Friday, 4 May 2012

Scotland 2012 part 4 - Birds and Wildlife

A study of an Oystercatcher..this one captured at Loch Lomand.  

A Ringed Plover.  This one is on the nest at Southend near the Mull of Kintyre


In the UK this is only seen in Scotland..the Hooded Crow.

A rare capture.  A Twite.

An unexpected sighting ...thought it was the Common Guillemot but it isn't , it's the lesser known Black Guillemot

Still a relatively rare site out of the south of England...a Mandarin duck.  This one was a one day visitor to our pond at our base at Kirnan

A nice portrait of a Rock Pippet.  This one is at the beach at Southend, the Mull of Kintyre.

A pair of Wheatears...

I'm pleased with the shot and the sighting..my first of a female Stonechat.

Scotland 2012 part 3 continued - out and about

The little harbour town of Portree on the Isle of Skye...

Palm trees on Skye..the effects of the Gulf stream

Keeping an eye open for Sea Eagles which populate the coast around Portree..

Cannot go to the Highlands and not visit a distillery!
Here I have just finished the tour of the Talisker Distillery on Skye.  For info i have just purchased The 18yr old Distillers Edition, Double Matured Single Malt...mmmmm



The Crinan canal.  A lovely place..there is a also a seafood bar in the local hotel!  The canal is a fascinating place and you can read all about it here

Enjoying the peace and quite of the glens..here we are sat in the shadow of Carnasserie Castle having just explored it whilst
4 buzzards soared overhead.  Carnasserie Castle


This is typical Scotland.  This is Eilean Donan Castle on Loch Duich on the road out of the Kyle of Lochalsh to Invergarry.
The website for Eilean Donan castle is here  Sites like this were so common and never failed to take your breath away.

Dusk is approaching on the journey back from Skye.  I stopped in passing place to enjoy the evening view...

Dusk is setting over the Sound of Jura...

The three of us enjoy a late evening stroll on a deserted beach...


part 4 to follow..

Scotland 2012 part 3 - Out and about

Typical Scotland....spectacular vistas.  Taking a break on Loch Awe.  Had just been listening to the first Cuckoo of summer.

....ruined castles on Lochs with Mountain backdrops. Just minutes before two Tornado jets screamed down the Glen
just over our heads on a very low pass!

I took this through the window of the restaurant we had dinner in.  We were next to the shore and had fantastic views
over the Sound of Jura to the Islands of Islay and Jura.  Here a boat idles slowly through the Sound as evening draws in.

Empty beaches...here we are down by the Mull of Kintyre...you can just hear Paul McCartney and Wings....
Saw my first Eider duck here and watched Arctic Terns and Gannets feeding just off the shore.

Here we are just taking it easy in the beautiful village of Tayvallich on Loch Sween.  Just relaxing pondering how we could be at work..

Seal and birdwatching at Brunerican bay near Southend at the Mull of Kintyre. We watched a colony of 20+ seals lazing on
rocks and playing in the sea. We watched an Otter which was my favourite 'spot' of the week and saw Terns, Gannets, Cormorants, Rock Pippets, Ring Plovers, Oystercatchers, Hooded Crows and Wheatears.

Inverary Castle...the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll, chief of the Clan Campbell.  Spoke to the Duke, as you do , as he was walking the grounds. Has some great artefacts and a superb armoury with artefacts from the battle of Culloden.
Visit their website here click here for Inverary castle website 

The Commando monument at Achnacarry.  It was here in WWII that the Commando's training base was set up at the decree
of Churchill in an attempt to build a force of fighting men to hit back at the Germans on mainland Europe.
For more information on this historic place click here
Today there is also a memorial garden, sadly growing due to combatant deaths in the Afghanistan theatre.

The lighthouse at the very tip of the Mull of Kintyre.  It's quite a journey to get here but the prominent offers views
over the sea to both mainland Scotland and Northern Island.

This is the memorial to the victims of the Chinook crash in 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre which killed Military personnel returning from Northern Ireland and was the RAF's.worst peacetime disaster.  Full details can be read here 

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

Scotland 2012 - part 2....Around the house

Strolling around the grounds of the estate...

Tracker Smith...er...tracking..!

Strolling back to the cottage...the big pine tree on the right had a hanging basket
that was filled everyday with fresh eggs to which we were told to help ourselves
..fresh eggs and bacon for breakfast each morning!

Breakfast ....

The living room had a real open fire..very cosy and atmospheric in the oak pannelled room

It was very enjoyable eating by this window watching the resident Robin in the garden

"Och aye, did yae see thaat!"     "Eeeek!"   up in the woods at dusk..'deer spotting'

looking back down at the house from the edge of the woods..u can see the Golf!

