Thursday 8 September 2016

Last blog post from our holiday in Dumfries!

We visited several other places on our recent holiday in Dumfries. Here are some of our photos - first from Struan Loch





Next from Otter Ponds on the Blackwater of Dee



where the only otter we saw was this one

and Clatteringshaws Loch

which has a lovely visitor centre with a coffee shop that looks over several bird feeders (though for some reason I have no photos of that!) and this lovely bug hotel

On the woodland walk near Clatteringshaws there were lots of insects. including this wonderful display of wasps and hoverflies

which includes Leucozona glaucia (new to me but we saw several on this trip) (this individual below was photographed somewhere else than the plant above.)

We also visited Caerlaverock Nature Reserve - the weather had become overcast

 and very windy - this tall grass was swirling around wildly
We had tea and cakes under this tree near the Caerlaverock Castle Coffee Shop

We stayed there even as it started to rain as we were engrossed in watching the swallows (over 50) that were sitting in the tree and flying round. In the UK, we're more used to seeing our swallows sitting on telegraph wires as they gather before migrating back to Africa but where there are no telegraph lines they use trees (as they must have done in the days before telegraph poles). Crafty Green Boyfriend  captured some of the swallows on camera


And finally we couldn't resist making friends with this cat who we met in Dumfries

So we had a wonderful holiday and I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of our photos!





10 comments:

Jenn Jilks said...

What a wonderful trip!!!! Such fun, those daycations!

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

It is beautiful indeed! Those otter ponds are new to me, suspect they are a much further upstream on the Dee than I've ever visited

Bill said...

Juliet, I've been sitting here looking at these photos, breathing in, breathing out . . .

Total relaxation. Thanks.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Thanks for the virtual trip -- Beautiful place and I enjoyed it immensely. Interesting to think about swallows and wires (certainly where we see them most of the time over on this side of the pond)... and what they did before there were any. I can almost feel the wind when looking at that one picture!

RG said...

A fine tour! We have a rock-carved otter here along a nice trail. Runners come to it, rub it's head, and then turn around to run back from where they came.

Geraldine said...

Looks like some special places to visit. Hope you had a wonderful summer.

Caroline Gill said...

It has been lovely, Juliet, to 'journey' with you through paths both familiar and new to me. We visited Caerlaverock several times, enjoying the little wood that links the reserve (and estuary) to the castle. I particularly like the tucked-away remains of the older castle: we have found that boggy boardwalk area a good one for damselflies. I'm afraid we only got to the WWT reserve there at closing time, but were given good advice about listening for the toads! The area boasts so much wildlife - and heritage, too. What a gorgeous cat!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, gorgeous images and pretty scenery. Great trip photos. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Juliet,

I loved seeing the photos of your holiday, such gorgeous scenery and thanks for sharing.
Have a lovely weekend
Hugs
Carolyn

Sandy said...

I did enjoy the photos very much. It is still so bright and green there.