Today’s guest picture is another from Mary Jo’s visit to Denmark. She found this strange sight in the little town of Saeby. You have to dig down a bit to find the violin.
I was able to laugh at a steady supply of rain this morning because I had two hours to spend in the Welcome to Langholm office getting on with archiving work so a bit of rain outside didn’t matter to me. In addition, it probably kept visitors away so I wasn’t interrupted and managed to get exactly two weeks of the index into the database in my allotted time.
To add to my feeling of well being, the rain stopped when I got home and I was able to spend a happy time watching the birds out of the kitchen window while I had my lunch.
The action was fast and furious…
…with birds queueing up to stamp on each other..
Normally I have to employ patience if I want to catch a good flying bird but today…
…I couldn’t take a shot which didn’t have a flying bird in it.
The sun came out over lunchtime but a brisk and chilly wind persuaded me that even thinking of cycling, let alone actually going out on a bike was not a good idea so I sorted out some photographs for the evening’s camera club meeting and then went for a walk. Of course the sun went in as I went out but it was reasonably warm if I could keep out of the wind.
I chose a sheltered route.
Spring is creeping ever onwards, even if rather slowly. I found coltsfoot and a lone cherry blossom by the river…
…and a lonely oyster catcher between the bridges.
However, I brightened up a lot when I saw two goosanders on the river bank just above the town bridge.
This is the male….
…and this the female.
I tried to get closer to them but in a typical goosander manner they swam sedately off as soon as they saw me coming.
However, they only went as far as the opposite bank at the meeting of the waters so I crossed the bridge and crept up on them again. They were doing elaborate grooming.
I really like the style of the female goosander.
I saw a pair of oyster catchers here and hoped to get a picture of them together but it turned out that they were poles apart.
I walked on round the pheasant hatchery.
I passed wood anemones…
…and a set of trees which all had script lichens on them. Script lichen is often hard to find but here I couldn’t miss it.
Soon, I hope, leafs will be springing out on the trees so bare tree shots like this will have gone.
As I crossed the Duchess bridge, I saw this pretty flower on a tree beside the river. Mike Tinker, who saw the picture when I got back, suggested that it might be an elm tree and I think that he may be right. (If this is not right, other suggestions are welcome if knowledgeable readers have the time.)
I had a cup of tea with Mrs Tootlepedal and Mike who had dropped in and then it was time for my flute pupil Luke. We had missed a couple of weeks so it was a great pleasure to find that we had made progress anyway so we enjoyed our playing.
After tea, I went out to our camera club meeting. We had eleven people there with a new member so that was satisfactory and we had some great images to look at, both from round the town and from all over the world.
The high spot for me was a couple of shots of leopards taken by a member who had been on holiday in Namibia. They were stunning and took a little gloss off my shot of a tree sparrow. But we had the usual great variety of styles and subjects which make our meetings interesting.
We are promised all day rain and 20 to 30 mph winds tomorrow so I really think that I might get a relaxing day at home. It will be welcome.
Among all the other flying birds today, it seems a bit invidious to pick just one to be flying bird of the day but I did and this is it. I chose it because it appeared in the brief sunny spell.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
The birds at your feeder are in fine form, as are the goosanders and oyster catchers. We were visited by a goldfinch today, a spot of bright yellow out there in the locust tree.
Spring flowers are the loveliest, so welcome after winter.
I just hope that we don’t get washed out by more rain.
We have coltsfoot blooming now but no cherry or anemone blossoms yet. Spring is creeping slowly here too.
I have a feeling that the squiggly fruiting bits of script lichen only show when it’s cold. I never see them in summer.
Those do look like male elm flowers but I’m used to seeing American elm, so I can’t be positive.
I wondered about the lichen. I have walked past these trees many times and not seen any before. Maybe our colder winter has brought them on.
Don’t you just love it when the weather is nice, you have good light, and the subjects that you try to photograph cooperate? Very good images of the goosanders. With so many great shots of flying birds, it must have been tough to pick one as the FBOTD.
I do love it and all the more so because it has been so rare for many months.
Enjoyed all those birds rushing about and that lone cherry blossom, such a beautiful shape.
I was out and about early yesterday on my bike, and I too spotted some goosanders, a male (black head) and two females (brown heads). They were sunning themselves on the bank of the Neath river. Naturally, I dismounted and armed with my phone camera proceeded to try and take a picture of them. As I approached they got into the river and were soon hidden by trees. So near yet so far, I couldn’t get a shot of them at all. No luck with stationary objects either, for me at least, because later I decided to get a shot of a fine tree in the centre of a field at Cwmgwrach, hopefully for yourself to admire. It was a big gnarled old oak tree. After taking several images I discovered later the memory in my camera was full and my shots of it were subsequently overwritten by my ensuing attempts at photography. DOAH!!!! Despite that frustration, I again enjoyed my ride, 14 miles at a very sedate pace in very brisk winds, which amazingly were into my face both down and back up the valley?? Congratulations on your shots of the goosanders, unlike myself you’d make a very fine stalker, and as ever I really enjoyed your post. Cheers.
I know both the problem with goosanders and the problem with the wind blowing in two different directions. I have solved the memory problem though by emptying out my card onto my computer every night so I always start with plenty of space for pictures. I hope that I see the old oak later on. Well done for getting out for a pedal. It was far too windy for me here today.
The FBOTD is striking a rather balletic pose. Glad you had some good views of the goosanders.
Love that punk goosander photo and all the many flying birds at your feeder. Great to see the blossom and coltsfoot in flower too. Fascinating guest photo…bet there’s a story there.
We are pleased (if a bit poorer) to see so many birds at the feeder.
Birds, birds, Birds! Flying, fluttering, swimming, resting. Lovely!
There are a lot of birds about.
And always so wonderful to see them.
I had to smile at the modern hair do of the female goosander. And all the flying birds seem to be in prime health. Good shots all around.
The birds seem to have come through the long dark months quite well all things considered.
I really like the female goosander’s hairstyle ha!
Our spring seems to be erupting almost faster than I would prefer, but at least I’ve recovered enough to enjoy it. It’s good to hear that yours is moving along, too!
Having started late, spring may be over before we have had time to enjoy it.
That’s pretty much what I’m feeling here in our neighborhood. What a pity to lose so much of my favorite season. Then again, such is life!