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| 1.Oh, it's you? I've got some nice pics for you today to take your mind off Boris. |
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| 2. Seven Sisters, Brazil |
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| 3 Pine Marten. |
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| 4. Frank's been to Islay and sent us these three photos. This one is Mull of Oa. |
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| 5. You can see why this one would catch his eye. |
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| 6. I know you won't mind if we do this in French becasue it was sent specially for Claudine. Celle-ci est pour toi, Claudine. Deux vaches écossaises sur notre belle île d'Islay. |
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| 7. Got anything to eat? |
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| 8. A protective "arm" around her pups. |
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| 9. A picture is a poem without words. Isn't it just? |
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| 10. Fine looking fellow there. |
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| 11. Another protective arm round another little one. |
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| 12. Clouds. |
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| 13. What shall we play now? |
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| 14. Lupins. |
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| 15. Give's a hand, I'm kinda stuck here. |
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| 16. Is there anything more lovely than a tree? |
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| 17. No idea what that human wants, but he can whistle for it. |
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| 18 Campanula. |
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| 19. One, two, three, fo... could you all stay still. One, two three.. oh I give up. Lots. |
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| 20. Ohhh, that was exciting wasn't it? Hope you enjoyed it. See you next week. |
Thank you again guys. Lovely pictures. Calm in the storm.
ReplyDeleteI think I read recently that pine martins wipe out grey squirrels. They apparently don't affect the red population as those stay high enough up to avoid predation. If anybody can lend me a few I'd be delighted. My locality is infested with the little American rats.
S.A.
https://archive.is/Ck0z3
DeleteSeeing as I am a pedant, I get that it's pine martEn.
Link tells story I alluded to.
S.A.
Aye. It's been the kind of week you need some calm from.
DeleteNot sure I have any Pine Martens about the place, but I'll ask Munguin!! He always knows that sort of stuff! :)
Good article. Why are the Irish better at this than the Brits? After all they are just a small country, too wee, too poor and too.... yeah right they are!
DeleteI'm completely confused. Do we for some reason prefer Pine Martens to cute little squirrels?
DeleteAnd are red squirrels preferable to gray squirrels?
And what is an "American rat?"
And for what it's worth, I'm not crazy about the appearance of that Pine Marten. He looks like a weasel, to which he is related I understand. And weasels are disgusting little critters which kill chickens. A weasel got in my grandmother's hen house one time, and killed all the chickens.
We need to seriously consider this Pine Marten thing, IMHO.
Danny, grey squirrels, an import from America, are displacing red squirrels in many parts of Britain. They carry the squirrel pox virus; liken it to smallpox and native Americans.
DeleteSo, unfortunately for the individual animals, they are being culled quite severely, especially around pockets of reds.
Thanks. I didn't know that. I should check out the squirrel species over here in the states. I hadn't thought much about it.
DeleteLOL, Danny. Unless you are living with it, you don't pay much attention. But the greys are wiping out the reds.
DeleteWe have a patrol thing. If in "red areas" (that's where they still exist), if you see a grey, you are supposed to report it.
Sounds cruel but it's to save the native species.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/scotlands-red-squirrels/
DeleteFrom the Telegraph:
Delete" It is unclear when anyone was last prosecuted for not reporting a grey squirrel in their garden.
However, in 2010 a man was ordered to pay more than £1500 for drowning a grey squirrel.
Raymond Eliot trapped the animal because it kept raiding his bird feeding table. After killing it he became the first person in the country to be convicted of cruelty to a wild animal under the Animal Welfare Act 2006."
But the application of the Animal Welfare Act seems problematic. Also from the Telegraph:
"Also seeking to protect the birds in his garden, a former Welsh Guardsman was also prosecuted after catching a number of grey squirrels and releasing them into the wild.
Had he simply shot the squirrels dead, rather than opting for a more humane solution, Mr. Hill would have faced no charges."
One ALWAYS learns something new on Munguin's Republic! ;-)
Notwithstanding the bird lovers whose underlying motives for dealing with the gray squirrels seem highly questionable (how do we know that the guy doing the drowning hasn't killed a red squirrel in his time?), AND the uneven application of the Animal Welfare Act under which one may be prosecuted for both killing gray squirrels and NOT killing gray squirrels, I had no idea this gray squirrel genocide was going on.
Although the program may have vaguely anti-American overtones, I guess I approve, if it will save the reds. I suppose that exemptions from the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 will now be granted.....assuming the evidence shows that the individual was acting in defense of red squirrels and not out of some animus toward squirrels generally.
I also found out that a Victorian banker named Thomas Brocklehurst was responsible for this.
