an imaginative Christmas present. We both had a good laugh.

Now the Grey Heron photo got PoD, but I’ve made the corporate decision to use the Gingerbread House as the lead on the blog.

It’s really raining now, teeming down, but the weather fairies say it will dry up by tomorrow morning, so we might get out a walk. If not, we’ve a cake to eat.

Hardly past the door – 20 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Well, actually I was out today. I took the bins out tonight, but that was it.

It was such a dull depressing day and then it started raining. Last night it snowed, just as we were going to bed, but you wouldn’t have known it this morning. The thinnest scraping of snow on the cars was all that remained of the fluffy flakes that were falling just before midnight last night. The rain today soon finished even that off.

We had a new Covid reporter today. Sharon arrived just after 11.30 and we did the needful with the swabs, then answered her questions. Thankfully it was only raining today. If she had come tomorrow there’s a good chance she’d have been covered in snow by the time we were finished.

Lunch was a rather tasteless Vegan Pizza from Pizza Express. Some things just don’t work as vegan. Vegetarian, yes, but vegan cheese is a step too far. Afterwards we did think of going for a walk, but it was that horrible clinging drizzle and neither of us could think of a good reason for going out, so we each made a cup of coffee and sat back down.

PoD was a shot from the kitchen window of a starling having its daily bath. Shot through the window using my old 300mm lens on an adapter on the Sony. Not the best prospect, but the photo was useable and it worked, just!

I was nominated to make dinner tonight which was a Chicken Cobbler. The chicken was fine, but the cobbler was a bit stodgy. Lots of work to make and lots of chopping in preparation. Might try it again with some suggestions Scamp made. I can see them working.

Today Joe Biden became President and Donald Trump left under a cloud. Fred sent me this photo. I think it sums up the day perfectly.

We’re expecting heavy snow during the night and the quantity of that snowfall will determine what we do tomorrow.

 

Bird Watching and Lockdown – 4 January 2021

Posted on by Zogman

Well, let’s face it, the wasn’t much else to watch.

At first it looked like the ice had all but gone this morning, then we realised that wasn’t the black asphalt of the path we were seeing, it was the path with a clear layer of ice. No point in rushing out then, better to go back to bed and finish a chapter of our books. However, not everyone is as luck as us retired folk. Scott, the taxi driver, needed to get to and from his car safely and often during the day, so he started clearing the ice and shovelling salt and grit onto the path. It seemed to do the trick where it fell, but because there wasn’t a very active footfall on the paths, the grit and salt was not being spread by pedestrians, and wasn’t doing its job as efficiently as it should.

The reason for the layer of ice was explained in the midday weather forecast. It was all down to freezing rain, caused when rain hits an already frozen ground. A ground so cold that the rain instantly freezes. I remember this being talked about ten years or so ago in the winter of 2010/11. It looks as if it’s back again.

We had spent most of the morning and early afternoon taking down the decorations and packing them away. It never ceases to amaze me the number of things Scamp can pack into those big plastic storage boxes. Most of them are now in the loft, with only a few left to go. The room looks quite bare now and quite dull, although I must say it was a dull day.

On top of the weather problems, in the afternoon Nic the Chick explained in great detail why she had taken the decision to put all of mainland Scotland into full lockdown again. It seems like exactly the same rules as in March ’20 with no unnecessary travel no leaving the house unless for exercise or to buy food and all non-essential shops to remain closed. No meeting more than one person from another household outside. Schools to remain closed until the end of January at the earliest. It’s not a great deal different from what we, at least, have been living with for the past month or so. Oh yes, and we’ve to expect more snow by the end of the week.

So, to the birds. I wasn’t going to risk a walk today. It was really dull anyway and Scamp didn’t want to go far. We’d been watching and feeding the birds in the garden over the cold spell and today it was their turn to pay us back by posing for some photos. We’ve had a thrush who visits every day and also our resident robin who seems to think he/she owns the garden and patrols it vigorously. Blue tits, great tits and, of course, the ever present starlings. Today’s PoD is of a thoughtful looking Starling. Taken through the kitchen window.

