Feathers

I've been collecting feathers for a while, some of them are just stunning, and inspired by Weaver of Grass, who posted some feathers today, here are mine. I know that the almost black (but actually wonderfully irridescent) feather on the right is from a magpie and that the two small feathers with the gorgeous blue patterns are from the wing coverts of jays (both these were found on the same day in Dumfriesshire, but in two different woodlands!). I don't have definite ids for the rest so if anyone can help, please let me know! They've all been found in Scotland.

haiku

morning light -
last night's seal becomes
a buoy





previously published in Blithe Spirit, the journal of the British Haiku Society

Jaguars Ripped my Flesh by Tim Cahill

This is a collection of short travel essays. A lot of them are adventurous - we have caving in Kentucky, skydiving, , swimming with sharks, watching the eruption of Mount St Helens at close quarters etc. There are also tales of epic travels in various south American countries. But Cahill is, for me, at his best, a true environmentalist. Life and Love in Gorilla Country is a wonderful close encounter with the gorillas in Volcano Country Park, Rwanda. It is clear that Cahill totally enjoys getting close to these magnificent creatures, though he doesn't shy away from describing all the pressures on their environment. The Shame of Escobilla is a powerful and moving account of the pressures on sea turtles in Mexico. The New Desert, An Old Woman describes how desert has come to what was once Owen's Lake, in California. Kayaking Among the Ice Children is set in Alaska, amongst the harbour seals and whales around Glacier Bay National Monument. All the stories are very readable and appeal to a wide range of tastes among those who like travel literature. But nowhere do jaguars rip flesh....

Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, Penguin Books, 1987

Botanic Gardens

Yesterday we had a lovely though windblown walk round Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens. The sky was perfect blue and it was mild. The wind did mean that leaves are falling before we can really appreciate the colours on the trees, but the fallen leaves are lovely to look at.

I spent some time under a tree, watching a treecreeper as it crept over the branches, looking in the nooks and crannies for food. The only birds I photographed though were the pigeons, some of which enthusiastically fed from Crafty Green Boyfriend's hand.... This pretty pigeon is likely to be the offspring of one of the white doves from Gorgie City Farm that bred with a normal feral pigeon.

Mobile Shadows

Here it is at last! A while ago, I started talking about making a mobile including the ladybirds I had painted onto re-used plastic packaging. It took me a while to come up with the design and the materials but here it is! The wood I collected from the Water of Leith, it was part of a fallen branch, that needed to be trimmed to avoid tripping people up as they walk along the path! Then I have added some outer layers from honesty plants (also collected along the Water of Leith). The paper is reused office scrap, on which I wrote:

a wrought iron fence - spotted with rust and ladybirds.

I'm hoping to make another mobile with more honesty seedpods and feathers!

Weekend reflections

I took both photos at Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve, Dumfriesshire

Weekend Reflections

there's another reflection on my Over Forty Shades blog here.

Porcelain Fungi

Crafty Green Boyfriend took this wonderful image in Caerlaverock, Dumfriesshire