Today’s picture shows a lighthouse at Whitley Bay where my friends Gavin and Gaye were recently on grandparenting duty.
Although the day here promised to be sunny, it soon faded to a dull grey with a keenly nipping wind. As I walked up to the town, a passer by described it to me with considerable understatement as ‘a cool air’. I would have said that it was ***** cold. Fortunately Dropscone was away on business and I didn’t have to brave the breeze on a bicycle.
The reason for my visit to the town was a reported electrical fault at the Archive centre. I took some simple remedial measures but I fear that we may need a professional. This causes me some anguish because if life in Langholm has a drawback, it is the difficulty in getting a prompt response for a small job from an electrician.
I had filled the seed feeder before I walked up to the town and by the time that I got back, it was nearly empty again such was the heavy traffic.
Waiting for the right moment to go.
A greenfinch having a very serious word with a chaffinch
I have tried to make some pictures which show the excitement and are a little different from my usual ones. It wasn’t hard to find a subject today and these four pictures were taken in the space of a minute.
It wasn’t long before I had to fill up the seed feeder again.
I was pleased to see a blue tit come to the feeders as we are still hoping that a pair might use our nest box.
An hour later, things were still just as busy.
Taking a break from bird watching, we had an early lunch and set out for a walk. We did consider a pedal but decided the fun of biking into a really icy wind was strictly limited and we headed for the Kernigal wood and some shelter from the chill.
A pleasant open wood to wander through
At one stage, I took a high route while Mrs Tootlepedal took a lower road and it wasn’t until we had come out of the wood that I saw her again.
She politely waited for me to catch up and then, instead of walking on down to the road, we went through a gate…
…and then cut across some fields. We passed another of the temporary ponds that have formed during the wet summer.
Then another gate….
…led us to a track down to the Murtholm.
As we walked through a field there , we saw two pairs of oyster catchers. This was one of them.
Another sign of coming spring
We walked home along the riverside path, keeping a wary eye out for any further landslips as we went.
This scar shows the underlying glacial till. It is very unstable on a soggy, steep slope.
I had filled the feeder before we left for our walk and I had to fill it again when we returned. The birds are obviously finding that food is hard to get elsewhere during this long chilly spell.
A greenfinch soon arrived to take advantage of the refill.
After we got back from the walk, we made a quick excursion to Mrs Tootlepedal’s manure mine and came back to spread it where it will do most good. The rains of last summer will have washed a lot of the goodness out of the soil and Mrs Tootlepedal is keen to replace as much as she can.
She then took up her needle and went back to making costumes while I footled about on my computer getting nothing much done at all.
In the evening, I went with Jean and Sandy to the Archive Centre and we worked away for an hour and a half. We were in the mood for refreshment afterwards and were shocked and dismayed to find our usual haunt packed to the gunwales with merrymakers at a works farewell party. There was, as they say, no room at the inn for regular customers and we went home disconsolately, not having the heart to try a different bar.
The near zero temperatures are to continue for a few days yet so I will make sure that I am well stocked with seeds. On the plus side, the wind is predicted to die down so maybe it will not feel as chilly as it did today.
I managed to go past the chaffinches in my search for a flying bird of the day today and found a greenfinch instead.
What wonderful captures – the variety in the birds is amazing. How did you get the chicky to let you hold it?
Love the finch-excitement photos, Tom, they certainly want to make sure they get their share, lol. I’m sure they thank you often for your commitment to keeping their seed feeder filled at their time of need!
It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. They provide an old man with something to look at and photograph and I provide a little food. Worth every penny.
do you use hiking poles on your walks? I like the variety of gates that you show.
We have just acquired a pole each and we used them for the first time on this walk. Mine has a camera mount on it but I didn’t use it. Having tried them out, we think that two poles each will be a good thing.
We had sunshine here today but also a biting wind. They say we might see 12 inches of heavy, wet snow this weekend. I’m ready for spring!
For a change we have had a very dry spell lately but it has stayed pretty cold for quite a long time. We wouldn’t mind a bit of warmth either.
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Good luck with your trip. Sadly all my spare cash goes on bird food.
I really like the way each day in your life is like an adventure.
We are very grateful that we can have such a good choice of things to do. We realise that we are very lucky.
There’s something that I have been meaning to ask you, and this is the perfect post for the question.
Here in the states, one needs to obtain the permission of the property owner before you can set foot on their property, especially if it is fenced and gated. Not having the owner’s permission can mean a trip to the slammer if they press charges.
You seem to be able to wander around nearly everywhere, are property rights that much different there in Scotland, or is it that you live in a rural area where every one knows you?
Gavin has given a very comprehensive reply which I hope that you see. One of the nicest things about living here is the marked lack of notices that say “Private. Keep Out.”
I read Gavin’s reply, but I am not able to reply to his comment to thank him. If you would be so kind as to relay my thanks, I would appreciate it.
What a wonderful country you live in! Unfortunately, that would never work in the states. Too many people would abuse the privilege.
I will tell him.
What a multiplicity of splendid bird pictures all action packed!
Do hope you can get an electrician for the Archive centre sooner rather than later.
Sorry about the missed beer treat.
Splendid greenfinch pictures. The birds seem to get through a very large amount of seed. Your wintry walk revealed quite a lot of different colours even though no sunshine.
Love the picts where the birds really seem to argue with one another. Every new sign of spring must be welcome.
It is. We need a rise in temperature to make things go. We haven’t had a very cold winter but it has been hovering around zero a lot lately.
In response to the comment above from USA 10 Years ago the Scottish Government intoduced the Land Reform Bill which allowed access to all areas of the countryside and the main criteria is that we are responsible walkers and respect the countryside code and dont do any damage.There is no Law of Trespass in Scotland so we are all truly free.
It has been a great success and very few people have objected to it. Many people who come to Scotland to walk are amazed at our freedom to roam, but we have to roam responsibly and respect the farmland we walk on. We would never cross a field containing crops eg but walk round the edges.
Thank you for this informative explanation.
I had wondered myself about your apparent freedom to roam. What an excellent policy.
You are lucky to be able to roam at will as it were. Sadly the general lack of respect that many people have for the property of others and the lamentable lack of consideration shown for farmers crops and animals, can mean that using “public right of ways” can result in confrontation where fields are involved.
I remember that my sister used to own an old cottage with a front garden and bay window that faced onto a public right of way and many visitors seemed to think they had the right to come up to the window and peer in!!! It was dreadfully invasive, especially when my nephews were babies and she was trying to feed them in what she thought was the privacy of her own home.
On a brighter note, wonderful photo’s as usual and what busy feeders you have. Ours are finally starting to get busier but we don’t have anywhere near as extensive a list of diners, mind you our busy little wren and friendly if bossy robin make up for the lack of numbers
We seem to be managing generally in Scotland at the moment though I am sure that many farmers will have something to say. We have more space per head of population which probably helps.
Our robin has been a bit camera shy lately but then I haven’t had so much time to stare out of the window with the better cycling weather recently.