Weekly Chat, Sunday May 29, 2011

WendyB  I hope the gales will cease eventually and a little bit of summer will arrive in time for my visit to LG.  Glad you got your "to do" list whittled down and decorating finished.  Iteresting about osprey eggs not hatching due to the cold damp weather and it has certainly been that for a lot of the time EJ was brooding her eggs and maybe that is why only 2 hatched.  Will be interesting to see the figures when compiled for this year.  Sounds as though you have had a good day today.  By the way you are not prattling on always interesting to read your posts.

Margo:As Roy said there are many nest he knows about but we don't the quiet ones not with cameras or 24/7 cover and the wind rain and cold is taking its toll. Fact of life and there numbers are growing so I do not think we should get too upset it is life in the natural world.

Not long now to your trip and I bet you are so excited...looking forward to putting name and voice to face.

Evening, all – another bright and dry one.

Annette – so glad you saw the Bobcats this time – especially playing with young!  Pleased dinner out was good.

Diane – that is very hot – take care and drink plenty – especially when busy!  Pleased Phoenix has survived the weather – numbers of birds were blown out of nests, or sustained injuries in the gales in Scotland last week.

Lindy – watched yesterday’s Springwatch for lunch and dinner today – usual repetition about what we might see, are going to see etc and usual posing from CP, but mostly good!  Books and cheese from the Street Fair sounds a good choice!  I used to love Blue Cheshire, then they stopped making it in early ‘90s - they told me Shropshire Blue was equivalent, but I think not!

Alicat – good news about your reconnection - and that you will soon be off on Bobbie’s first holiday.  Am I right to think you are going to Inverness – will you call at LotL and LG?

Alan – lovely fluffy Cygnets – I think they are younger than when you posted last year’s seven.

Annette – even past it re gardening stools or seats – can’t get down that far.  I enjoy what I do in the greenhouse and outdoor potting bench, so will stay satisfied with that.

Joan – how wonderful to see, and photograph, the Avocet – well done!

Wendy – I wondered where you were – pleased your OH had extra days off and you managed to complete so many jobs.  Great for you and Liz to get to the B of G talk last night with Roy Dennis.  One of the tracked Golden Eagles was hatched in Galloway, and after spending a long time in the Machars of Galloway (near Whithorn) it is now living “up the road”, around Moffat.  Sounds like a pleasant drive around today.

Been looking at Garden Bird Photos taken over last two weeks.  Terrible pictures because they never sit still but thought you might like to see Coal Tit:

Feeding Time:

Apparently the Titanic was launched 100 years ago today at about 12.13pm. We will hear a lot about the Titanic in the next yeat in the run up to the hundreth anniversary of the sinking on 15th April 1912.

Apparently when the people of Belfast are asked abou the Titanic they say "She was fine when she left Belfast".

Hi OG we will be visiting inverness but staying at beauly,yes we will be going to LG do you know what the weather is going to like there next week don't know what to pack, we will hopefuly go to lotl on the way home,will do a detour before going home

Yes Tiger, it was a fine ship of its time, its a pity that human error led to its downfall.  A special service was held at the original slipway yesterday in Belfast to mark the centenary of the launch.

OG - what delightful pics of coaltit, chaffinch and sparrow.

Margobird - in case I forget, have a great time at LG when you go up there in about 10/l2 days time. I'm sure you will enjoy the time spent there even if it is hard work!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol

All this talk of haircuts, I had mine done last week too.  Sunnier day today and we have seen the first of our baby sparrows - apart from the one that fell out of the hole in the wall where they nest and had to be put back, hope it made it. We have to move them because of the cats.

Chrisy, I am doing night protection duty with Mr Fox tomorrow so I shall mention seats; was it him that told you there would be one/some?  I did ask someone on Saturday but she had never heard seats mentioned.

OG, I was thinking of you walking to the viewpoints but of course you have a motor don’t you?  You would be able to get up from the small parking area about half a mile nearer Keswick than the main tearoom/carpark, but I’m not sure about getting up from the main one, it’s quite steep and twisty.  If you telephone I believe they can arrange for you to be taken in FC transport! I’m sure I read that somewhere, sorry to put you off before. Thanks for the garden show info, I’ll probably ask you again next year!

Annette, so glad you saw the bobcats at last.

Lindy, I enjoyed the herons on Springwatch tonight, their “bad hair” looked like some ospreys we know in the wind.

Alan, lovely cygnet pics, not sure if I can bear to replace the pic I have of Miss Toffee on my desktop with them, might save it for later.

Alicat, enjoy your hol in Scotland.  I take it your OH wasn’t too upset when you changed the date? (If I remember right...)

Joan, well done on your first avocet, brilliant! May it be the first of many (I’ve never seen one, but I’m telling everyone who will listen that I’ve now seen a corncrake).

Wendy, glad you got to see Roy Dennis, he speaks well doesn’t he?  I was disappointed that we weren’t going to be at BoG for the Monday talk this year. 

Margo, I can tell your excitement is building up now.  Will your OH spoil Billie more when you’re not there?  Have you managed a photograph of her yet?

Last part of the Outer Hebrides trip:

Wednesday 18th.  The people running the Inn said they didn’t like to think of us camping in the wind and rain and offered us free use of their croft, which was marvellous of them!  They had not finished bringing it a little up to date from being a crofter’s cottage and just had cold water (because we couldn’t light the range) and electricity in one end, so it was a little like camping but with more space, softer bed (on the couch) and much more solid.  We did manage to light the stove and use peat that they had cut.  On the way there we had a good look at the east coast, north of Stornoway.  Beautiful white sand and turquoise sea and lots of gannets diving in for fish, and quite a few seals.

Thursday 19th.  Weather window to climb Cliseam (Clisham) on North Harris, but saw no golden eagles.  Drove along south coast to western end, Huisinis (Hushinish), more beautiful sand, turquoise sea and gannets, and very windy.

Friday 20th.  To Stornoway to have puncture mended then ferry to Ullapool, nearly three hours.  The sea was very rough and we were glad this was a big ferry and nobody felt sick.  We got to a B&B in Carrbridge so we were handy for Loch Garten on Saturday morning, also plant buying and bird watching while having tea and cakes at Jake Drake Nursery, Inshriach.  The Potting Shed Tearoom has a bar where you can sit with your tea and watch loads of birds on their feeders, it’s brill! http://inshriachnursery.co.uk/?p=14   Saw Caroline and Charlotte at LG, they were very enthusiastic about the new baby and we managed to see a feed.

Thanks for the nice comments, but I feel I have done this in a rush and it's more like a nine year old's "what we did on our holiday".  Just notes really, I expect I'll think of several things later that we saw and I forgot to put in!