The more manicured part of the grounds

Looking up across one of the lawns towards the beginning of the wood/forest...


part 3 to follow..

Scotland 2012 -part 1

Scotland, or more specifically the Western Highlands, are a truly spectacular place to visit.  I visited with Jo and Alfie last week.  We stopped at the Kirnan Estate in a glen called Kilmichael Glassary which is just outside Lochgilphead which is on the banks of Loch Gilp and Loch Fyne.

The Kirnan estate is a privately owned estate set in over 600 acres of it's own Forest and gardens and offers 3 cottage type accomodation.  We were booked into the Heron cottage and was our base for further exploration over the week we were there.

You can view the website here to see photos of the Kirnan estate Kirnan estate

We ventured into the estates woods nearly every day to walk Alfie and look for deer and spot the birdlife.  There are three types of deer in the woods, Red, Roe and Sika along with Red Squirrel.  On our last night we went deep up onto the ridge and found a quiet place to watch the deer unobserved and once comfortable opened the whisky i had thoughtfully carried up in my photo bag!  Watch out for a photo taken here.

We drove around extensively, exploring ,and went as far south as the Mull of Kintyre and as far north as the Isle of Skye and all places in between including Oban, Fort William and Inveraray. The weather was great, as England was drowning under it's wettest ever drought!?, we had sunshine all week with only the odd overcast day and odd shower. 

The wildlife lived up to expectations and i was able to capture on film Deer/Stags, Seals and best of all an Otter!  I was able to tick off birds i'd never seen before which included Stonechat, Whinchat, Wheatear and best of all a Redpoll.  Good to make aquaintence again with a Scotland only british bird, the Hooded crow and saw Buzzards and an Eagle.  The only problem i have is that i could not be sure if it was the famed Golden Eagle or Sea Eagle as the lighting conditions only gave me a sillhouette so i could'nt see the colouring.

Enjoy the photo's and i'll expand on the holiday with each photo.


Kirnan House, it's grounds, gardens and our cottage. 
It sat halfway up the Glen hillside and had it's own private driveway
up to the house.  We never locked the door once.

We met some of the locals in the local pub on the day of our arrival.
We'd nipped down for an evening meal and had a laugh with the locals
and sat through a power cut for an hour..bottles of scotch don't need power!

On the way up and have stopped at the historic village of LUSS on the banks
of Loch Lomand for a break.  Were just leaving the storm clouds of England behind.
There was a traditional Scottish wedding going on at the local church, kilts galore and the bagpipes
were playing, a great welcome to Scotland!

A further break in Inveraray and a peculiar weather phenomenom. A cyclonic weather cell was trying to develop above the town and the winds and clouds were circulating rapidly in a circular
motion. It became very dark, hail begain forming but it dissapated before it could fully develop.




A quick video of the strange devloping weather cell.  See how dark it became, the birds disappearing quickly and the hail beginning to drop.




Monday, 16 April 2012

The weekend..and the RHINOS

Had a great Sunday. Myself, Jo, Ollie and Ben (Jo's 10 yr old nephew)went to York. Ollie and myself went to the York Dungeon, Ben didn't fancy it so went off for a cup of tea lol while Ollie and I spent just over an hour getting spooked in the Dungeon. It was quite good and Ollie never let go of me once. It was quite gruesome in parts and you never knew what was going to happen next. check out the website here ---->  York Dungeon

We also did the Yorvik Viking centre which was quite tame after the dungeon but we all enjoyed it. Back home we did a belated Easter egg hunt and Ollie phoned Granny apple in France and grassed me up for forgetting her birthday!

RHINOS

For those of you who have not yet seen the following video marking the Rhino's famous win against St Helen's last year...well, enjoy..!

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

What else has been going on...

Been scouring the archives during a quiet night on tv tonight...or more to the point too wet to go out and check the Reserve.

Here's a few pics to enjoy and underline the past couple of weeks..


Ollie, Chloe and Sophie..

The 'Kids' at the Forbidden corner....
As good as the Corner is , a simple hole in a tree seemed to delight just as much!

Ollie survived!!

Ollie and Jo enjoying a joke....

As mentioned in an earlier POST..the snow came unexpectedly last Wednesday night!!
For those of you without snow (ED)...here's how bad it was!!

The view from the back, normally a vista of many miles it was just a whiteout!

Attenborough eat your heart out!  Me on one of my more frequent photography outings..

On the old Brid road I came across this..a tribute to some brave airman who died in the war..

Group photo from my recent French trip to see Mum and Dad....yes it was sunny!

C'est la vie....

