Wolf-watching or Bertie-spotting?

Something different for this week's Nature Friday post. 

Did you know that wolves are extinct in Scotland? The precise date is disputed, but the last wolf sighting was probably in the 18th Century. 

Gail tells me she has long yearned to see a wolf in the wild, and has even considered paying to go abroad on a 'wolf-watching' vacation (although I would doubt she actually has the patience to stand around for days on end with a bunch of wolf obsessives all competing over their high tech spotting scopes...)

Well, as we all know, overseas trips are off the table just at now.  But what could be a better substitute for wolf-watching than an afternoon of Bertie-spotting on the Hill of Fare*? Excellent practice for Gail, and after all who doesn't see me and say to themselves "ah yes, if I didn't know that wolves no longer inhabit Scotland, I might think I'd just encountered one...."

Perhaps you would like to join in and test your observational skills with some virtual Bertie-spotting.

We'll start with an easy one.

And frankly, if you can't see me in the photo above, you'd better get your eyes tested (and have someone else drive you to the opticians...)

Let's make it a wee bit harder.

Still too easy? Try this...

And then this...

Finally, a really challenging sequence. (You are allowed to biggify the images.)

How did you get on? Can you see my tail in that last photo? Or maybe not?

*Regular readers will recall that, by deploying Gail's 'elastic ruler' (the one that stretches five miles to seven) we can reach the Hill of Fare within Scotland's current Covid guidelines.

Finally, thank you once again to our lovely friends Jakey, Arty, Rosy and Sunny for hosting the Nature Friday blog hop. Do hop on and visit the other blogs linked below: 

In praise of dark mornings

I get the impression from Gail that folk in Aberdeen – humans that is - don’t much like the dark winter months of these northern climes. They seem to think it a problem having to get up before sunrise.

I have a different view.

A mundane morning walk in the park becomes a big adventure; the familiar rendered unfamiliar by the cloak of darkness; one’s other senses heightened; one’s regular terrier alertness supercharged.

And I’ll tell you what’s even better.

It can happen that your human forgets to put on her glasses and also forgets to attach the pink light to your collar, and then, on reaching the park she lets you off your lead as usual, neglects to keep her eye on you as she ponders a work-related problem, and, joy of joys, she fails to notice that you have slipped away into a dense shrubbery and disappeared from view.

Selective deafness kicks in (the heightened senses having conveniently failed you at this juncture) as your human calls ‘with animation’* but to no avail, and it is not until you have nearly circumnavigated the park that your excited owner locates you again and firmly clips on the walking string.

Oh yes, gosh, early morning walks can be such fun!

I do hope Gail’s boss is properly appreciative of my role in ensuring that Gail is well and truly wide awake by the time she arrives at work. (A bonus payment would perhaps be appropriate?)

*I must thank my Down Under friends Stella and Rory for introducing me earlier this week to the concept of our humans calling "with animation".