A Little Owl Evening

Having had a brilliant morning with dragonflies and then spent the afternoon working. by evening I was ready to be out again so, after tea, I set out to see what had changed at Scallows Wood whilst I had been away in Scotland.  An what a change:  the trees were now in full leaf and the undergrowth was thick with bracken and pink campion at the west end whilst the east end was heavy with the scent of wild garlic from the patch of ramsons.  It was good to see that there had been a good display of bluebells.  The wood was very much in its summer raiment now.  Sadly one of the huge old beech trees had been brought down in recent gales; not uprooted, but snapped off near the base of the trunk.  These beeches are huge and stately and must be as old as the house and date from the 1700s.  How sad.  The sheep have now been moved out of the meadows and there is a good display of buttercups with much more coming through; hopefully the bee orchids will put in an appearance in a month or so.
Having renewed my acquaintance with the wood it was time to go and check on the little owl that I had found just before leaving for Scotland.  Sure enough, as soon as I had parked up it was there.  It seemed very comfortable with my presence, merely giving the car a stern look from time to time, but other than that it surveyed its territory and dozed in the late evening sun, before eventually going off to hunt.  On the way up to the little owl site some poppies made a magnificent display and there was a good sunset on the way home.  A perfect day.

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First Dragonflies of the Year.

Since we have been home from Scotland the weather has been warm and I have been champing at the bit to photograph some dragonflies so off I went this morning to my nearest local spot, a small pond 10 minutes from home.  It is always good for four spotted chasers and broad bodied chasers and I was full of optimism.  It was good to be back at this local spot; the meadows were full of ox-eye daises and ragged robin.  There was plenty of activity at the pond with 3 or 4 four spotted chasers over the water and a male and at least one female broad bodied chaser.  Although I didn't manage a shot of the female, the male was very cooperative.  There were also azure and blue-tailed damselflies on the wing.  Yellow flag iris was in flower and sedge warbler and black cap were singing well.

An excellent morning.

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Azure damselfly

Mating azure damselflies

Azure damselfly

Mating blue-tailed damselflies

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Four Spotted Chaser

Orange Tip

Orange Tip

Ox-eye Daisy

Ox-eye Daisy

Ragged Robin

Ragged Robin

Viper's Buglos

Yellow Flag Iris.

Rare Orchids.

On Friday I found out by accident that white helleborines have been discovered 5 minutes walk from us, just round the corner in a woodland location so yesterday I went to look for them.  Sure enough there they were.  I could see at least 30 from one spot and I understand the official count is around 200.  This is a real mystery as they normally only occur in the south east of the country so nobody knows how they have got here.  However they have got here they are beautiful.

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Scotland 2015, Day 28 Final sunset and moonrise and the journey home.

Having taken what I thought were my final images of the trip and completed my final blog, I looked out of the window and noticed the moon rising over the loch.  Dashing out to photograph it I looked the other way to see a most wonderful alpenglow at the far end that was a must to photograph.

After that, it really was downhill all the way.  We were packed and away early the next morning the 320 mile drive home going well and taking 9 hours.

Roll on the next adventure.

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Scotland 2015. Day 27 A Charles Rennie Mackintosh Day in Glasgow.

Finally a day of fine sunny and warm weather today, especially this evening, but with out came the the famous Scottish midges!!  We were up and away early today for our trip to Glasgow.  It was an easy journey: we caught the train from Balloch at the bottom of the loch and were soon at Glasgow Queen Street right in the centre of things.  We began with coffee and croissant and then made our way to Street Level Photoworks Gallery for an interesting exhibition I wanted to see.  We then made our way to Buchannon Street and the Lighthouse. One time home of the Glasgow Herald and designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it is now the Glasgow Design Centre and home to an exhibition about Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret MacDonald; very interesting.  Continuing up Buchannon Street we arrived in Sauchiehall Street and the Willow Tea Rooms designed by Rennie Mackintosh in 1903 for Miss Kate Cranston.  We were surprised to be able to get in for an excellent lunch in the delightful establishment now restored and back much as it was in its heyday.  Next up was the Kelvingrove gallery and Museum for more Rennie Mackintosh before catching the train home.  An excellent and interesting introduction to Glasgow.
Back in Luss we dropped off the car before walking back to the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel for an excellent pint of local beer and a welcome final meal of this trip.  The light on Ben Lomond first thing this morning and this evening inspired me to get the camera out once again.
Tomorrow is all down to the long haul home.

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