Me and lobster pink Eddie, enjoying a bit of French sunshine in March...


Leaving France....I took this for ollie but it's a quick film of the departure from Poitiers..


Just a quick video showing the extent of the snow last Wednesday..look at the front bumper
to see how deep it was!!

Easter...

Hi all

Had a quiet Easter.  Didn't see Olly which was a real downer so took myself out and about.

Went to Bempton cliffs on Sunday looking for the Puffins that had been sighted.  They had arrived early this year but by late Saturday afternoon had taken themselves out to sea to feed.  Once they go out to see they go out for tens of miles and can be gone for days.  Unlucklily, I didn't see them on Sunday.  Soon they'll be nesting on the cliffs and there will thousands of them so I'll wait till May now to guarantee a sighting.

Here's a few pics anyway..

These magnificent Roe deer I captured on film less than 1 minute from my house (by car)

They are often spotted grazing in fields to the left of Hollins Hill...

This time i spotted them and stopped the car to photograph them..

Then just through Otley and into the Wharfe valley I spotted a resplendent Red Kite soaring above the car..
Unfortunately the leaden sky and bad light stopped me from being able to pick out the colouring..

Puffin hunting at Bempton Cliffs...




Here's a video of a Mink i spotted down by the river at the reserve..very unusual!
It just goes to show the diverse nature that is active down by my local river.
You've just got to get out there to see it and enjoy it!

Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Snow is back!

April, Spring. Conjures up pictures of spring lambs lolling in sun kissed meadows, banks of golden daffodils basking in some early sun, a bit of spring cleaning in the garden and leaving the back door open for some fresh air...nope. Winter was back with a vengeance this morning. I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow, a blizzard wind and swirling snow.

The car is snowed in and going no where early and where I currently am, Northowram, there are abandoned cars and telegraph wires brought down by the weight of the snow. What strange weather we are having. It was only last week I was wearing shorts and t-shirt.

Well With the weather comes travel disruption and work have been called to say I'm working from home today so the toaster is on, the coffee brewing and the biscuits broken out ;)

As I sit here and type this and look out of the window to my left, all I can see is a 'white out'..across many miles of fields to the far horizon. Although it is predicted to be only a short spell of snow it has had it's usual effect on the transport system and effectiveness of the British to cope. On the road out of this village there are two stuck articulated lorries and numerous abondened cars. Sometimes simple intelligence tells you a two wheel drive motor is going no where but you can only end up blocking the road for others. The usual 4*4 drivers are out.."look at me look at me in my 4*4, get out of my way plebs in your little plebby cars you're holding me up. Don't you know who I am?? Ihave a 4*4 and are thus considerably far more richer than yow!"

This is the first in my working life that I've not made it to work in my working life so I'm going to fully enjoy it.

Right, the sausages need turning...laters!


UPDATE:

The sausages were great!

I manfully battled through the Arctic North and arrived at work just before mid day.  What a hero! (said my boss!).  The southern softies will still be sat at home sipping hot chocolate and dipping rich tea biscuits, waltzing about in their moccasin loafers, facebooking their 'friends' at how they are trapped in a wintry wilderness (half an inch of melting slush) and Tarquin want's to go build a snowman but they can't possibly go outside whilst it's so cold and inhospitable, I mean, after all they have no sherpas to roll the snow for the snowman and Jeremy Kyle is on in ten minutes

Benefit Britain won't even know it's snowed today as it will have melted before they get out of their pit.  Mr Salesman will have contributed to about 30 road related accidents from speeding and crawling up the backside of other motorists as they are oblivious to the weather conditions and are suddenly suprised that their BMW (always BMW drivers!) suddenly won't brake to a stop in 5 yards..

The same people that have abandoned their cars at the side of the road will be the same people that moan about the lack of gritters, the same gritters that can't grit the road because some idiots have abandoned their cars on them...

The trains awill be delayed because it is the wrong kind of snow ...causing signal failures and points failures which makes a nice change from delays caused by cable theft

The buses won't run because of 'Elf and safety'..."can't drive down their mate, elf and safety..bus might skid"

The Hyacinth Bouquets of the world are out and about holding up the British working man by doing 5mph down the road with a tail back behind them.  They've failed to notice that the snow has been ploughed to the side of the road, the road surface is just wet and the temperature above freezing - stay at home and do some crochet!

Joggers - hate them even more today.  There's snow on the paths so apparantly it gives them the right to run on the road.  But there is snow in the gutters and the first yard into the road so they think they can run in the middle of the road?!!?  Tell you what morons, have a day off!  The last one apparantly didn't take too kindly to a blast of the horn lol

Laters