travel
juvenile mute swan
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When adult this juvenile Mute Swan will be all white with an orange-red beak.
young mute swan (& Canada goose)
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While I have photographed black swans here in Australia I was delighted to spot this young Mute Swan resting in Kensington Gardens, London, on a trip to the UK last year. Mute Swan adults are all white with orange-red beaks, they are the heaviest flying birds in the world, weighing up to 15 kilos. Contrary to its name the Mute Swan produces a range of vocalisations, including the hissing sound swans are famous for when threatened. The friend in the background is a Canada Goose.
ruddy shelduck
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I spotted this lovely chestnut water bird at Kensington Gardens in London. The information on their website to aid in identifying birds to the Gardens is very limited. The bird is not in my British Wildlife book either.. again this only has a limited coverage of birds. I was guessing this was a Wandering Whistling-Duck at a different stage/gender as the bird in the post below. But I have had it identified as a Ruddy Shelduck and changed my entry accordingly.
Kensington heron
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Grey Herons are global citizens, while they live in Australia I spotted this one, standing motionless as they are want to do, in Kensington Gardens, one of eight Royal Parks in the city of London, UK.
castle guards
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Rosslyn Chapel was made famous in Dan Brown‘s novel The Da Vinci Codes that went on to become a much discussed movie. Last October on a visit to the UK I visited the Chapel while staying in what remains of Rosslyn Castle, once the St. Claire family home. The Castle is available to rent through the Landmark Trust and is located a short distance away from the Chapel on private land.
The Castle accommodation is a walk back in time, filled with old paintings, faded wall hangings and memorabilia, statues from the Chapel, descending dungeons and a few resident ghosts thrown in! I captured these Jackdaws from my window one morning, and while strictly speaking Rooks are associated with castles and belfrys, in this case it was Jackdaws that presented plenty of atmosphere as they swirled in large flocks overhead and cawed and chacked into the night.
whose calling me baby now
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This Sottish Mod (aka Highland Steer) has the mod fringe down pat, take a second look and check out the single eye under those beautiful bangs. The horns may look scary but in reality Highland Steers are docile, good natured animals, and often house cows. The coats vary from black to white, red to silver and in between all thanks to a gene. I met this fellow when touring the Isle of Skye in north west Scotland last October. With the car window down I was only inches away from his lovely snout. These fringes were made famous when Corb Lund (Canada’s country music singer) released his song ‘Hair in My Eyes Like A Highland Steer’.
isle of skye
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These types of strange mountains rise up unexpectantly throughout the Isle of Skye, one of the islands of ‘Argyll and the Isles’ in north west Scotland. It’s a rugged landscape that presents a challenge for those on foot. Certainly in earlier days when the great dense pine forests (now sadly decimated by harvesting) covered the island, the combination of seemingly impassable forests and steep exposed mountains slit by gorges led to the inhabitants preferring to travel by boat around the island rather than across country.
the fashionista
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Yes, I admit it, I’m a fan of sheep. They are so sweet and docile and when you get to know them they have such interesting personalities. This Scottish Blackface, a resident of the Isle of Skye, seems to be displaying quite a sense of humour and could be saying, ‘hey just because I’m rural, doesn’t mean I’m not a fashionista’. You have to admit that those spotty legs, mix-matched ‘earrings’ and the ‘head gear’ are pretty darn cute.
bo peep’s sheep
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On the Isle of Skye visitors soon learn that the Scottish Blackface considers the narrow roads their own. This mountain sheep is particularly well suited to Skye as it is tough, adaptable ,and bestowed with a long coarse wool coat that protects it from the biting winds that roar over the exposed landscape.
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