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Edinburgh Pandas
After several months of failed planning, I finally managed to get out to see the famous pandas of Edinburgh Zoo yesterday. I don’t really know what I expected to find behind the huge perspex screens, and it was a strange feeling to look down on both bears in the wholly artificial surroundings of Corstorphine. One… Continue reading
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Northern Lights
It turns out that while the rest of the nation was marvelling at the Northern Lights last night, I was out in Dumfries. By the time I got back at around eleven o’clock, I discovered that I had been missing out on quite a show, and there was only a pale glow to the North… Continue reading
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Lek Reconnaissance
It was a fantastic day for a walk in the hills above Gatehouse of Fleet, where the last year of good weather has stirred the embers of the local black grouse into a moment of relative prosperity. Whether or not this boost can be sustained by a second year of sunshine and warmth remains to… Continue reading
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Salmond Fishing
Again, trying to avoid the political side of things, I can’t resist making mention of the SNP’s sudden interest in wild fish. The definitive salmonid was feted as he opened the Tay season last month, and a few other SNP MSPs have been showing their faces at fishing events, including Aileen Campbell, MSP for Clydesdale,… Continue reading
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A Pointer in the Rain
Worth posting this photograph of Oscar the pointer which my girlfriend took this afternoon in the miserable rain and high winds on the Chayne. The shepherd has been seeing a bird which I think can only be a greyhen on a totally different area of the hill, far away from the usual red grouse haunts… Continue reading
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Black-Headed Gull
Having been lent an english pointer for the weekend again, I thought it was only fair to give him a good run for his money up round the Chayne this afternoon. True to form, he did not disappoint, and performed a couple of really nice displays in a strong, driving wind. The grouse were no… Continue reading
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A9 Blackcock
The A9 has a bad reputation from everyone’s perspective. The police hate it because it’s so dangerous, drivers hate it because of the speed cameras, and mountain hares hate it because so many of them get flattened on it. By contrast, I love the A9. Fortunately, I don’t drive it so often that I am… Continue reading
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Croick Estate
Just worth mentioning that I had a fantastic visit to Croick Estate in Sutherland over the weekend. This post is brief because there will be an awful lot more to come on the subject of Croick in due course, but the trip was excellent and the experience of seeing a North Highland deer forest in… Continue reading
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A Book Review?
Contrary to accepted wisdom, I did happen to judge a book by its cover on eBay recently. In my defence, it is one of the best book covers I have ever seen, featuring a blackcock at full bore surrounded by a bank of greyhens. Ian Niall has some strong links to Galloway, but his real… Continue reading
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Further Signs
As a follow-on from yesterday’s observations, I have started to see that the usual gangs of crows are breaking up on the Chayne, and one bunch of five has now become two groups of two. In amongst them, a weird crow missing several of its primary feathers on each wing has appeared and now makes… Continue reading
About
“Shout on, Morgan. You’ll be nothing tomorrow”
Swn y galon fach yn torri, 1952
Also at: https://andtheyellowale.substack.com
Bog Myrtle & Peat 