Today’s guest picture comes from our friend Bruce who must be on holiday in the West Highlands as he sent me this picture of Eilean Donan Castle taken earlier this evening as the light faded.
We had plenty of light here today with a lot of sunshine and and only the odd speck of rain.
We weren’t able to make much of the good weather as we spent a lot of time indoors singing. In the morning we went to sing with the church choir and welcome the new temporary minister who is taking charge for the next few weeks after the departure of Scott, the previous minister. Fortunately for the absent minded parishioner, the new minister is also called Scott, though as he is American is is quite easy to distinguish him from his predecessor.
The service went well and the choir did its bit to welcome Scott to his new charge.
Mrs Tootlepedal is helping with the administration of the music at our Carlisle choir at present so we had to be there early which didn’t leave us a lot of time between choirs. I spent as much time as I could watching the birds…
…and there were a good many to watch…
…with chaffinches particularly active….
…and quite ready to shout at any sparrows coming out of the shadows at them.
It was rare not to see a small queue heading for the feeder.
They were joined by a sleek looking jackdaw.
I took the bird camera out into the garden and took a shot or two there as well.
Special Grandma is my current favourite….
…though Lilian Austin has not given up yet.
There are some cosmos remaining and they are popular with insects…
…though the Michaelmas daisies are still the biggest draw.
I promised to take a picture of a butterfly every day for as long as I can so here is today’s offering, a red admiral doing a bit of sunbathing on a hosta leaf.
I had thought that the poppies might have gone over but there has been a revival in the new bed…
…and along with an orange hawkweed, an Icelandic poppy could be found.
I went back in and just had time for a sardine sandwich and a blue tit (I ate one and shot the other)…
..before we had to set off for Carlisle.
While Mrs Tootlepedal helped with the music, I did some useful shopping and then we settled down to two hours of hard work under our new conductor, Ellen.
My voice held up not too badly but I hope that I can get it working a bit better before the Christmas concert season comes round.
We drove home in in beautiful evening sunshine but were happy to sink down for a rest rather than rush out into the garden again.
There was no shortage of flying birds today so once again there is a gender balanced chaffinch flying bird of the day situation.
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That’s a fantastic shot of the castle. It shows how being in the right place at the right time plays into photography.
That’s also a great shot of the poppies. Not an easy one I’d guess.
I hope the American Scott can fill the shoes of his predecessor.
Former Scott had big shoes to fill, literally and metaphorically. The poppy shot just fell into my lap as I passed.
Glad your voice coped with all that singing, good news. Thanks for the promised butterfly, always a pleasure to look at your butterfly images.
There is still plenty of colour in your garden – glad your voice managed two choirs.
Great guest photo…it can only have been taken in Scotland…it’s craggy and beautiful! Lovely bright colours still going in your garden plus a bright butterfly and lots of flying birds all make a happy end of the week post..thank you.
It has been a good week.
So glad you did not eat the blue tit. It would have been quite a blow to discover that you eat some of the birds that come to your feeder. 😉 And, yes, great guest photo. Finally, Special Grandma is indeed very special. A beauty.
The only version of your images of the flying birds are the ones that you put in your blog, but I don’t see anything that would suggest that your camera or lens aren’t working up to snuff. And, the images of the flowers that you shot with that camera look a bit sharper and clearer to me than your usual flower images, which is saying a good deal about the condition of the birding camera. Keep the flowers and butterflies coming as long as you can please, no matter which camera you use.
I will do my best. Thank you for taking the time to think about my troubles.
I thought the same re your flying birds, very crisp and sharp and clear.
The castle photo was just luck. I was told after that the castle has been nicknamed ‘Castle Kodak’ – thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of photos have been taken from where I stood.
I admit to having seen one or two shots of it before but I thought that yours was very good.
You and your camera do a fine job of capturing the busy airport at your feeder, and the personalities of your subjects. My favorite is the jackdaw for personality.