Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. These are Grandaisy Pink Halo (Argyranthemum frutescens), I thought they would be the ideal flowers for today! Have a great day everyone :-D

Crow And Pellets

 

I put floating pellets in the pond for the ducks and coots. I also put some at the edge of the water for the crows. This crow was happy to get a collection of them!

Drone Fly On A Leaf

 

This is a Drone Fly (Eristalis arbustorum) on a leaf. You can see the sun shining on his back.

Bee On A Flower

 

This is a bee on Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis). This purple flower is fairly common in Scotland during summer months and attracts a lot of insects.

A Little Snow On The Leaves

 

Took this a few weeks ago. We had a little snow and I like how it was frozen on the leaves.

A Hungry Racoon

 

We saw this Racoon at Chessington Zoo last year. Lovely little creature and looked happy.

I Want Cuddles

 

This penguin looks like it wants cuddles! So cute.

Shelter for Fairies

 

Not quite sure what these mushrooms are but they sure do offer shelter to the fairies in the forest.

Fly On Meadowsweet

 

This is a fly a plant called Meadowsweet. Both are fairly common in Scotland.

Blue Tit Feeding

 

This a lovely little Blue Tit getting the seeds I put down for it. This tree stump is a common place for people to put seeds down on and great for photos too. It attracts Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Nuthatches, Robins, Crows, Pigeons, Squirrels, Blackbirds and a few other birds from time to time. The ones I have listed are very common and plentiful in that part of the forest.

Winter Sun

 

Another recent photo from last week. A beautiful winter sun scene.

A Crow And A Moorhen Went Ice Skating

 

Took these the other day when it was really frosty. The pond was mostly frozen and I put seeds down and a crow appeared then the resident moorhen couldn't resist the allure of the seeds! Was fun to watch them. 

Stitch Is Hanging!

 

This is Stitch hanging out on the cat tree! He is chilling and often lies like this! He is a lovely cat.

Pacman Mushroom

 

This is a Scarlet Elf Cup mushroom. I think it looks like Pacman! I took this a few days ago. This week I have been getting out my walks. Just short walks but will build it up again.

Frozen Apple

 

This is an apple from our garden tree. It was frosty and frozen and I think it looks really cool!

Hawthorn Shield Bug

 

This is a Hawthorn Shield Bug. I've posted one of these little guys before along with other Shield Bugs. They are nice little things. He was happy to walk on my hand for a short while.

Common Bonnet

 

I think this is a Common Bonnet Mushroom. I struggle to identify them and spend ages online trying! Anyway I thought this looked magical.

Wood Pigeon

 

This is a Wood Pigeon chilling in the grass. I don't really give pigeons the attention I should. Maybe I should start paying more attention to them! 

Storm Eowyn

On Friday 24th January Scotland was hit with a bad storm called Eowyn. It was one of the worst we have ever seen. Giorgio over at Change easily (https://giorgiorusso2.blogspot.com/) was asking me for information on it. So it lasted most of the day and died down about 8pm. Sadly, so far 2 people have lost their lives. But the damage to houses and buildings has been really bad. There are trees down all over and fences and debris. I have been out a few times and here are some of the photos of the trees.

Edinburgh Christmas 2024

 

We always visit Edinburgh at Christmas time. They have a great market and good events on. This is from last year. I took a lot of photos but these 2 are my favourite. I like the Edinburgh sign.

Up My Jacket!

 

This weevil was keen to go up my jacket sleeve! Well I had other ideas....take a photo of it and then put it back on the leaves!

It's A Murder

 

A good few crows here. I always feed them with seeds. They are such wonderful birds and good friends to have I think.

Fishing

 

This Heron is looking for fish in the pond.

Mr And Mrs

 It's a lovely Mallard couple.

Clear Sky Looking Up

 

What a lovely view looking up! Tom at https://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/  posts looking up photos all the time and I think they are wonderful :-D

Water Lily

 

This is a lovely water lily.

Spot The Blue Tit

 

Can you spot the Blue Tit in this tree?

Golden Pheasant

 

This is a Golden Pheasant. I took this photo at a farm last summer. I had never seen one prior to this.

Hermit Crab

 

This is a Hermit Crab. 

Little Robin

 

This is a little robin in the forest. He was looking for food, so I gave him some seeds.

Tucked Away

 

This snail is hiding nicely in the rock.

Hiding In The Grass

 

This little goat is trying to hide in the grass!

Green Dock

 

This is a little Green Dock Beetle. 

Baby Frog

 

Took this a few years ago when there were plenty of frogs. Last year we didn't see too many. Maybe this year there will be more.

Frozen Webs

 

The icy weather really shows off the spider webs very well I think. Spiders are such great artists!

Frozen Leaves

 

I took this photo at the end of last year. I really like it, the colour of the leaves on the grass and ice too.

Leaky Pipes

 

So about 2 weeks ago we started to experience issues with our boiler, it started losing pressure when it was off and we had to keep topping it up. My partner's friend is a gas engineer and he came to investigate. After a few days of detective work, they both came to the conclusion that there was a leak in the pipes. Oh dear! After pulling up the hardwood floor and digging into the concrete, we found the source of the leak. As you can see from the pipes, it looks like there was a leak before and they just patched it up. The pipes are also very old and damaged. So at the weekend new pipes were fitted and we have our heating back up and running again. There is still a few pipes and radiators to sort but the majority is done. And the good news, our 5 year old boiler is still in good condition!!

A Bug On a Leaf

 

This is a little bug, From what I can see online I think it is a "Tricholauxania praeusta". It is a fairly common little fly in this country.

A Mother And Her Babies

 

I took this photo in 2021. It is a mother with her ducklings. That whole summer I went up to feed them everyday. It was a fun summer at the pond. They grew to trust me after a week and knew I would feed them. As a thanks, they posed for good photos!!

Panda

 

This is one of the Pandas that was at Edinburgh Zoo. They got sent back home in December 2023.

Small Copper Butterfly

 

This is a Small Copper Butterfly. I took this a few years ago. I will be hoping to see more butterflies this year.