The diet has started. We are doing our best to eat and drink healthily. No alcohol until Friday and smaller portions at mealtimes. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Tomorrow we may go out for that ‘exercise walk’ if the paths are safe to walk.

The end of a year – 31 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

A year we won’t forget, although most of us will wish we could.

It was snowing when I was making breakfast and it continued to show well into the afternoon. I finally put on my boots and snow gaiters and went for a walk in a sort of sleety drizzle over to St Mo’s and found my PoD. Not taken with the fancy Sony, but with my old Teazer TZ70 which is clean for now after being hoovered out a year or so ago and left to recover from that shock. It’s now much cleaner than it’s replacement, the the TZ90 that is a dust magnet. Anyway, PoD was a moorhen striding out across the snow on the frozen St Mo’s pond. Almost, but not quite black & white. A couple of circuits of the pond told me that there were no other animals or birds looking to be models for me, so I headed home.

It’s traditional to do a bit of tidying up on Hogmanay and as I said last night, I booked myself in to clean the kitchen cupboards, just the outsides, of course. Heavens, it would take a week to clean the outsides AND the insides. I’d like to say it wasn’t such a terrible task. I’d like to say that, but the truth is it was just as bad as I expected. I think we may have to reduce the amount of frying we do, especially deep fat frying. It’s not until you try to clean a cooker hood that you realise just how sticky everything becomes. However, it’s done now and the kitchen looks better for it.

I think Scamp may be coming down with the cold that I thought I had yesterday. Strangely I feel much better today and now she sounds like I did. Let’s hope she recovers as quickly as I did.

Dinner tonight was paella made in the new pan. It worked, but only just. Not the best pan for cooking a rice dish. All those little rice granules get caught in the same ribs that make steaks or chicken breasts taste great.
Note to self: Horses for Courses.
Paella may have been a miss, but the Viennese Shortbread, Scamp made was melt in the mouth. Lots more in a Lock ’n’ Lock box for tomorrow.

Temperature is a positive 3.7ºc now and the snow is still melting. If it freezes later in the night the roads will be a mess. I’m just glad I’m not having to drive. I couldn’t tell you the last time our respective cars turned a wheel. There’s just been no point, so they’ve been parked up for ages. Must make the effort in the new year, i.e. from tomorrow.

No real plans for tomorrow. We’ll probably stay up for “The Bells” tonight, have a dram or a gin and go to bed.

Looking back is what we do on this day, but this isn’t a year I want to look back on. Restrictions, Lockdowns and disappointments marred a terrible year. We can only hope that next year will be everything this year hasn’t been.

I think that’s my wish for 2021. I hope all my readers have a happy and a healthy New Year. Let’s keep looking forward, not looking back.

Another cold start to the day – 30 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Temp was -3.7ºc this morning. We were in no rush to go out.

Instead, Scamp started baking a couple of Dundee cakes. They should have had whisky in them, but she doesn’t like the taste if it (why!!?) so she substituted Calvados instead. I gave her a bit of help with the logistics. I held the paper cases open while she spooned the mixture in. I’m useful for some things.

With the cakes in the oven, I was staring out the window and I realised that there was a Long Tailed Tit pecking at the fat block that hangs from the tree. As we watched, it was joined by another four of them. They are very rarely seen near houses, preferring open country. I thought that if I grabbed my camera and went through the manipulations that are necessary to connect it to the adapter and to the long lens, the birds would be long gone. But no. They were still there. I managed two shots, then a blackbird seemed to startle them and they flew off. I guessed that now they’d found the fat blocks, they’d be back and sure enough about five minutes later they were crowding round the food. I managed a few more shots before they flew off again looking for something extra to finish their lunch.

Our own lunch was now calling us and I used the heat from the oven to warm through my slice of mince cake (I’ve got the last bit in the fridge for tomorrow). It was delicious and it disappeared in no time.

