Scotland - Beautiful Clashnessie Bay Pt 1

Beautiful Clashnessie Bay in June

 

A cloud marked sky, shining wet sand and colourful sea

 

Common Gulls riding the waves...

 

...feeding in the seaweed at the edge of the sea at low tide...

 

...and moving off down the beach. 



Scotland - Assynt Wildlife and Sea

More from June 2012, a grey day in Assynt.

 

A Common Sandpiper

An inlet from Enard Bay

Strange bubbles reaching the surface in the same inlet



A Red Deer Hind











Spiderman Running and Friends

A few photos taken one dull morning in my accommodation in Scotland in June.

 

A spider spinning on a thread for a second looks like a running man carrying some sticks.

Midges that got inside.  Apparently there are at least 10 thousand species of midge.  Which one these are I have no idea.

One of the many species of Crane Fly, or the Daddy Long Legs of my childhood.







London - Different Views

 

Recent photos across the roof tops of London

Chimney stacks and pots casting shadows in Southwark on a bright morning

 

The railway approach to Cannon Street Bridge and Railway Station with the City buildings beyond

 

Different building facades at Southwark



Scotland - Ardmair Thrush & Sea Views

Back to June in Scotland

 

 A calm morning at Ardmair looking across the bay to Isle Martin and Ben Mor Coigach - A beautiful sky

 

A Song Thrush that was tamed by mealworms



 

The evening sky across the bay taken at 11:30 pm BST.  The light hardly went out of the sky later.









 

September Swans

A selection of photos mainly taken into the sun of a family of Mute Swans on the Grand Union Canal.  After so many local swan's nests were flooded this year, it was good to see this family had four surviving cygnets.

 









September Hedgerow Birds

Another sunny morning's walk in September, this time along the Grand Union Canal near Cheddington

 

A light mist just above the water's surface caught by the early sun.

It was generally quite quiet except for a 100 yard stretch of hedgerow, which contained a number of birds, hiding in the bushes.  After an hour of trying to capture their images I got....

 

A Goldfinch...

...a Longtailed Tit...

...another...

...and a Chiffchaff.











September Butterflies

A morning's  walk along the Grand Union Canal at Slapton, Buckinghamshire

 

Early morning whilst the water was still



 

A bit later a deadly Comma on its own warning sign...

 

....followed by a Red Admiral sitting on the tip of the rod of the no fishing sign five minutes later.  Why these two different species found these signs good resting places I don't know.  Perhaps they reflected heat as it was still quite early?

 

The Comma moved to the hedge...

 

....to feed on ivy flowers.

 

The delicate colours of a Green-veined White.  Its eyes are exquisite.

 

I only saw one individual of each of the above butterfly species, plus one Speckled Wood of which I failed to properly photograph



Damselfly and Prey

A damselfly with its prey - probably a young cricket, no more than 5mm long

 

The lacy wings and abdomen tail

A close-up of head and prey





Red Admiral

A pristine Red Admiral butterfly on Buddleiah photographed at the end of August



Scotland - A Beautiful June Morning at Ardmair

More from June Trip to Scotland

 

Ben Mor Coigach in the early morning, the lower slopes shrouded in cloud. 

 

A male Willow Warbler singing...

 

...and stopping to have a preen of his wing feathers



 

A couple of Shags resplendant in black with a sheen and bright yellow in Ardmair Bay 



Rutland Water - Pied Wagtail Aerobatics

Rutland Water in July.

 

A Pied Wagtail feeding it's fledged juveniles with insects caught flying over the reservoir.  This catch was a Damselfly

Flying off for another mini meal

"Look no wings"

 

On the way back making a sharp turn.





Scotland - Clootie Well

The Clootie Well near Munlochy on the Black Isle to the North of Inverness, and near the banks of the Moray Firth

 

We discovered this strange place by chance, turning into a Forestry Commission Car Park for a bite to eat. Historically, such wells are places of Celtic pilgrimage, with a piece of cloth dipped in the well and then hung up in the surrounding trees.  This will bring good health to the person from whom the cloth originated.

 

The trees surrounding this ancient shrine were festooned with hundreds, if not a few thousand pieces of cloth, rags and whole garments (mainly socks) all in different condition as they aged.  Many of the clothes it would appear to have previously belonged to children, whom I suspect were possibly suffering from life threatening disease.

Whilst it was strangely interesting, it was certainly very eerie, and I wasn't sorry to leave.



Rutland Water - Great Crested Grebe Nest Change Over

A Great Crested Grebe nest at Rutland Water in July 2012.
 

Stretching, bored...

 

...Mate arriving...



 

...Your turn...



 

...Just checking the eggs.