Christmas Walk

The forecasters had been insisting for several days that this part of Scotland would have a cold, grey day for Christmas but the weather was far kinder, so we took a morning walk along the shore towards Dunrobin Castle where....

....we spotted a young buzzard feeling very abandoned, sitting in a tree and repeating a most mournful call. Mum and Dad have probably recently told it that it's on its own, so it's cold and lonely and hungry.

This was a pleasing sight, a mistle thrush sitting on a post on the edge of the Dairy Park. It was good to see it as they are not common birds and we had seen a pair in the same place last summer.

We're still finding the occasional fungus, though they're much more uncommon now, and we certainly didn't expect to see one in 'full bloom' in the snow. With the fungi fading out I should be looking for a new challenge for the winter, one possibility being....

...lichens, of which there are umpteen species here thriving throughout the year. This area is wonderful for them as they have miles of stone walls to grow on as well as the damp trees in the forestry. However, I've tried my hand at lichens before with little success, one of the few which has stuck in my mind being.....

...this one, commonly called British soldiers. So, probably not.