Alchemy and Unicorns
Posted By Judith on 23rd July 2019
When you think of Scottish wildlife you think deer, pine martens, red squirrels, dolphins and the like, and I would have been truly made up to have seen any one of these during my recent trip, but sadly I didn’t.
Nor did I see one of the badgers who live up the road and are regular visitors to the garden, usually to the detriment of Janice’s plants.
However, I did see a few things for the first time. Yellow hammers and siskins are regular visitors to the bird feeder and a red legged partridge sat on a wall were all new to me. The Great Spotted Woodpecker I have seen before, but not as close or for as long. Then there are the pheasants.
Let me introduce you to ‘Pagan’,
so called because he does not have the white neck ring which appears on some adult males. Then there is ‘The Curate’ who only has half a neck ring and the others, who have the full neck ring, are known as ‘The Vicars’. All are regular visitors to the bird feeder. I always knew bird watching would be fun!
We saw cygnets at Fyvie Castle,
but we have those in Grimsby. Not as picturesque I grant you, but pretty similar weather!
Then there are the sheep. Here is the matriarch of the group, Milly.
As a proud Yorkshire lass I should have had no trouble with steep hills, but the 1 in 4 slope where the sheep live almost had me beat. I think living amongst the rolling Wolds of Lincolnshire for 20 years has softened me up, plus the fact I’m 20 years older and I don’t think varifocals on steep uneven surfaces help either.
Half way up the view was impressive,
but by the time I’d reached the seat at the top corner, heart pounding, the view was spectacular (pity it wasn’t a sunny day)
and the Wi-fi signal was perfect.
What’s that about? Sat in Janice’s front room, right next to the Wi-fi hub thing, I couldn’t get arrested!! Ah the mysteries of the Internet.
After the first couple of days I gave up trying to understand how I could ‘WhatsApp’ my niece, on holiday in Florida, from the middle of a Scottish field and just decided it must be a combination of alchemy and unicorns!
