Guarding

The Penguin was guarding the egg. I took this photo a few years ago at Edinburgh Zoo. As I have stated before, I have mixed feeling about zoos.
 

Bee On An Oxeye Daisy

 

This little bee was on an Oxeye Daisy. This photo is a few years old. Sadly this year on my walks I haven't seen many bees. I have seen plenty butterflies though but they were moving too much to get decent photos!!!

Like The Sun Through The Trees

 

Click on the image to enlarge it.

This view reminded me of a famous song that Justin Hayward did called Forever Autumn. I really like the song and am a big fan of The Moody Blues, especially their 60s stuff. There is a lyric from the song:

"Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,

Like a leaf on the breeze you blew away."

A Curious Starling

 

This Starling was taking that head tilt birds do to the extreme! Such a lovely bird with a lovely colour. They look great in the sunshine.

Stitch

He is very photogenic and such a cutie.

More Frogs And Toads From March

These are the last photos I have from March. 

 

They were very busy!! I was at the pond last week and sadly there wasn't a lot of tadpoles. I remember a few years ago seeing lots, but sadly not this year. The little baby frogs should be appearing soon!

Loving Mother

 

All I can saw is "Awwww". So very cute. A few of the geese have had their babies. She is protecting it well. This was from a local Loch we took a walk around last week.

Lobster at Sea Life

Christine from Christine's Blog posted an interesting bit about Lobster Anatomy last week, which I found amazing. So I thought I'd post a photo of this Lobster I saw at Sea Life in Loch Lomond. 

This was taken through glass that was dome shaped. I think it turned out okay. I have posted this little guy here before. 

It's A Bit Late For That

 

The male is trying to mate with the female, but she is already pregnant! I have posted a few photos of Pregnant Green Dock Beetles before: here and here. I really like these Green Dock Beetles because they are iridescent and I love anything iridescent.

White Ermine Moth Caterpillar

 

From what I can see online, this is the White Ermine Moth Caterpillar. It was crawling along the ground. Caterpillars can be fast moving at times!

Signs 21st May 2025

Another Signs post this week! Linking to Tom's Signs Wednesday: https://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/

I saw this little sign at Madame Tussauds in Blackpool when we were there earlier this year. I thought it was nice of the staff to put this up. I said to the girl behind the desk and she said I was the first person to mention it that day. She seemed really grateful for me saying thanks and appreciating it!!!

Checking Me Out

 

This Gull wasn't sure of me at first but he was checking me out in the second photo. I really love that little head tilt that birds do when they are looking at me.

Hair Ice

 

I took these at the end of January. This is Hair Ice, it looks so like candy floss! It is very beautiful. The wonders of nature!

It Has 3 Heads!

 

Click on the photo to enlarge it!

I saw a tree down, in the centre of the photo and I thought it looked like a 3 headed snake! I like looking for images in trees. With a decent imagination you can see a lot!!

Darwin's Barberry

 

Isn't this a lovely flower. 

Common Darter

 

A few Common Darter Dragonflies. I took these photos a few years ago. I love seeing Dragonflies and often spend a wee while trying to get a good photo of them! 

Single Ladies

These girls were gathering at the pond, so I decided to give them some seeds. 2 look like they are dancing almost!

Signs 14th May 2025

Not done a signs post in ages. Linking to Tom's Signs Wednesday: https://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/ 

We were out in Glasgow a few weekends ago and I saw this. I thought it was really cool. I liked the artwork and the quote!

Cali And Cleo Update

 

Cleo is the black cat and Cali is the black and white cat. Both girls have settled in well. We got them on the 20th of February, so they have been here just under 3 months. They are both settling in really well and enjoying their new house. Cali likes to sit at the kitchen window and watch the world go by and Cleo loves watching the birds in the garden. Cleo has formed such a strong bond with Stitch too. 

Cali had problems with Jethro but things are getting better. I have tried to show her that Jethro is not a baddie. They are getting better slowly, these things take time. 

Cali is very chatty and likes to talk but Cleo hardly speaks at all. I wonder if it is a black cat thing, because Stitch hardly speaks either and he is a black cat.

Hoverfly Pollinating

 I caught this little Hoverfly in my garden on a Cuckoo Flower. It has some pollen on its wings.

Let's Play Hide And Seek

 

This is one of the sheep at Chessington Zoo. It wanted to play a game of hide and seek with me! She was a lovely sheep and very friendly.

Tansy

 

This is the Tansy Flower. It is very bold and bright yellow with a lovely pattern.

Guinea Pig

This is a little Guinea Pig from Briarlands Farm. It's a nice wee place to visit not far from Glasgow. They have all kinds of things for kids and adults. I really enjoyed it there and will be going back again soon.

Bactrian Camel

 

This is a Bactrian Camel, we saw it at Blackpool Zoo a few months ago. It looks like it was happy and relaxing!

More Toads And Frogs

 

Some more froggy toady photos from March when they were out spawning. I really love their little faces. The last 2 needed help getting to the pond, so I offered them a free lift!!

Mushrooms

 

I found these mushrooms deep in the forest. I am not entirely sure what they are, best I could come up with was Honey Fungus

Noble Fir Cones

 

These are cones from the Noble Fir Tree (Abies procera). 

Graceful

 

I caught this lad at the right time! What a graceful wing flap this male is making.

It's Huge!

 

This is a Birch Polymore (Fomitopsis betulina) growing on a tree. It was huge! 

A Butterfly And A Beetle

 

A Common Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) and a Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) are on this Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). The insects love these Daisies.

Common Periwinkle (Whelk)

 

This is a Common Periwinkle or Whelk. They are basically sea snails! I took this photo through the water. Sadly in parts of the UK they are eaten, not by me though!

Thanks to David for spotting my typo/bad spelling!