Apr 18 2012

First Swallow

I always look out for the first Swallow each year. Always try and spot one before my Dad but that rarely happens. As I keep this blog as a diary I thought I would add a note now as I seen the first one this year today. Funny how seeing a bird makes you happy, made my day 🙂

Apr 18 2012

Sparrows

These Sparrows have been doing a grand job of keeping on top of the insects on a few of my trees. Supposedly on the decline in the UK, my garden is full of them. That’s great until you moss a tree for a show

Dec 24 2011

Eejits on Tour Part 3

The final instalment.

At one point on our day out, Phil took me to a river that he fishes on for Salmon. A beautiful spot. We lingered there longer than planned thanks to a show put on my 3 Dippers fighting over the same set of rocks. Must have been good fishing there 🙂

The water reminds me of a pint of Guinness getting poured. The colour comes from the peat in the area. The foam finishes it off 🙂

In the shot below you can see a branch that has been placed in the river as a perch for kingfishers. None on view today sadly.

What was sad to see was that some idiot was dumping into the river from the road side above! There was even the remains of a car in the pile. A strange pipe also drained into the river and nothing much wanted to grow below it 😦

Some nice beech trees along the riverside as well.

Some deadwood and a fallen Beech 🙂

We stopped for a Fish Supper on the way back at a lovely little Fish & Chip Shop beside a Harbour.

The fish was rather on the large size, but we both managed admirably.

That’s it! The day in photos that took 3 days to share with you. Hope you enjoyed viewing the images. You’ll have to wait for the yamadori photos 😉 but they’ll be on here in the Spring. I’ll leave you with a photo of a Heron winging it’s way along the coast.

Dec 22 2011

Feed The Birds, It’s Christmas Time….

Just a reminder to feed those birds this Winter. I took a few shots of birds yesterday when I visited my parents farm just outside Belfast. Here’s what was on offer. Not very sharp as they were taken through glass.

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Robin, shy one. Just managed to get a quick one before it disappeared.

Chaffinch, female and male.

Goldfinch

These were not outside 🙂 My Dad keeps a few more exotic birds about the place. All taken through a wire cage so again, a little blurry.

and lastly, the other side of Christmas 🙂 Life on the farm…

I was going to rotate this one 180 degrees and make it look like they are taking off, but that’s just sick 😉

Dec 11 2011

Todays Walk in Pictures

Here is some from my usual Sunday walk. We revisited the Clandeboye Way. We haven’t done it for a while as it can get water logged but today was enjoyable even with the mud.

I didn’t think the sign meant cameras so I snapped away when I could. Nice to see the dog using the pedestrian gate instead of going through the main one 🙂

I spotted these Fungi on an old fallen Birch log. My brother Sam thought they looked like Octopus.

On old rotten stump with beautiful deadwood.

Some of the landscape we crossed. The sheep moved away when they saw the dogs appearing.

Old Gate pillars made from Scrabo Sandstone. No longer used as a gate as the gap isn’t wide enough any more for modern machinery. New gate beside it.

We saw many trees along the walk that had fallen since our last visit. This one blocked the path.

Stephen wondered why I stopped to take a photo of the ground. I found it beautiful in it’s own way. It captures the season well. Can’t wait to see what he snaps with his new camera from Santa 🙂

Loved this old gnarly tree trunk. It tells it’s own story of life in the wood.

A birch full of witches brooms.

Just as we left the wooded area to walk along the coast, this Jay appeared in a tree. I snapped a few quick shots thinking it would only sit a few seconds. It was close by the path and was working hard to get grubs from a rotted branch. I quickly changed the lens to get a closer shot. Just As I was ready, it buggered off! Never get a chance like that again 😦

Birds were the highlight for the rest of the walk. Here are a few we saw.

A few other feather free shots.

My 2 dogs loved the water and enjoyed drying out in front of the fire back at home too 🙂

Nov 13 2011

When Birds Attack…… Moss

Sitting at the computer yesterday, I glanced out the window and saw that a family of Blackbirds had descended on my trees to assist with the removal of moss. A Great Tit also got in on the act but kept getting chased off. I managed to snap a few quick shots out of the window.