This is our last day in Scotland. The people and the weather treated us very well. We will try to take back the rain and leave the sun here…
0 Kommentare
Beaches and Cliffs
Today, the sun woke us up and we went for a stroll on a beach with cows J. The car told us, it was 25°C. It felt like Greece, just greener. Later we found a nice coffee and cake place in Dunvegan and ate a carrot cake. Here, they use orange flavour in the carrot cake, which is delicious.
In the afternoon I wanted to see some cliffs and we drove to the western end of the island and found some pretty steep and rough cliffs.
Isle of Skye
Normally people refer to the Isle of Skye as „the Skye“. It reminds me a lot of the Lofoten in Norway. Mountains, green hills, oceans, small houses, cliffs, beaches and of course sheep. We went to Portree the largest town on the island, where we are staying for three nights. It’s a lovely fishing village, with a lot of tourists and too few restaurants. Luckily there is a great place for fish and chips just at the harbour.
Today we went on the hike to Ben Edra, a mountain of the Trotternish Ridge. It was sunny at first, but then we got lost in a swamp. By the time we were almost at the top, the fog came from the ocean and we decided to go back again to avoid getting lost in the fog.
Pics from Mr. K.
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Today we drove through the Highlands (the Scottish Mountains). There were clouds, a tiny bit of rain and fog. This was what we had expected to experience the whole time. We went for a walk and after 5 minutes we saw the first lapwing!
Lapwings occur in wetlands. They are mainly black (tinted green) and white with a crest on the head. The wings are black with a white end and white on the under side. They have a peculiar, erratic way of flying, to which its name refers.
Picture: Birdforum, Nigel Pye
Driving on the left side
We are on our way to explore the countryside, on the left side of the street, with the monkey. Some high and lowlights of the day:
– Saw a Oystercatcher, bluebells, a mouse and baby coot
– The sun is shining
– Walkers the Scottish version of Kvikk lunsj
– To lazy to bring the binoculars on the walk…
– Rent a car can take more than 1.5h. Even if you haven’t left Europe!
Scotland – Edinburgh
We arrived in Edinburgh this morning and will be in Scotland for a few days. It is our first holiday since our trip to Canada and the States last year. I am looking forward to some days of relaxing, birding, hiking, strolling, eating, drinking and enjoying. The first thing today: a coffee, what else?
Brew lab, an artisan coffee bar in the centre of Edinburgh.
First harvest
I made the first harvest in our garden yesterday! The salad was delicious.
Bird’s nest
I found a bird’s nest on the ground this morning. The birds had been building their nest on a thin branch and it broke. Luckily there were no eggs, yet.
I used the nest for a photo shooting with the woodpecker stamp.
More Birds
I made a new acquaintance (I love this word) when I was in Paris a few weeks ago, which resulted in carving stamps for the last few days. The bird family has grown and I have a little collection of singing birds, water birds and forest birds.
Birds
I am taking a bird course at the moment. Every day at six in the morning I start to listen to the birds (while I am still in bed), trying to figure out who is singing. Common blackbird (Turdus merula), House sparrow (Passer domesticus), Great tit (Parus major) and Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) are the most common guests. Others are singing but I don’t know them yet…
The birds inspired me to make a new stamp collection. I decided to carve all birds from Switzerland. (And some cool once like the puffin). It’s the perfect way to learn them, because I have to study each bird in detail before carving. They will be available in my shop soon.
Any suggestions what bird I should carve next?
