Birds, bugs and bees

Back home again and a round up of a few little (and not so little) things that have been kind enough to come close enough to my camera when I was looking.  Don't forget that you can see the pictures as a full-size slide show by clicking on the pictures.


First off, a Chiffchaff on the birdbath.  The identification is based mainly on the fact that the only time the chiff-chaffing stopped was when this little fellow turned up at the birdbath.

A few walks between the showers gave us a Ringlet...

and a damsel fly?

a very dark bee on a dog-rose...

And now come the questions.  Is it a hoverfly or a bee?

And is it a bug or an insect?  I think an insect but like the possible damsel fly I don't have a book with these in...

Back to birds and the next three, a Meadow Pipit, an Oystercatcher and a Siskin, were actually caught in Scotland but they do turn up here, but they rarely stand so obligingly still.

I don't think that the reason it was standing obligingly still was because it only had one leg.  I think that it was auditioning for Treasure Island.

North Cliffe Woods and a rather shy young GS Woodpecker...

Butterflies again and a Small Copper (I think)...

We'll finish with an arty shot of a ladybird and an eye-to eye with a Wood Pigeon...

I may return to pictures of Scotland again, but for now it's good to be back in the rain of East Yorkshire and not in the 18 hour a day sunshine of drought stricken Scotland!  ( Did that sound convincing?)

Other places (3) - Sunsets

9th June 2012

First day at the Cottage, second day of the holiday - which was extended to avoid Olympic flame worshippers.

The north-western edge of Ardnamurchan ( to be specific Fascadale Cottage let from here)  looks out not to the open sea but to a fascinating collection of islands.  In order of distance Muck, Egg (or Eigg if you want to seem posh and wrong), Rum (or Rhum ditto) and Skye (or Sky if you are talking about a satellite dish).

From left to right it's Muck, Rum, Egg and Skye.

The Cullins on Skye fade in and out of vision according to the clarity of the air.  Some days it can seem to be a bright sunny day but after a while you realise that the Cullins are not there.  Other days they are a clear part of the view...

Had I been in Yorkshire I would have been enduring two weeks of rain but up in Scotland (where they invented rain) it was almost all sun and sunsets.  A bit of cloud only added drama to the sunset.

I took so many pictures of sunsets that I decided to experiment with the size, shape and levels (I took them in RAW) without messing with Photoshop, because that would be cheating (and I can't do it anyway).

The sun became so strong that I could capture my shadow against the wall at twenty past nine at night.

Finally settling behind Muck with Rum on the right...

Not bad for a first day on holiday!  There were more...

Other places (2) Fascadale

A couple of days into our holiday on Ardnamurchan and a walk from the cottage at Fascadale by Meall Buide Mor to Lochan Dubh.  One of the old tracks that connected villages and settlements that have long gone.

Not very far on the map but enough for my old legs.

From the beach at Fascadale and a not very photogenic hay rack with a very photogenic backdrop.

A look back to Fascadale Cottage set in the land (sea?)scape...

As we climbed, photographing the cottage getting further away gave an excuse to take a breather.  Fascadale House is on the right of the picture...

The path was somewhere, but it was somewhere where we were not.  We knew where we wanted to get to though (up).  We were joined by a small butterfly(a Small Heath we think) so we followed him for a bit as he seemed to be going in the right direction...

The path returned when we were on the moorland which was crispy underfoot, and the track became clear and level...

A rather splendid caterpillar (all suggestions welcome)...

And a dragonfly (ditto)...

Another small hill and a view out to the islands, Rum and Eigg...

Eigg and the Cuillins faintly behind...

The lochan had all but gone...

A look back to the "mainland" somewhere over there is Ben Nevis (I think)...

The sheep, meanwhile, remain unconcerned at our passing...

A lovely walk in brilliant weather.