To cheer myself up, I got out of the house the other day, being fed up with my cold and the roll of kitchen tissue next to my laptop. My timing was good, knowing that the wind is increasing again by this weekend. So is the temperature and the rains.
First stop was these:
Gorse:
Inside the wall I spotted this one:
Something edible and very tempting had come in with the tide or had been left behind by a passer by and 4 or 5 Hooded Crows were feasting on this, beside the coastal road. Others took an interest and soon others moved in for their share.
Hooded Crow:
Redshank.
Mute Swans
Ferns?
I spotted these plants for the first time. The non variegated ones are a lot larger, about double the size of the smaller, variegated ones. I' assuming the small one is a specie of Fern, and because of its similarity with the Fern, I do think that the other one is a Fern also.
Hooded Crow, watching the going on's below.
Two flocks of Rooks/Jackdaws/Hooded Crows? was flying above me and flying above the trees lining the bay. I will have to get my lights mended to return a little later to see them come in for their roost. I think some already were coming in for this. As it is winter, they arrive earlier of course.
On my way back, I spotted two birds fly onto the phone/ cable spanning the road there where you enter the village again when coming from the COI. Their light colour
ing, hard to see exactly what kind of colouring-or whatever kind of bird. My heartbeat did increase though: would my patience pay off? Was the game up for my playing partner(s?) in the end? Smiling to myself, the winner, I urged my wheels around the bend. All I needed was a single photo! More were welcome, but only needed the one.
And so were there two, or was there just a single Dove which had kept irritating me?
Well, I did spot the second one, but a photo was too much too ask, apparently, as it was as camera shy as always. (For years I have heard Collared Doves around the house, and only once have I seen them-sitting atop the street light which faces into the garden in the front of our garden. I was too late to get the camera, because all I wanted was a picture.
Before that moment, I had only once seen a Pigeon in Bantry/Durrus in the last 25 years. And now the two Doves.
Back home in the garden,
Dunnock:
In the village, I met up with a -Dutch- friend and it took awhile before we had finished exchanging the important this' and thats of life. We had no idea that the other one is into photography. With the moon waiting for me, on top of our hill above a nearby house, it was time I got home.
I only see Blackbirds now and then. This young male-I think- shot up into the air vertically today when he spotted another one which had popped into the garden suddenly, which neither of us had noticed. His young and still brown wings got very eager and he used them very well in showing off to the other one. The departure of the other showed that this young male got his message across that this patch is taken.
Male Blackbird
Jackdaw, on a roof halfway our hill. It could have been JJ, then again, we've got a lot of Jackdaws around, so one will never know.
Mute Swan, wondering who is the most beautiful among the Swans.
Great post Yoke and glad you managed the great escape! And well worth it by the looks of it; some lovely pictures there.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures. Happy to hear that you got out, probably made you feel better. Hope the cold is just about gone now.
ReplyDeleteThanks girls.
ReplyDeleteYep, it was great to get out again, despite the (and mine) cold. The wind is howling again around the house and getting louder all the time.
I recognise those plants with the arrow-shaped leaves because they grow in my garden.
ReplyDeleteI think they are a variety of Arum italicum.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/69.shtml
Thanks Roger!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Yesterday I saw them also in another blog; a garden in Iowa or something like that where they come up in autumn already.
I'm still surprised to find 2 different species-the variegated and the plain-large leaved one- this close together, almost as in the one clump. Will keep a close eye on them.
Arum Lilies are growing all over here, Eire's damp climate is ideal for these to grow in the wild.
The plants with the variegated leaves are probably the same species as those with the large plain leaves. The plants in my garden seem to lose their variegation as they mature.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean, Roger. I will keep a close eye on the two plants as winter comes to her end and spring will take over the stimulation and protection of their further growth.
ReplyDeleteWe'll each keep track of our plants in your back garden and on my back road. :)