
#SilentSunday

#SilentSunday

I arrived at the Kilpatrick hills car park at dawn this morning. It was already pretty full. Frosty with a clear sky. The full moon going down. More folk than usual on the tracks and paths. Saw a few redwing feeding on hawthorn along with blackies & thrushes.
Beautiful warm light to start, long shadows.
The frozen ground was much nicer than the usual bog between Loch Humphrey and Duncolm.
On Duncolm a raven circled diving & twisting with quiet croaks. Seemed unfazed by me and came quite close, shining in the sun. Saw a few more on the way back. A little egret in the horse field. I wonder if they come to the field when the tide is high. I saw this one at 12:30 and high tide at Old Kilpatrick was at 12:40 today. I’ll try and keep a note.
Nice view of a buzzard in a hawthorn near the road and a flock of fieldfares on the field and hawthorn.
Photos on flickr & on the
walkmap
The 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge ✨ Day 4 prompt: Evergreen 🌲
A Scots Pine at the edge of the Kilpatrick Braes. A young one sprouts in the foreground.

#SilentSunday

A walk to Duncolm via Loch Humphrey & Fynloch hill in the mist & drizzle today. Very mild for the time of year. The burns are full and the paths are bogs. Some photos on a map:
walkmap
A little egret & a pal were quartering the horse field at the star of the Loch Humphrey track. A few minutes later I head a nuthatch. Both are fairly recent arrivals in Scotland I believe. Due to climate change. It is a very mild start to December & fields are surprisingly green. Drizzle & mist

Kilpatrick braes, yesterday, short loop. Low clouds, some drizzle and a few bright spells. Quite warm. Paths like burns after yesterday’s heavy rain. On the first field a buzzard hunting. A couple of ravens appeared & moved it off. After the deer fence, under the trees, I saw them again, or another trio. Again the ravens chased the buzzard off. I could hear them kronk and also making an almost electronic 2 note call I’ve not heard before.

Repeat a challenge from the original inspiration for the TDC (this site can take quite a while to load)
@creating@daily.ds106.us #tdc5039 #ds106 recycling #ds579 Make a photograph that features a shadow as your subject today.
Had a walk yesterday with my daughter. The skies cleared for a couple of hours.


A dull afternoon, breezy with the threat of drizzle. Walked round the short loop on the Kilpatrick braes. As I came back on the road by the cattle grid I heard a harsh call from the ‘hawthorn field’ next to the gate. It kept going and Merlin suggested a jay. I watched for a while and saw one, moving from bush to bush, looking and calling. I could hear a crow and buzzard too. I wonder if they were getting worked up at a cat or fox. Quite a good view through my camera, the distance and dull weather making for a blurry shot. I’ve not seen jays here very often and mostly retreating. Further down in the horse field, near the drainage ditch I saw a little egret! I’ve watched a few down the Clyde recently but always on the shore. Another blurry photo.

#silentsunday