A look at some of the creatures I have been privileged to see here in the wild west of Scotland.
There is some amazing wildlife to be seen in the wild west of Scotland, and this post shows of some of my favourites so far. Most are from today’s Canna Puffin Cruise including the Minke whale that has already had its own post.
WILDLIFE PHOTOS
I will again display one by one:
I displayed this one as part of my gallery for the Mingary Castle post – it shows four alpacas and two sheep.
I saw this splendid wading bird while out walking in the vicinity of our cottage yesterday.
I also saw these two splendid equines while on a local walk.
These two pictures, one cropped but not edited, and the other edited show a large deer that was near our kitchen window.
Four sea birds flying nearly in parallel
Close focus on the three birds flying closest together.
Four puffins in the sea – the leftmost bird shows the characteristic bright coloured bill.
Two puffins in the sea. The colouring of the birds is very obvious in this picture.
Four guillemots make their presence felt.
Four guillemots, one with wings outspread.
Closer focus on the guillemot with spread wings.
The Minke whale showing itself – the people who run these cruises recognize this as a great photograph (I have emailed them).
Four guillemots
A huge corvid, tentatively identified courtesy of Mastodon as a hooded crow perches on a fence post on Canna.
A pair of ducks of some species or other that like the far north – the one on te left with the elaborate colours and markings is clearly the male.
Two black and white (with a hint of gold) beauties, taken just before leaving Canna.
A post dedicated to a Minke Whale sighting during today’s ‘Canna Puffin Cruise’, where I was doubly lucky: 1) to be on it at all and 2) to manage to get photographs of the whale.
Earlier today I had the good fortune to go on today’s “Canna Puffin Cruise” during the course of which a Minke whale appeared above the waves on a few occasions, and I captured the evidence on camera. What follows is a short series of pictures…
The first, less good picture:
In the front of this shot part of the rump of Minke whale can be seen just above the surface of the water. Nearby two tiny puffins look on. This was somewhere between Mallaig and Canna.Close up extracted from the first picture showing the whale rump and the two puffins looking on.The mid-portion of a Minke whale including the dorsal fin appears above the sea somewhere between Mallaig and the Isle of Canna. Unedited original.A closer crop showing the whale and a cliff in the distance.Edited version of the above pictureA different edit of the same pictureAnother cropAn edited version of the second cropA different edit of the same crop
Another crop
An edited version of the final crop.
An edited version of the final crop.
I will be producing more posts about this day, including a ‘wildlife highlights package’, but just to get things started I have opted to give the Minke whale a post all to itself.
A personal account of the wedding party for Rob and Olivia Yates, with lots of quality pics. Also, some important links at the end.
INTRODUCTION
I will start with a word of warning: this is going to be a very long post, as there is a lot to talk about and I have some fabulous pictures to share with you. Olivia Croft (now Yates) is a cousin of mine, which is why I was there.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Needing to arrive at Kegworth early enough for those who would be at the ceremony itself to travel on to Loughborough and arrive by 12 meant an early start. I was not at the ceremony and was assigned another task along with my nephew Zachary, which I have already written about in a previous post. After a schemozzle over room bookings, which worked out to my benefit since I ended up with a room to myself (they had messed up, so we got the extra room we needed at no further cost) it was time to deposit our bags in the rooms and make the short walk to the house where the party was taking place, next door to the Kegworth museum.
THE PARTY
Arriving at the venue the first arresting sight was a 1950s vintage Morris…
The Morris in all its glory
A very old style AA badge – this close up shot was gained much later than the shot of the car.
This is the time, before going on to the party itself to introduce my feature image, a montage of some of the many pictures I took through the day…
There was a Pimm’s table for those whose tastes run in that direction, although I ignored that and was then delighted to located cask beer (four kegs, each different). I went for something called Blue Monkey Infinity and it was delicious. There was a barbecue lunch which was excellent. It is now time for a brief diversion to…
THE FISH POND
The fish pond was quite simply magnificent, with a stunning variety of fish and an excellent rock garden…
PUNCH AND JUDY
At 4PM there was a Punch and Judy puppet show. I watched it all and got some good pictures. It seemed to appeal to its target audience, the children, but I was unimpressed to say the least…
OUTDOOR MUSIC
Early on in the day there was some live music outside in the sun, and helped to be the volume not being too ridiculously amped up it was actually quite pleasant from a distance…
THE SPEECHES
The speeches took place in the same area as the Punch and Judy, and with the exception of the opening salvo from Andy, the bride’s stepfather, none were particularly impressive…
The groom, who was also MC for the speeches.
Andy, giving the first speech.
The bride’s sister, flanked by Evie (blonde) and Libby (darker)
The groom’s father making his speech.
The groom’s brother at the mic.
The bride making her speech.
AN INTERLUDE – SOME GENERAL PICS
Before going on to mention the supper and my own departure from the event here are some pictures taken at various times through the day that don’t fit neatly into a particular section…
Each table in the marquee had floral displays on them, one of which featured this sunflower.
A full floral display.
My cousin Richard and his fiancee Ida – they will soon be off to her native Sweden.
Ida and Rachel, girlfriend of another of my cousins, Edward
Me and Richard
Serious rain in the early evening.
SUPPER AND TAKING MY LEAVE
Supper was fish (or sausage in my case) and chips, and it was delicious (give what my uncle had apparently paid for the hire of the chip van for the evening so it jolly well ought to have been). While I was eating it in the shelter of the marquee, the evening’s entertainment were warming up, and that was sufficient to persuade me that as it was no longer suitable weather for being outside it was time to return, since there was no way I could cope with that kind of music at that volume and accompanied by strobe lighting at close quarters.
The cake, which I did not get to see being cut.
These last two pics are of the evening’s entertainment making their preparations.
I had a fabulous day, and by departing early was able to keep the good memories untarnished. This concludes the main part of this post, but I also have some…
aspiblog 