All about the birds ...

The boy and I were away last weekend at Loch End Chalets, near Aberfoyle in Stirling. It was so tranquil, and just what we needed. I hadn't realised that I was so stressed until we got there and I felt so relaxed.


This was the view from the dining area, and just outside on our wee patio (that's the Loch, right there). We just got the telephoto lens before we left, so there's lots of photos playing with it ahead!

We spent the weekend vegging out on M&S food and DVDs at night, and driving around during the day. We went on the Inversnaid RSPB reserve walk - 400 mere metres (!)... very much uphill, with not a bird to be heard.

Lots of lichen though - rare lichen apparently. I don't know about that, but I do know that in the spirit of Bill Bryson walking the Appalachian Trail, I spent some time on the ground facedown, in sheer exhaustion with lichen stuck to my cheek examining the lichen.



The ducks at Loch End were hilarious - we may have taken quite a few duck shots - they were accomodating! From the moment we arrived they were at the patio doors tapping with their beaks to be fed. All in, there are about 12 of them, and they seem to spend their day going from patio to patio gorging on bread given by guests.

We also discovered that they were quite happy to work for their food. The one below being so keen that he jumped right out of shot (This would have been a fab shot if I'd got him all in it)




I must warn that there is no knitting content in this blog post - it is all birds from here on out. Feel free to wander off ... or alternatively overdose on our pics here if you like.



Quack - that just cracks me up!


The one above I took at Kelvingrove Park this morning - I'm so happy with it (bigger version here), so crisp and clear - think I'm getting the hang of this digital SLR malarky.


The two Kelvingrove Herons - the newcomer above (a real 'ned'dy looking creature) has scared 'Kelvin' the regular Heron from the pond and was spotted a couple of days ago shooing a couple of gulls from 'his' pond. Then he does victory laps around the central island making sure his reign is secure. I'm sure that there's a bottle of Buckfast under his wings...


Poor, civilised West-End Kelvin looks on at his old home from the path. He tried a landing just after this shot - there was a squawking and then he flew back to the river again. Hopefully to plot a decent revenge (although in the manner of West Enders, this will probably involve an harshly-worded but polite letter to the council, and a petition)


My final shot is a great tit looking at the floor. In the bigger version you can see all the feathers around his neck - I'm getting seriously addicted to this photography stuff!