SID 43 Catching Up - That Was April

Is it really 11 days since I visited Blogland properly. I used the word 'properly' because I have made the occasional Covid-19 type skirmish there hoping that The Authorities would not notice that I was travelling further than strictly allowed when on gardening leave. We, on Lewis, have had one of the longest spells of constant sun that I can recall for a couple of years. We have had the occasional shower in the last few days and the wind has been very chilly from the North East but I have managed a great deal of garden and external house maintenance. Much, I have to say, to the detriment of my letter writing. My coffee's in The Woodlands have been replaced by virtual WhatsApp and Zoom coffees (or G & Ts depending on the time of day).  Well, everyone has to have coffee breaks.

I have discovered that it's easy to walk 4 miles in a day when gardening and add to that the 'hard labour' humping 100l bags of compost and removing small tree/shrub stumps etc and it's a good workout each day. Apart from trips to the local postbox and a trip to the medical practice for my Trial Review bloods and my 3-monthly bumjab I've not been off the property. 

Of course I miss the family (who are now out of quarantine but still subject to lockdown rules which are not quite as strict as my self-isolation) but I confess that the days are flying by at an alarming rate and I've hardly scratched any of the items off the 'To Do' lists. I am fortunate generally to sleep well but a day in the garden certainly leaves one pleasantly tired (I was going to say 'knackered' but that's not very polite). Apart from the news I've hardly even watched television.

However the birds have been enjoying the garden even with me working in it. 

Bird box in use. Note to self: clean it up next autumn.

Meadow Pipit: Bathing; Checking claws; Under wing clean?; Aren't I a pretty pipit?

 Blackbird. "These raisins are good." 

Golden Eagle exiting over the sea. 

Female sparrow looking for extra nourishment for egg laying in the form of delphinium leaves. 

Blackbird bathing in the waterfall.

Thankful Thursday

I have a study.  In the summer it gets too bright in the morning sun to work on the computer without pulling down the blinds which rather defeats the object for me and in the winter it gets quite chilly without the big radiator on.  The Conservatory gets wonderfully warm whenever the sun shines but, again, it's very bright when using a computer screen.  The living room has no view although it does have my wonderful and homely roll-top desk: it's a good place to write letters in the winter.  My kitchen, on the other hand, is always warm and, if needs be, I can move the laptop screen out of the direct sun without losing my view of the sea and across the valley and bay.   So when I'm on my laptop I'm usually sitting in the kitchen.  That means I'm usually looking out of the window as well.  I really am a fortunate fellow and for that I never cease to be thankful.

Especially as I can watch the changing weather and seasons and the birds: in this case a young blackbird having a bath in the garden waterfall.

The Mad Blackbird

We have a mentally challenged Blackbird providing a constant cacophony whenever one of the cats sets foot outside the house.  Apparently this has never been an issue with past Blackbirds and the bush that the Mad Blackbird (hereinafter known as MB) appears to be defending right outside the back door does not have a nest in it.  In fact the nearest nests would appear to be outwit the garden.  MB insists on doing his best to wake the neighbourhood at 0400 and has become deeply unpopular.  I'm sleeping on the opposite side of the house and sleep deeply in any case.

A Visit To Gisla

On Tuesday (is it really that long ago?) Pat and Dave and I went over to see Carol and Jenny in Gisla. Apart from the excellent company I always enjoy the fact that there is a wonderful garden surrounded by high trees which provides an excellent home for lots of birds - despite the explosion in the semi-feral cat population. They also provide wonderful still air for the midges but that didn't affect us at this time of year. I had hoped to get some photos of the Dunnocks on the bird table but they left soon after we arrived and I didn't see them again.

The most amusing part of the visit was finding squeezy Marmite. As a lover of Marmite I had reservations about such a potential travesty but I'm assured that it's perfectly good. I do love the Marmite manufacturer's sense of humour though:

Birds at Woodlands Centre

When CJ and I were at The Woodlands Centre (our favourite coffee and crossword retreat) in the Lews Castle Grounds one morning, we struck lucky with the bird sightings and, as luck was obviously on our side that day, we also managed to get our favourite table near the bird table.

On the way in we saw this Jackdaw carrying a log
(CJ say's it's a twig but then he's bigger than the Jackdaw)

Arrival and anticipation

Can't quite get at this one

There's always more than one way...

This Blackbird made us wonder if he'd had a Ring Ousel parent

I've not seen many Siskins and I think this may be the first one I've photographed

Perky

Pinky

And this young Lapwing on the way home (us not him)