A Wednesday Ramble around Bayble

I went for a ramble this morning. It turned into a stroll which in turn became quite a long walk.


I wouldn't be any good at shearing sheep, either.


Rosebay Willowherb is one of the flowers out since last week when I walked this route.


Honeysuckle was another.


A juvenile Hooded Crow.

I heard my first Corncrake of this holiday but it remained as elusive as all the others I have heard over the years. The following video is not very inspiring insofar as its view is concerned but if you turn your sound up you will hear the Corncrake. It sounds like someone rubbing their finger along a comb.




Field Scabious.


I'm not very good at identifying grasses but that doesn't stop me appreciating how attractive they are.


Bayble Island from the jetty.


Scotland's flower.


This is a female Common Blue. Unlike the male she usually has brown upper wings covered in bluish scales with orange spots. Occasionally one is lucky enough to come across a fresh specimen in which the blue scales are really bright and have not worn off.


The female has a brown background to her underside whereas the male has a bluish grey one. She has her abdomen curled under her because she is in the process of laying eggs on the Birds-foot Trefoil plants.


That little dot is an egg!


A juvenile Twite. Normally a bird of the uplands in the rest of the UK, the Twite can be found at sea level in the far North West.


At the bottom of the croft - just the stiff climb back up and I'll be home in time for lunch...

 

Real life rambling

For reasons best known to itself Rambles scheduling isn’t working. Help!

On Monday I got a lift into Stornoway and spent a couple of hours in the library. I just love exploring libraries. I had GB's ticket with me so borrowed a few books to add to the stack beside my bed. I'll have to stay up here in the Hebrides for a few more weeks just to make inroads into the 'Books to be read' pile. I got the bus back hoping to see a couple of the townships I've not been through before. Unfortunately it was so wet and misty I couldn't see anything from the bus windows.

Tuesday began badly with news of family health problems. We are a right bunch at he moment with Brother-who-blogs having radiotherapy, Son-who-watched-films having an abscess, me with my usual problems and now Partner-who-loves-tea with stomach problems. At least the identification of what is wrong with her has solved the mystery of why she has been so exhausted for so long. My grandmother had a saying when we were all ailing - something about putting us all in a sack and see who came out first. Perhaps GB can recall the exact words?

On the good news front, Richard has passed all his first year modules and is safely on his way into the second year of his degree.

Tuesday and Wednesday have been absolutely perfect weather and so I have spent all my waking hours out walking. On Tuesday I went down to the jetty and then along the road to the junction of Upper and Lower Bayble, through Lower Bayble and Eagleton back 'home'.


After a couple of hours rest and a visit from Pat to check her e-mails (BT having lost her Broadband connection for nearly a fortnight now), I headed off again and walked to the headland by Bayble Island which looked wonderful in the early evening sun.

On Wednesday I walked down to the jetty again and then up towards the headland on the other side of Bayble Bay. I didn’t make it to the far headland but got as far as the first one with its little offshore islands.


I have decided to list the flowers within walking distance of GB’s and have reached 47 species without stopping to think. I wonder what the total will be.




In addition to the flowers there has been plenty of bird life to photograph.


A leisurely stroll back was followed by coffee next door in Christine’s with Pat and Kate. Christine had her leaving do from work on Tuesday evening and got lots of lovely presents and flowers including this perfect lily.

I’ve taken so many photos the last few days it will take me ages to sort them all. That's the sort of task I relish.