05555 is a Good Time to get up in the morning if the sun is already high in a cloudless blue sky. Sunrise today was 0434. I actually woke at 0553 and instantly decided that if I got up at 0555 I had an opening line for a blog post. Since I arrived back in Scotland I have been so busy that blogging has had to take a bit of a back seat. I think I'm correct in saying that it's been a time of the fewest posts in a similar period since I started blogging in 2007. So this morning just after 6am I was sitting outside in the warm sun on a perfect windless morning drinking my hot water and lemon and contemplating the day ahead.
It made a change from the foul weather we've been having with rain and gales and a temperature on one day last week of -5.5℃ taking the wind-chill into account (ok the ambient temperature in the shade was a relatively balmy +4℃).
I came up with lots of ideas for re-starting my posts but now that it is evening I have forgotten them all.
Anyway I had to go into town this morning to take the car for its service. I was to meet Pat in The Woodlands Centre for coffee. As I was walking into the grounds I came across a Hooded Crow. As a rule Crows do not allow humans to come too close. This one, however, was keeping a wary eye on me but he was not going to abandon his meal. I probably got within 12 metres before he flew into the adjacent tree. He was soon down again though and allowed me to take some photos. Unfortunately the sun was strong and the position was in sun and shade so the contrast exposures leave a bit to be desired.
Oddly the next best pictures I have of a Hooded Crow were also at The Woodlands Centre here.
So that's what they look like. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYes Adrian. Intelligent, wary and nasty but very good value.
DeleteBut can you identify the fish?
ReplyDeleteFunny you should ask Mark. It was called Ferdinand. Not sure what breed it was though!
DeleteThey don't live 'round here, I think; at least I have never seen them. Or maybe they are the ones we call Nebelkrähe (fog crow) because of the light grey colour of their bodies?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you are fogiven for not posting more frequently as long as we can rest assured that you are not going to stop blogging altogether. I still miss SP, you know.
Corvus corone cornix......I googled it.
DeleteThanks Meike. I have missed Blogland. I have absolutely no intention of leaving Blogland. I, too, and many others also miss SP.
DeleteIt is the very same bird indeed, Marcel, thank you!
DeleteGood to know that you do not intend leaving Blogland for good, GB.
They're such a common sight in Sweden that it never occurred to me that they might not be found all over Britain too. I don't usually pay much attention to whether the ones I see around here are crows or jackdaws... Probably both, but I shall have to become more observant!
ReplyDeleteThe Jackdaw is considerably smaller than the Hooded Crow Monica. It is the only black bird that has a grey nape. They are both common throughout Europe although the Hooded Crow does not inhabit Wales, western England nor the Iberian Peninsula and only winters in part of France.
DeleteGlad to see this wonderful post, and that you've surfaced in Blogland again.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to mess with those hooded crows at all.
Thanks Virginia. As nature goes they are quite unpleasant.
DeleteGreat post GB and so nice to have the time to visit blogs rather than post and run! I, too have posted a record LOW in the last 6 months. With life, study and other distractions, it's been hard to even post what I have posted.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that improves and I get a chance to visit more blogs!
Thanks Liz. Coming from such a superb bird photographer that's quite a compliment. I've not visited many blogs in the last month but I hope to get back to it now.
Delete