I still don't like those weasel thingys that kill chickens. SAVE THE CHICKENS I say! You think you have a problem with gray squirrels? Wait until you are overrun with Pine Martens!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/10705527/History-of-grey-squirrels-in-UK.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/05/red-grey-squirrels-cornwall
LOL LOL.
DeleteNo anti-American sentiment. It would be all teh same if they came from Norway, Danny.
But, the reds are infinitely nicer. It's a pity they can't live happily together, but this pox makes it impossible.
Laws often collide with one another. Gardeners may wish to get rid of cats from their gardens because of the wanton damage they do, in using them as toilets and grubbing up plants, or sleeping on soft plants. Under our law you can;t hurt or remove a cat, and the wonder has no duty to control it. But under EU law, a person has the right to enjoy his/her property (garden and contents thereof), without it being destroyed by the possession or property (cat) of another person.
Also cats kill birds for no other reason than sport (the cat is not hungry by and large because it has food at home). Birds are as important as squirrels. It's so complex.
Looks like we're just going to be overrun with something.
As long as its not royals, I say!!
LOL Tris....Yes, I think you're well supplied with royals.
DeleteIt's always a problem sorting out the wildlife laws. I know that under Utah state law it's illegal to kill a rattlesnake, if it's a species indigenous to the state.
And there is always FEDERAL law that comes into play. So that in the state of Arizona for example.....which holds the dubious honor of being the state with the MOST species of rattlesnakes (about 13 if memory serves).....you must know the federal law as it applies to 13 different species when confronted by a rattler. Probably best to just leave it alone. ;-))
Then out west and up in the Alaskan wilderness there are Grizzly Bears. I understand that it's a very stiff prison sentence for killing a Grizzly unless you can prove that your life was in danger. Some people I'm sure would prefer to be eaten by a hungry Grizzly than face questioning by the Feds.
Hmmmm....
DeleteNot sure I'd like to be put in that position.
I'll stay clear of Alaska... and Arizona... and probably Utah!
LOL
Hi Tris,
ReplyDeleteLovely pics, thanks for brightening my day with another early morning smile to go along with my first cuppa. :)
Hi Issy. I did it early with you in mind.
DeleteGlad it worked...
It sure did, Two weeks in a row, you're spoiling me :) and it is very much appreciated.
DeleteGive Munguin a big cuddle from me.
He's blushing now! :)
DeleteI like the Campanula. I've built a small rockery, as I love wee alpine plants.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise there were as many varieties of Campanula, Jutie. I've got a wild one in my garden which seems to have migrated from next door. It's all over the place and at the moment is really beautiful. Love alpines and rockeries too.
DeleteI'll send you a piccie of my work in progress if you like.
DeleteIs there a contact email somewhere?
Yeah brilliant, thanks Jutie
Deletetrispw@gmail.com
I have never had campanulas in the garden, always thought they were short lived, so Tris you have now given me encouragement. Will say never was lucky with lavendar but we have got two plants going gusto which is nice. I gave up with them and planted catmint instead, nice for the cats and believe me they used it, and made a nice show. Loved all the pictures and the whisky distiller shown was once my favourite tipple. Helena
DeleteLoads of different kinds of campanula, Helena. Likewise Lavender. I don't think the Frnehc ones work too well here, but some of the English ones are straggly and some go woody. Cut them back every year and it will make them stronger.
DeleteAlthough I love all animals, I cannot abide cats in the garden. The use it as a toilet and wreck young pants; they hunt down young birds and they kill mice. Not for food, but for sport.
And around here sadly, everyone seems to have a cat.
you tell us you're taking our minds of Boris then show us a picture of a donkey - I mean please.
ReplyDeleteFrom twitter - the appointment of Boris was a mistake by an intern. They saw F Off next to his name and misunderstood what it meant!
Anyway some lovely ones - particularly liked the gorillas, cygnets and the lupins.And the only thing better than a tree is a forest with orangs swinging in them.
Love the 'F Off' against Johnson... Very good.
DeleteI wish we could do more about the trees for the poor wee things. I've got a few in my garden. Welcome to use them any time.
Lovely photos. The waterfall in Brazil looks stunning. We have some in Scotland that are stunning too, in my younger days the Falls of Damph near Loch Lee were good to walk past.
ReplyDeleteI was in Loch Lomond National Park last week, and for a little while it stopped raining.
DeleteSome of the waterfalls there were superb. Unfortunately my phone camera isn't up to taking anything that's not close up...
Reekie Linn, superb name, is close to Dundee, Tris, and well worth a look. In spate, the view from the top is actually quite frightening. You hear the roar, before you see it dropping into the deep chasm.
Deletehttp://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/14555884.jpg
DeleteLooks excellent Jutie. Now on my list of to visit places. Not good with heights though!!!