I wanted some more ammunition just incase the bird pictures didn’t work out, so I dressed for the just above zero weather and walked round St Mo’s. Scamp isn’t too keen to go walking in this icy weather, so she stayed home to admire her cakes and do some cleaning. I did get a few shots in St Mo’s, but nothing to compare with the birds from this morning. I walked down past the back of the school to the shops, but saw nothing of note. I was hoping for some deer, but they were off somewhere else today.

Back home and after dinner, it was the Long Tailed Tits that made Pod. I also got my first two or three calendars printed. Then the printer started banding a bit, so I think it needs the ink reservoirs refilled. I may do that tomorrow.

Tomorrow being Hogmanay, it’s the day for cleaning before we usher in a new year. I’ve volunteered to wash down the kitchen cabinets which are really badly in need of cleaning. Scamp will no doubt be similarly engaged elsewhere in the house.

Shopping, Snow and White Flamingos – 29 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

It had snowed during the night, not a lot, but a covering. Very crisp, very even, just not deep.

We stayed in during the morning waiting for the snow to melt away, it didn’t, in fact it’s still there just the same as it was this morning. We were having a piece on fried egg for lunch. If you don’t understand this description, imagine a slice of bread, buttered. Lay a fried egg on it and then, carefully, place another slice of buttered bread on top. There you have it, a piece on fried egg! Well, to get back to the story, Scamp took an egg from the egg box and attempted to crack it with a knife. Except, instead of making a nice wee crack in the shell, she sliced the egg in two! Neither of us had ever seen that trick done before. What a mess to clean up.

After lunch we went a walk to the shops. The paths looked treacherous, but weren’t too bad. Scamp had been smart enough to book a slot at M&S. I haven’t managed to master that bit of online trickery yet, so I went for a waltz round Home Bargains instead. Got a couple of things and met her outside. Then we walked home.

I only came home to keep her company and to pick up my lumberjack’s hat and a long lens to take some interesting photos of the birds on the ice at St Mo’s. The swans were practising their Flamingo routine, tucking their head under their wing. That became PoD. I was surprised there was so much ice still because the temperature was rising.

Walked round to the wee pond and the lighting was good, so I got some wide angle shots of it too.

On the way home I saw a powered paraglider off to the east. I was hoping the pilot would fly over the pond, but whoever it was flew away south after circling for a while over the town centre I would presume. It would have been a great view from that thing today as long as you were well wrapped up. The temperature may have been rising, but the sun was dipping down by the time I left St Mo’s and I think the temperature was hovering around zero by that time.

Back home Scamp gave me a run down on how to make a mince pie. Very simple, but simple things are never the easiest to make. I made a fair fist of it, although I think I was a bit too easy on the salt. Must be more generous with it next time, all being well. Watched Zog and the Flying Doctors tonight. Great film, absolutely fascinating to have a film made about me!

No plans for tomorrow. It may be Cod with Prawns and Fennel for dinner.

It was Monday – 28 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

It gets harder to work out what day it is just now.

It was dry this morning, but it was also cold. Because of that we didn’t move much until after lunchtime and judging by the line of frosted cars, most folk were thinking along those lines too. The temperature wasn’t rising very much to encourage anyone to go out, but we eventually decided we’d go out for a walk.

Since we didn’t know what the paths would be like, we limited ourselves to a walk round St Mo’s pond. Even then we had to be careful and constantly watch to see where was ice and where was asphalt. The rough paths under the trees were fine, but the lower lying paths were so treacherous we chose to walk on the grass rather than the asphalt. I’d taken the Tamron long lens with me on the adapter and it worked as well as it could in the low light that marks December. PoD turned out to be a coot picking its way carefully across the ice on the pond. So it’s not just us who are minding our feet! The boardwalk was icy, but walkable with care. The grit that’s bonded to the wooden boards seems to provide a decent grip as long as you’ve got boots on.

Back home I processed today’s pictures and posted them while Scamp read. Dinner was spaghetti, red spaghetti as it’s known in the house. A tomato base with something from the veg selection in the fridge flung in. Today it was a bit of fennel, a couple of shallots, a handful of cherry tomatoes and the same of mushrooms. Apart from the tomatoes which went in whole, everything chopped up fine and sweated down before adding half a tin of tomatoes. It’s a hit or a miss each week whether it’s “great”, “reasonable” or “in the bin and we’ll have a pizza.” Today was “reasonable”.  Scamp’s leftover trifle needed no such evaluation, it won the “Great!” complete with exclamation mark.

