Another Pleasant Day Spent In Retirement

Shot of the Day

It was a lovely morning when I went to take my turn at filling the feeders although there was a sharpness in the air. Mist nets were all set up ready for Dr Barlow to do some ringing and recording. I sat for a while enjoying the peace and quiet and watching various species of birds coming and going. I noticed the likes of the coal tits tended to rush in and grab a seed as fast as possible and make a hasty retreat whereas the chaffinches and siskins were more likely to to take their time and peck away at their leisure after sitting for about half an hour I received a text message from Tootlepedal inviting me for coffee at Wauchope Cottage which was very welcome as it was rather chilly despite the sunshine.

Lately I've been fortunate enough to have two nuthatches visit my feeders and they are either desperately hungry or have become very tame as I can work away within two meters of the feeders and they just ignore me. These are gorgeous little creatures and by far my favourite small bird and I feel privileged that they allow me to get so close to be able to take shots at my leisure.The downside of all this is they appearance of numerous cats which lie in wait for an easy meal so I'm constantly warding them off. So if anyone has any ideas as to discourage them please let me know.

A Very Welcome Visitor

Shot of the Day

It was one of those day's that just got better and better. After the best nights sleep I've had in ages I awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. After a hearty breakfast  and feeling rejuvenated I went and did my turn at the moorland feeders. The door to the new hide was unlocked so after filling the feeders I spent some time inside. Once the floor is laid and benches are installed it will be a great asset. The view of the feeders at the moment is clear but when the vegetation is fully grown the feeders on the right hand side might be slightly obscured but I'm sure a little light trimming here and there should provide an adequate view of the feeders.

On the way home I stopped off at the Buccleuch Centre to purchase tickets for a concert coming up in June. I joined Mike Tinker for coffee and we were joined by newly appointed Centre manager Alan Weatherstone. I then went by Wauchope Cottage to see if Tootlepedal had any plans for the afternoon, but he was already dressed to go out and asked me to join him. 

We headed off round the new 3G pitch and over the Jubilee bridge stopping to take a shot up river and down river.

We hadn't gone too far when Tootlepedal spotted this delightful robin perched in the lower branches of a tree by the path. He was a bit bedraggled but was quite happy to pose for us.

 "if I new you were coming I would've dressed better"

 " I think this is my best side"

Langholm Lodge

Duchess bridge. In a couple of months this view will be obscured.

Clearing up at the pheasant pens.

Holmhead

This is where I spent the first three years of my life.

This kill was so fresh I've a feeling we may have disturbed the predator.

The winter sunlight brought the best of normally dull trees.

 This old tree stump has taken on some interesting features with age.

Tootlepedal wanted to try and get a flying bird of the day so we stopped off at the Kilngreen.

Town bus driver Brian gives us the thumbs up. He's a very obliging and cheery chap and a pleasure to travel with. 

My best effort of a flying bird.

On arriving back home I was greeted by my old school pal Graham Rodger who had just arrived on the off chance that I would be at home. This was a most unexpected pleasure as I hadn't seen Graham for a number of years, even though he lives in Carlisle. We shared many good times with when we were teenagers some not blogable. Somehow our lives took different paths but it was nice Graham looked me up to re establish the friendship. We spent the afternoon catching up and reminiscing. Graham and I have went through a similar experience these last few years and it was good to share how we felt and are managing to adapt to a different way of life. In the evening I collected Tootlepedal and we went and put a week of the E&L into the database. 

It's Snow Time

Shot of the Day

When I woke up this morning I was greeted by about 4 inches of snow that had fell through the night and another inch was to follow over the course of the morning. This put paid to all plans I had for the day. I was due to go to Carlisle to conduct some business but it wasn't that important that it warranted I should travel. I also reneged from taking my turn at the moorland feeders, which was rather disappointing as I wanted to see the grand new hide that has been constructed. I spent the morning catching up with college work that I had got behind with when I was off with my toe. While I was doing this I set the camera on the tripod and set the timer to take a series of photos to make a time lapse video of the snow at the rear of my house. Which hopefully you can view below.

After lunch and a snooze I went out and cleared the paths around the house and cleared the car of snow. I then spent a couple of hours processing the photos on Photoshop which was fun to do. In the evening Tootlepedal and I went to the Archive Centre to put a week of the E & L into the database but as there was no connection to the internet so we retired to Wauchope cottage and did the work there.  

Unfortunately viewing the time lapse video here on full screen it seems to have lost a lot of quality which is very disappointing as it is fine on my Facebook page.

Rather Dull

Shot of the Day

My shot of the day shows the new primary school along with the newly installed 3G Pitch.

 The reflected light under the arches was quite appealing

 Looking down the Esk 

 The winter sun gives Castle hill a warm look

 A rather dull cricket pitch

A nice sunlight on Whita Hill

After a rather embarrassingly late lie in this morning I rose and made myself some brunch. I had arranged to visit Langholm Camera Club member Mairi Telford Jemmeh who had just returned from spending Christmas with family in The Gambia and had asked me to show her how to use Picasa. Mairi had some stunning people shots and they only needed a little tweak here and there and she had some masterpieces. I paused occasionally on the way there and on the way back to take some rather uninteresting shots. Even thought the sun had obligingly come out I still couldn't find anything of real interest hence a rather dull blog today.

A Good Day All Round

Shot of the Day

I rang Tootlepedal in the latter part of the morning to see if he fancied a run up to the feeding station with the intention of using our tripods to try and get some good woodpecker shots, he said he was. When we arrived there was already people there so rather than disturb them we opted for a walk up the Tarras burn from the bridge near the old distillery.

 We were passed by John Murray on his vintage tractor

There were some rather large puddles on the track all playing host to hundreds of tadpoles.

Tree Creeper

In mid afternoon I decided to have a stroll along the forestry track that runs along the hillside at the back of my house

Planting on the diagonal

Part of the route I took on my cycle ride yesterday

A grandstand view 

I had arranged to go to the Castleholm late afternoon with Tootlepedal to see if we could spot a Nuthatch. We stopped off at the Kilngreen where there was very little going on before moving on. We parked the car at the Armstrong museum and took a walk up past the lodge to where a Nuthatch was nesting last year. We stood for a lengthy time but no Nuthatch.

A Blackbird pauses to look for a tasty morsel 

We moved further down the Castleholm to a spot where a Nuthatch was spotted earlier in the day. This time we had better luck although I wasn't fast enough to get a decent shot.

Tootlepedal was better prepared

This is what we thought was the entrance to the Nuthatch's nest.....

......until this Blue-tit appeared at the front door

The bees were busy among the Lime trees

  

The only place left to check out was at the Jubilee bridge to a tree where a Nuthatch has been resident for a number of years. 

The elusive Nuthatch