Rambling Russells

Well the last month of the year is here and it began with a mixture of cold and frosty, but sunny, days. Then a run of mild, but foggy and misty, days followed. We had been lucky however to not have suffered any major winds or gales. We have seen some lovely rainbows too.     The garden finally looks like it should in winter - many plants like the hostas frosted into brown mushy heaps. The cold seems to have caught the green that many plants were still showing and reminded them of the season! The trees are bare, with piles of leaves gathering in corners and under hedges. Only the evergreen trees and shrubs are displaying any colour and form with their differing shades of green.     Most of the berries have now been eaten by the birds - apart from a few red holly berries which light up the scene as the shortest day of the year approaches. However, despite the year drawing to a close the...

Birds have been the only wildlife we have seen in the garden this month - but the cold weather has meant we have had quite a few visitors in total. Our goldfinches are still daily visitors and frosty mornings have meant we have had to defrost water dishes so that the birds get a drink - or a bath! Just watching them have a bath - splashing water everywhere - makes you feel cold. (brrr)  It was nice to see a greenfinch - we don't see many of those in our garden.     Our monthly max is therefore as follows: Blackbird - 2 male 2 female Blue tit - 3 Carrion crow - 2 Chaffinch - 4 male 4 female Coal tit - 1 Collared dove- 2 Dunnock - 2 Goldfinch - 22 Goose - 200+ flying over Great tit - 2 Greenfinch - 1 House sparrow - 20 male 15 female Pied wagtail - 1 Robin - 1 Starling - 40 Woodpigeon - 1 Wren - 1   With the weather and the Christmas holidays,  we haven't been out and about much to find the DGERC species of the month for December - which were Maidenhead fern ...

To get out and about for some fresh air we headed for Shancastle Loch near Moniaive.   The wildlife was relatively quiet but as we sat there nibbling our sandwiches, washed down with hot soup, we saw movement from geese, Teal, Wigeon on the parts of the loch which were not frozen.   Then we noticed the hillside and horizon were full of more geese.     Plenty of Rooks and Crows made a flypast and a fleeting glimpse of 3 deer wandering through the tree line.   There were a lot of buzzards on the roadside on fence posts and wires as we drove there and back.   We aimed to take a slight detour on the return journey but a wrong turn by the driver took us towards Carsphain rather than directly to Dalry but the scenery was exciting enough for Val to wind down her window to take photos!   In the sheltered valleys and roadside there were pockets of frost, not just at grass level . . .     ...

The month began with the sighting of a Red Admiral butterfly at Caerlaverock - not our garden I know but worth a mention! The gardening month began dry with many leaves still on the trees in all their glorious colours - the rich red of the acer, reds and golds on azalea bushes, green and yellow on fruit trees and dark reds and oranges on the berberis hedge. Those that have fallen are crisp and dry as they pile-up against gates, fences and other plants making colourful "litter"     Some plants have still been flowering - we have picked scented roses as they open and brought them indoors to have a spectacular late show! Wild orange poppies and calendulas have been abundant in the mild weather bringing a lovely burst of colour in the garden.     Himalayan honeysuckle and sedum have been looking spectacular and even the heads of the hydrangea are pretty as they fade. ...

We continue to see plenty of birds in the garden - breakfast and a cup of tea in the afternoon seem to take longer and longer as we sit and record the number of birds we see each day! Very welcome visitors this month were a brambling, a bird we have never seen before, and long-tailed tits, which are a favourite for me.   Photos from NE Wildlife     Our monthly max for Nov is therefore as follows:- Blackbird - 1 male, 3 female Blue tit - 4 Brambling - 1 Carrion crow - 1 Chaffinch - 5 male, 4 female Coal tit - 2 Collared dove - 3 Dunnock - 4 Goldfinch - 20 Goose - 500+ flying over Great tit - 3 House sparrow - 28 male, 20 female Jackdaw - 4 Long-tailed tit - 3 Pied wagtail - 1 Robin - 1 Starling - 40 Woodpigeon - 3 Wren - 2 Our last sighting of a butterfly was in November too! Although we saw it fly across the garden, we couldn't see which species it was!   We did manage to see DGERC species of the month for Nov too - admittedly not in our garden - but it is ...

Decided to take a trip back to somewhere we had visited many years ago - Ashness Bridge just outside Keswick. It is known as probably the most photographed packhorse bridge in the Lake District and when you get there it is easy to see why, but even before we got there the autumn colours were beautiful.        We saved the bridge till later ... and went further up the road first to the Surprise View!   Certainly well-named!   Travelling farther on the hillsides were very colourful in their autumn attire.     We had a little companion at one point ...        But back down the hill towards the bridge....        Past the Bark House Mountain Base ...       ... and then suddenly there it is!                 Easy...