Watched Singing in the Rain which we’d recorded yesterday. Absolutely brilliant film with amazing dance routines. Scamp’s just finished watching Strictly’s Top 25 which was a pale version of ‘Singing’!

Looks like more sub-zero temperatures tonight and most of tomorrow. Scamp’s got a slot booked for M&S tomorrow afternoon. If the paths are bad we may drive down. If not, that will be our walk for the day.

Fishing – 12 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Now, before you get the wrong idea, I wasn’t wearing waders and freezing my backside off by a river. No, I was only watching.

We were sort of curtailed by the Littlest Witch’s banishment of us to North Lanarkshire. Only sort of, because we’d both agreed that we didn’t really want to go to Glasgow at the first weekend when lockdown wasn’t in force and the place would be full of mad Xmas shoppers. Also, the sun was breaking through the clouds and it looked like it was dry outside, so we headed off in the general direction of Broadwood Loch to get some fresh air and possibly some foties. We walked down and over the boardwalk and that gave me a chance to warm up with some shots of Tufted Ducks (commonly called ‘Tufties’). It was when we had crossed over the boardwalk that we found the fisher. It was a female Goosander with a fairly big fish in its mouth. I’m guessing it was a perch, but I couldn’t be sure. The bird was struggling:

  • A to swallow the fish whole
    and
  • B to avoid all the other goosanders who wanted their share of the catch.

Eventually after a few minutes and a few shots from the camera, the fish was no more than a lump in the Goosander’s throat. Then off it swam in search of other fish to catch.

We walked on round part of the pond and on to the dam. Then it was down and round to go to the shops. It was a fairly pleasant day to start with and improved all afternoon, for a change. I was almost tempted to take a detour into St Mo’s on the way, but that would mean leaving Scamp to carry the heavy shopping home, besides I was fairly sure I’d a couple of shots in the bag.

We weren’t long home when there was a knock at the door and a woman handed me a parcel addressed to me. At first I thought Scamp had ordered something for my Christmas and forgotten to warn me, but she said no. Then she said that it would be my pan! Yes, I’d forgotten my pan. I ordered a cast aluminium non-stick griddle pan a week or so ago and this was indeed it. It’s a solid piece of metal and I got the chance to try it out tonight to cook my two venison burgers for dinner. Scamp was making crumbled curried cauliflower bhajis and we were sharing potato wedges to go with both our mains. She’d also made coconut pyramids. I know that’s not the correct name for them. It’s basically desiccated coconut, sugar and eggs made into little balls and baked in the oven. We usually get them at the Christmas Market in George Square in Glasgow, but of course, not this year.
The pan cooked the venison burgers perfectly. The first lot of Scamp’s coconut pyramids were a bit light coloured. The second lot were a bit darker. I liked the first lot, she preferred the well fired ones. The cauliflower bhajis were too spicy and the potato wedges just disappeared as soon as they hit the plate. A good dinner.

Watched Strictly which was dull. So was the final qualifier for the final race of the F1 GP season.

Tomorrow looks wet, so we might not get out for a walk.

Out walking in the morning – 11 December 2020

Posted on by Zogman

Scamp decided we should walk the canal this morning.

We drove to Auchinstarry hoping to walk along the railway path since it should nearly be finished by now, but when we got to the plantation path the men in the yellow suits were still wandering around behind the wire fences. I assume they are almost finished, but it’s hard to tell. Anyway, we weren’t getting to go that way today, that was for sure.

Instead, we crossed at the plantation and walked up onto the canal footpath at the other end. From there we walked on heading for Twechar. Found today’s PoD on a dull day. It was a Grey Heron standing on the far side of the canal. Far too far away for the Sony to get a decent image, so it was down to the TZ90 to get the job done. At about the same point I got a dull landscape shot of the Campsie Fells, but once it had been processed in ON1 2020 and then Lightroom, it looked a lot better and it got second place. We stopped and turned not long after that because the canal runs straight and boring after that. The bends are the most interesting areas of this stretch.

