Nature Friday from the Birthday Boy

Er yes, since you ask, it is in fact my twelfth birthday today. Gail seems even more thrilled about this than I am, and rest assured, we'll be telling you all about my birthday celebrations in my next post.

Meanwhile, I have some Nature Friday pictures to show you from last week's trip to Forvie Nature reserve.

I expect you are wondering what the fluffy off-white stuff is between the clumps of heather in the picture above?

Let's have a closer look.

And even closer.

Cool, huh? 

A google search suggested that this bleached green springy moss-like growth is in fact a lichen of the genus Cladonia. Further consultation with Gail's friend Carol confirmed this diagnosis and narrowed it down to the species Cladonia portentosa, common name reindeer lichen.

There are no reindeer to chomp away at the lichen in Forvie, but on the wildlife front I can offer you swans in the Sand Loch, noisily cackling geese overhead, wigeon on nearby tidal mudflats and evidence of an active mole population in a field just outside of the nature reserve boundary.

And finally, just in case you ever doubted the fact that Scotland's coastal areas can be a tad breezy...

Happy Nature Friday friends! Now I'm off to look for my birthday treats...

Simply snowdrops

A sight

To brighten

And delight

One's twilight days.

Happy Nature Friday to all my dear friends.

A tranquil moment

As the year draws to a close and we look forward to good things in 2022, I want all my friends to pause for a few moments, and join me in the tranquil environment of the Caledonian pine forest of Glen Tanar. 

As you contemplate the scene below (clicking on the picture to enlarge it would be a good idea), imagine your feet crunching on the ice-crisp undergrowth, the faint rays of the winter sun kissing your cheeks, and the fresh, clean aroma of the Scots pines wafting into your nostrils as you listen to the burbling of the whisky-coloured river rushing down the glen.

Happy Nature Friday! 

Going, going, gone...

During our morning walk in Duthie Park, over the past month Gail and I have been monitoring the leaves on our favourite sycamore tree.

OK, strictly speaking, she has been doing the monitoring and I have mostly been busy sniffing around in the bushes, only briefly emerging to appear in the photos. 

If I feel like it. 

'Cos I'm a terrier and that's how I roll. 

10 October 2021

30 October 2021

10 November 2021

Happy Nature Friday! Thanks once again to our lovely friends Rosy, Arty, Sunny and Jakey, for hosting the blog hop. Do go and visit the other posts - you won't regret it! 

Evolutionary theory and the WFT beard...

I woke up all worried early yesterday morning, concerned I didn't yet have anything sorted out for this week's Nature Friday. 

Gail seemed uncharacteristically reluctant to rouse herself, so I asked to be let out into the back garden.

Can you believe that when I came back inside and jumped on her bed a few minutes later, sporting the perfect Nature Friday material about my person, my owner seemed unimpressed...

Until, that is, I reminded her how Charles Darwin had long ago recognised that animals and birds carrying seeds in their furs and feathers were an important means by which different plant species are dispersed around the globe, and these ideas on species distribution formed a key building block in Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. I can only surmise that the great man omitted to cite the particular case of wire-haired fox terrier beards introducing plant seeds into new environments (such as human bedding) due to his need to publish 'The Origin of Species' ahead of his rival evolutionary theorist, Alfred Russel Wallace.

Happy Nature Friday friends! And huge thanks once again to our dear friends Rosy, Arty, Jakey and Sunny, for hosting our favourite blog hop.

Nature and Art

I expect you are looking at the photo above and thinking "there's Bertie idling away the afternoon on the sofa again, how many naps does a dog need?"

How wrong you would be.

In fact I was deep in philosophical contemplation of the relationship between art and nature, thoughts prompted by a new picture on the wall behind me in the Torridon cottage. 

Let's have a closer look at it.

And even closer.

Leaving aside the obvious shortcoming that it does not feature a handsome fox terrier posing in the foreground, I think it's rather a fine work of art, don't you? 

