Did you see that #ShootingStar / #Meteor ?
22:07 13th April… visible at 163 degrees South and fell, bright yellow with trail towards the hills, and I lost it behind Oak Trees at 174 degrees South from here #Meiklewood, just West of Stirling.
Siskins for #FirstBirdOfMyDay … but a very busy morning… everyone wide-eyed and bushy-tailed after a gorgeous day of what felt like proper spring day (even if we still have some visible snow patches on the hills to the North of us).
#Meiklewood
A heck of a lot of #Geese …. These were the tail skeins of them passing, going West.
#FirstBirdOfMyDay
#Meiklewood
Notable increase in numbers of #birds as well as #Snowdrops . Activity and call frequency levels rising. Need to get on with planting out saplings and filling gaps in Hedges.
Great Tits for #FirstBirdOfMyDay (always a good start) but could have been one of many.
#Meiklewood
#ThickTrunkThursday - #Oak Tree, a very old one, at the South side of the MCG, #Meiklewood #Cricket Ground.
Hollowed out, has a long established Holly tree and Dog Rose growing out of the bark.
Home to all sorts. Wonderful #tree who is shedding some limbs now (one was close to the uncovered Covers)
#BenLedi & #BenLomond looked gorgeous from the Carse before the overnight front came in.
#Trossachs #Stirling #Meiklewood
#ThickTrunkThursday - she’s holding onto her leaves pretty well given the run of storms we have had recently (we lost #trees in #StormAmy & #StormFloris).
A remarkable #Oak, 💚 her.
#Meiklewood
Col. George Connal Rowan - grave in the #Meiklewood plot (remembered with his wife, “Great Aunt” Helena) at Gargunnock Church.
@argyllsmuseum.bsky.social -
#Argylls #Stirling #Army #Poppy 🫡
Bit of #HedgePorn ; our “Mullet”* #hedges on the drive. Cut each year on the drive, so “neat” (don’t look too hard) and really thick & dense (warm) but the back is only lightly cut every 3-5 years or so. Very old #Oaks line the drive and we have #trees , shrubs, dog roses growing.
#Meiklewood
#Geese lifting off from one of their favourite spots here, the sheep- & cattle-grazing pasture on either side of the #RiverForth, though about a 1/3 were on the Barley stubble.
Mostly Pinkfoot, but there were Greylag, Canada and some Barnacle earlier. #LastBirdOfMyDay.
#Meiklewood. #Stirling #Birds
Extraordinary numbers of #Geese here now, more Pinkfoot than Greylag, and some Canada Geese.
Skein after skein flew in; this was 2hrs after they had started to arrive into this cut hay field and the grazing pasture on the other bank beside the #RiverForth.
#Meiklewood #Farming with #Nature
#HedgePorn : so thick and covered in #Blackberries (has there been a better year for #Brambles ?), rose-hips and haws.
#Birds and #Hares all along in the early morning light.
#Meiklewood
This patch, beside a high thick #hedge should continue to support #wildlife through to next Spring with cover feed & seed.
#Birds #Insects #Flowers
#Pollinators #hedgeporn
#Meiklewood
#RedSquirrel watching on a Sunday morning with a mug coffee. They love the bark of the Wellingtonia; can scamper all over it so easily and hide peanuts in crevices (which everyone else then finds).
#Meiklewood
Hummingbird Hawk-moth loving the Phlox.
A visitor to the UK from Southern Europe and common in South of England… but rarer to see in Scotland.
Another example of what an exceptional year this has been for #Insects here, both in terms of numbers but also variety.
#Meiklewood #Moths
#WalledGarden
A very happy #HoneyBee on Astrantia and “the impersonator” #Hoverfly on an Oxeye Daisy just beside it ; enjoying the sun after yesterday’s downpours.
#Pollinators #Bees #FlowerPower
#Meiklewood .
#DawnChorus (3.47am*); Blackcaps, Cuckoos, Flycatchers and others could actually be heard before the Up-To-No-Good Jackdaws woke-up and went straight into their usual squabbles.
#FirstBirdOfMyDay
#Meiklewood
(*yes, that is a very early wake-up, but worth it)
The other “MCG”, #Meiklewood #Cricket Ground looking good - especially popular with the #hares - with the #wildflower & bird plot greening up after the recent (welcome) rain.
Gargunnock Village Cricket Club.
#SongThrushes still going strong after 10pm…
They’ll be up and at it at ~4.45am.
What stamina.
#LastBirdOfMyDay
#Meiklewood
#Hare Pairs have patch punch up.
Started off with sweet & calm lawn couple 1.
Then lawn couple 2 got a bit too close.
Nose & ear twitching started.
Agitation.
Some lolloping but everyone getting closer.
It all kicks off; jumping, thumping, a skedaddle to the finished daffs.
Peace now?
#Meiklewood
#MasonBee turf war…
Wonderful to see so many - it has been a brilliant Spring for #Insects and #Pollinators here.
#Meiklewood
Let #deadtrees lie.
Amazing to see the amount of holes that have been made in the wood by #insects but also in the now vertical root plates of these very old #Oaks by burrowing #bees / #wasps .
We leave over half of the #trees that fall around here in situ.
#Meiklewood
Saw so many #Bees, #Bumblebees, #Wasps, Solitary Bees & Wasps, Mosquitoes and yes, even #Midges… and loads of butterflies & moths on my #walkabout here.
After such a tough year for many #insects in Spring last year, this is really encouraging (albeit exceptional weather conditions). 🤞
#Meiklewood
Before & After ; some #Alpines (and Violas) planted up in pots that will get plenty of sun but also will get strong wind and also cold.
Had #bees & #hoverflies straight onto the #flowers in the Spring sun.
#Meiklewood
Daffodils are having a riot of course but loving the #Magnolia #flowers which this year seem (🤞) to have survived the recent frosts.
Plum blossom on the wall suggests a good crop… but a loooong way to go until Plum Jam!
#WalledGarden #Meiklewood
Pair of Canada Geese fly to the sunset… and what a gorgeous #sunset it was to.
#Birds
#Meiklewood