We watched a Cormorant fishing as we walked on. We were both amazed at the length of time it managed to stay under water and how far it could swim in that time. It kept its distance from us and as soon as we got too close it would fly off. The rest of the walk was uneventful. After the walk we drove to Lidl for one or two things and came home with two bags full. Lots of meat, fish and chicken mainly. Now we need to find a home for it all in the freezer tomorrow.

Dinner was Chicken Stir Fry form Lidl with me cooking. It wasn’t too bad. A bit spicy, but also tasty. Cooked it with noodles for a change from rice.

Watched the first episode of The Queen’s Gambit. It was ok. I liked the chess play part and well remember Ian McKay, a prodigy when I started at CHS playing ’Simos’. A simultaneous set of games, just like on the film. He also won every one. He could also play Simos blindfolded. I wonder what became of him.

Nic the Chick gave us some bad news this morning. Yes, all the shops were open again. Yes, the restaurants would be open from tomorrow. However it’s against the law for anyone to travel outside their local authority area. How nasty is that. She’s changed her name to The Littlest Witch!

Tomorrow looks even more wet than today. It did rain a bit when we were walking the canal, but tomorrow looks like more serious rain. We’ll have to wait and see just how wet it’s going to be as we joyfully tramp round our local authority area. At least until Monday 😉.

A sunny day. Hooray! – 28 November 2020

Posted on by Zogman

It even rhymes.

A cup of coffee and then we were off out and walking round Broadwood. I was using the Tamron 70-300mm for the first time on the new adapter. Managed to get what turned out to be the PoD in the first fifteen minutes. It’s a female Goosander. Got to the far end and decided we’d walk the extension into the woods. A bit more than halfway round the extension we found a puddle. A fairly large puddle. It was about 2m long and took up almost all of the width of the path. The remainder of the width had been churned up by an army of boots. We attempted a crossing, but when I sank up to my ankle I told Scamp not to even think about it. A bloke we had passed earlier said he wasn’t bothered about it because he’d his work boots on. I think they must have been calf length boots, because he just waded on through the middle of this mini-loch, following his dog. We turned back, feeling like a couple of softies!
We warned a couple of people about the flood. Some carried on regardless, others took our advice and turned back. Next time I’m taking wellies.

We had to walk back the way we’d come, but that wasn’t an onerous task because the light today was beautiful. A low sun meant the light was blinding at times, but it was worth it. Took a few more bird shots with the Tamron and realised just how effective the in-lens anti shake was. Lots of people out walking round the pond, so we avoided most of them by extending our walk even further to take in what we’ve called the Exercise Machine path. It’s got all these brightly coloured, but essentially unused exercise machines all along its length. Mainly they are used by teenagers as seats or by the curious who will suffer the consequences next day. Just as we were coming home my Fitbit pinged to tell me I’d done my 10,000 steps (now I’m up to 14,000, a respectable amount.

It was good to get out in the sunshine, even if it felt quite cold at times. I ended up with a sore back from carrying the heavy lens and a camera bag too, but I shared the load with the bag across my back and the camera on my shoulder strap. Scamp had cramp in her toe on the last leg of the walk, but soldiered on.

That was about it for the day. The morning had turned into afternoon by the time we got back and soon you could feel that the sun was heading for the horizon. Days are short in a Scottish winter and light is always in short supply. I think we made the most of the day.

Today’s letter was ‘H’ and I chose Helmet. I’d already drawn an easy jet-style motorcycle helmet for Inktober, so I chose a Crusader style knight’s helmet today. Imagine having to wear that piece of headgear when you were going into battle. They must have been tough guys those knights. The horses that carried them must have been tougher still. While we moan and groan about having to wear a mask when we go into a shop, or have to wear one to work. We don’t know how lucky we are.

No plans for tomorrow, but there’s rain in the forecast.