Weekly Chat, Sunday July 17, 2010

Afternoon all,

Thanks for the lovely pics OG. Dont think I have been to Loch an Eilean but looks fairly typical Scottish loch scenery.

Linda and Alicat : I hope you recover from your viruses soon.

Everyone else thanks for the chat , most interesting as usual.

Today we went to Stamford and had a walk around the town. It was very pleasant there today and as a bonus there were lots of swifts screaming above the shoppers. Not seen a lot of swifts this year but Keswick and Stamford seem to be hotspots. We then had lunch at The Walled Garden Centre at Elton. Unfortunately Hamish is off his food today (very unusual) so we will have to keep an eye on him. 

Good afternoon Alan sounds like an enjoyable morning.  Sorry to hear Hamish is off his food, do hope he is OK.

Good morning, all.

Diane – you seem to be very busy – I hope you are not trying to do too much – take care.

Annette – same as above – do be careful not to rush into everything at once – enjoy some time to yourself – and with your daughter.

Cirrus – good to see you here again – pleased the pictures cheered you up – more coming!  I hope you are having a good hike today.

Lindybird – sorry to hear you are both still suffering from your virus or whateveritis; do be careful if you are driving with dizziness.  Thought when watching Tatton on TV that some of the arty gardens looked out of place.

On with holiday report.   Son had day off Monday (apart from evening meeting) so the three of us went over Dava Moor (wonderful empty moorland road, with wooded valleys both ends) to Forres, and thence to Findhorn, hoping to see Ospreys fishing.  Tide was right, but weather was wrong – from the hide, the only interesting thing was a Harrier Jet coming in to land at Kinloss!  Had lunch near the beach, and weather improved, so got a few pictures.

View across to Culbin Forest.  This is interesting – storms have attacked the coastline over many centuries and this forest is the result of attempts to stabilise the sands and retain the land behind – the trees were planted through a brushwood mat to hold them long enough to take root there.

Findhorn village used to be much further north west, in the Moray Firth, but was destroyed by a devastating storm and sands, possibly displaced by a Norwegian tsunami, so this is the “new” village further inside the bay:

A nice picture of yachts at anchor in the calm of Findhorn Bay:

In the evening we went to the weekly RSPB talk at Boat of Garten.  This one was about the Insh Marshes wetland habitat (RSPB Reserve) and some of the plant and bird life living there.  I was surprised to hear that their Lapwing numbers are seriously declining, as we seem to see them wherever we go. 

Good afternoon original goldfinch loved reading your holiday report and thanks for the photographs it looks lovely.  Shame you didn't see any ospreys fishing at Findhorn.  I had read somewhere that Lapwing numbers were declining but perhaps where you see them the habitat is right.  It is quite frightening now to read that once common birds are now on an endangered list.

It really was morning when I wittered the above, but I couldn’t get it to accept the pictures – now got them on with no trouble!  So Good Afternoon, all, and good to see so many here on a Saturday.  We had to do the Tesco thing today as we had a medical appointment Friday morning and then stayed in the rest of the day for a plumber who never came!

Margobird – it was very peaceful at Loch an Eilean – so different from our first visit there in nineteen- ninety- something when we cold hardly stay upright in the wind!  Next episode: Loch Garten!

Alan – I like Stamford – a pleasant little town.  Pleased to read about Swift numbers.  Sorry Hamish is off his food – hope he will soon feel better.

Original goldfinch how annoying waiting for the plumber who didn't turn up.  Soemthing that happens all the time I think and I plumbers seem to come up quite often for turning up.

Look forward to the Loch Garten episode.

Morning all:

Hi, Cirrus, we'll likely be here all winter too. Hope you had good hiking weather.

Djoan: How long is your kitchen remodel supposed to take?  Do you have the microwave and hotplate in the bedroom too?  We just had the carpeting cleaned in the bedrooms and especially the spare one that we'd used as a kitchen when all that work was being done on the house last summer. Came up nicely.

Diane: Hope you're getting some sleep with all those t'storms.

Lindybird:  No idea where this week went!  I think someone snuck in and stole Thursday.  Maybe those infections have migrated to your ears - I had something similar and that particular symptom is very disconcerting.  I mean, you can creep around the supermarket, etc., when you've got aches and pains, but hanging onto the basket so you won't topple into the frozen food display isn't fun at all.   I've been to some garden shows where the designer forgot it was a garden he/she was working on!

Alicat: Oh dear, same problem as Lindybird?  Hope the day finds you vertical at least.

Alan: Hope Hamish isn't catching any of these viruses.

OG: I'm doing all those chores and errands so can goof off starting next week.   Interesting about Findhorn; did the folks at Boat of Garten (what does "boat" mean in that context?) offer any reasons why lapwings are in decline?  Wonder if they're increasing somewhere else...    Hope the plumber wasn't expected for a crisis.  Oooh. You actually went to Loch Garten!?

I'd better drag a washcloth over my face and put on some clothes and go see what's happening in the garden (a loose term at this point).  I bought a new, improved Oriole feeder yesterday.  You needed an engineering degree to reassemble the previous one every time you filled it and the Orioles have taking to hanging on the hummingbird feeder, which then leans and spills sugar water all over the patio.  More gray mornings here - all very odd - but sun will be out later.  Take care all.

OG : great pictures of Findhorn Bay. Just as I remebered it from 2 years ago.

Our hibiscus has started to flower . here is a pic:

Annette – Boat of Garten gets its name from the ferry which was the only crossing of the River Garten (comes from Loch Garten, and is a tributary of the Spey) until a bridge was built in 1898.  The Ferryman’s Cottage is still beside the bridge, and is (I think) a small restaurant.  RSPB man from Loch Insh said there is probably a combination of factors involved in the decline of Lapwings, one likely one being changes in local habitat – they do talk to farmers around the reserve about land use, and are themselves gradually favouring various threatened and rare species with adjustments to their own habitat  management (can’t do it too fast as they could find themselves endangering other fauna and flora!).  Plumbing wasn’t a real crisis – just a gentle drip between one of the toilets cistern and pan when it is flushed – but little drips can so easily grow into big drips, so want to be safe.  Trip to Loch Garten was when I took pics of Titch’s near accident and Odin in the bushes!
Alan – a great photo of a lovely Hibiscus flower – reminded me of photographing them at Kew gardens many years ago.  Love Hibiscus, but never seen them around here.  I suppose one could grow them in a large pot and over-winter in the greenhouse – thought that about Abutilons too, but they seem to have stopped flowering.  I don’t think Findhorn changes much these days, but the Heritage Ice House and Museum there were excellent.