The Hebridean Cycle Challenge

I spent a good bit of yesterday being a roadie for our son Gaz who was taking part in the Hebridean Cycle Challenge (or Facebook).  There are a number of possible options but Gaz chose to do do the road race from Stornoway to Meavaig and then the mountain bike stage from Meavaig to the Scaladale Centre. Even at my fittest that would have been a challenge too far for me. Because of the various permutations (one could do one or both stages or have a partner do the second stage either by mountain bike or running) when we left for home we still didn't know what Gaz's result was and as I post this it hasn't been published either.

Even bikes have GPS computers these days

The start

A slight respite

The long and winding road (and some trees!)

Climbing the Clisham

Finishing the road race

Setting off on the mountain bike stage 

Disappearing into the mist

The Finish

The Hunting of Foxes

The debate over whether fox hunting with dogs in the traditional way should be allowed to continue in a civilised society continues to baffle me. Kill foxes if one must but do it as humanely as possible.

The one argument that comes across time after time is that it is simply a necessity rather than a sport and that foxes are vermin to be controlled and that hunting in the traditional way is the most effective.

So why, I ask, were foxes introduced into Australia? The answer is specifically to provide sport.

Cruelty is one thing. Hypocrisy is hardly any better.

A New Colony

Oh dear. More emails. "Why are you not blogging?" It seems that if a week goes by and I don't blog (not because I don't want to but because I'm just living other parts of my life) that is the magic trigger for the 'are you ok?' emails. You know what? I really love that there are people out there who care enough to ask. Thank you.

One of the things that has been very rewarding this week has been seiing a new colony of Sparrows establish itself in the garden. As I said in a post a few weeks ago entitled Lucky I have a colony of sparrows living in the roof above my bedroom. Perhaps ten years ago I set up a nesting box on the wall of the garage. It was badly sited because it’s on the North wall and has never been occupied……until this spring. I first noticed a sparrow going into it a few weeks ago but now it’s clear that it has established itsef as a little overspill colony.

Lucky

For weeks now I have been trying to get photos of fledglings being fed. Every day my bird feeders dispose of nearly ½ kilo of bird food so the sparrows are already on their second brood. I feel very protective of them because they live under the roof tiles above my bedroom. Houses in Scotland are constructed with wooden sarking under the tiles so there is no access to the house roof space for the sparrows and they are therefore not a nuisance. Usually I seem to have a ‘year of the sparrows’ or a ‘year of the greenfinches’. This year is a year of both. My cameras are nearly always within a metre or two of me when I’m in the kitchen or study where I have the best views of the birds. The light and weather (and no rain on the windows!) have to be just right for me to get a photo. That happens occasionally but then there have to be birds too. The day after my birthday I had a wonderful and slightly belated present:

And then they were gone