It is a 'feltscape' which Gail commissioned from Torridon-based artist Sheila Bates last year. Sheila worked from one of Gail's photos of Loch Torridon.

You might wonder why we would need a picture of the natural beauty which surrounds the cottage when we could just step outside and look around us. But Gail says she loves the colours and texture of the feltwork and she reminds me that in winter when it is dark and cold, having this evocative interpretation of the landscape to look at inside our cosy warm cottage (the renovation included an extra layer of insulation) will be no bad thing.

You can learn more about Sheila's felted pure wool creations on her website, 'Florrie Felts'. 

I wonder if she ever does dogs?

Happy Nature Friday friends. Thanks once again to Rosy and the rest of the LLB Gang for hosting the blog hop.

The cottage garden and beyond

So we start this week's Nature Friday with morning in the garden of our Torridon cottage, and some roses for Rosy.

(The roses are ever so slightly past their best, unlike our friend Rosy, who is of course in full bloom).

Later in the day I lead Gail on a wee adventure into the hills.

Yes of course I'm still up for new adventures! So long as they don't involve climbing too steep slopes these days.

Finally we're home again to the cottage to enjoy the evening scene from just outside our front gate. 

Happy Nature Friday friends! 

A little patch of brightness...?

The drama of our February weather has given way to dreary grey skies so far this month.

Despite the gloom, on Wednesday afternoon Gail took me for a walk in Kirkhill Forest, near Aberdeen Airport.

I paused to pose amid the ferns and mosses, although even these have lost their usual vibrant green just now.

We pressed on up Tyrebagger Hill to the little stone tower...

... where Gail climbed up to the viewing platform, but I resolutely refused to join her.

I had better things to do.

Gail claimed there was a "splendid view" from up the top, and resurrected one of Human Grandad's favourite phrases. "Bertie, I can even see a few patches of brightness in the distance".

Can you see brightness? No, me neither. Even after our best endeavours twiddling the image manipulation knobs on Gail's smart phone later hardly made for a convincing case.

Happy Nature Friday friends! I hope you've been enjoying a little bit of brightness in your part of the planet this week.

Nature walkies - keeping it legal

It's fun to go for a walk in the woods with a couple of pals, don't you think?

Last Sunday our intrepid friends M and J showed Gail and me a short but lovely route around Newmill Hill.

Fun, but as of the next day, illegal in Scotland (and the rest of the UK). The new rules, in response to the worsening Covid-19 situation, now say one human can only meet up with one other human for outdoor exercise. As far as I'm aware, there are no limits on dogs.

So at the moment, Gail can take me for walks with J, or with M, but not with M and J all together... Unless they all want to be arrested.

Oh, and the walk must be not more than five miles from Aberdeen city boundary.

On Wednesday Gail and I went for a wee trot around Tollohill Wood - on the edge of Aberdeen - with Muriel. (And if there were a couple of other friends not far off, that was pure happenstance...)

I am pleased to report that Muriel - a lady of most excellent taste - brought along some cheesy oatcakes especially for me!

Thank you Muriel! And thank you also to Millie and Walter for giving Muriel the prompt with their comment on an earlier post.

It was a crystal clear morning and we stopped briefly to admire the view from the lookout point.

Sadly the snow capped mountains we could see in the far distance are currently out of bounds... Sigh.

Happy Nature Friday friends! And thanks to the LLB Gang for keeping our favourite blog hop going. Gail is feeling in need of things to look forward to just now.

Seaside thoughts

A Contemplation

It doesn't have to be a beauty spot,
It might be somewhere just nearby,
An undistinguished stretch of North Sea coast
Where you can sit, and contemplate the sea and sky.

It matters not if you're just starting out 
On life's great journey, or you're near the end,

To stop and meditate on nature's power,

Will calm your heart, and help your sorrows mend.

Do go and take a peek at the other Nature Friday posts in the LLB Gang's evergreen blog hop.