A seasonal haiku from Aberdeen

Short and sweet today, combining the LLB Gang's Nature Friday with YAM-aunty's Final Friday Feature. 

Spring is an old car

Sputtering into action

Spark plugs needing cleaned...

PS All photos taken within minutes of each other at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour on Wednesday afternoon, the first two looking out to the North Sea and the second two looking back over the harbour and city.

Ball thief update

Leaving aside that I dispute the characterisation of myself as a 'ball thief' (I'd prefer to be known as someone who loves to interact creatively and has an impressive ability to focus on careful guarding of a particular resource), I want to take this opportunity to update you on the state of play regarding my behaviour in the Duthie Park. 

Gail calls it an "arms race". 

So on approach to the grassy area in the centre of the park, every morning I survey the scene, first over to the bandstand in the centre then clockwise around the perimeter, scanning the statue of park benefactor Elizabeth Duthie, the obelisk commemorating the contributions of military surgeon  Sir James McGrigor (1771 - 1851), and the JJR MacLeod Memorial corner. 

But I am not interested in these historical monuments, I am looking for any dog who is playing with a ball.

My eyesight is keener than Gail's, at least when she is not wearing her glasses, and you can guarantee I will spot the ball first and be half way across the park before she shouts in vain "come, Nobby, come!"

It doesn't take long for me to gain possession of the ball. No matter the size of the other dog, my determination wins the day, and I am most reluctant to relinquish my prized acquisition.

But these days Gail has a trick up her sleeve. Or rather in her coat pocket. 

MY FAVOURITE SQUEAKY YELLOW BALL*

I just can't resist when she squeezes the ball and it makes a noise exactly like that field vole I once, most thrillingly, caught. 

So I drop the other dog's ball and approach Gail, who clamps on my lead.

I am then allowed to carry my squeaky ball all the way back home, but am not allowed to take it inside the house.

As I do not like standing outside out front door, especially, as yesterday, when it is raining and cold, I reluctantly let the ball go...

* £1.50 from Asda

But it says Slovenia's dog-friendly...

I always like to keep an eye on what Gail brings back from her trips to the Aberdeen Central Library, and I got all excited this week when I saw her latest selections.

So it seems she might be planning a trip to a place called Slovenia.

Tadej Pogačar

I wondered at first if Gail was contemplating a pilgrimage to the birthplace of her favourite cycling pro, Tadej Pogačar, but then I saw she was in fact researching options for hiking in the Julian Alps. Apparently she and her friend Marse are going to meet up there in late May. 

Having been left behind once already this year, when Gail travelled to visit Marse and her family in Tacoma, Washington, I naturally assumed that this time I would be accompanying her. After all, I know she took my predecessor Bouncing Bertie to Switzerland and to Germany via train and ferry, and Slovenia really isn't that much further away. (I got a bit confused at first when trying to locate the country on Gail's old atlas, as this family heirloom dates back to the 1950s, when Slovenia was part of what is now referred to as the 'former Yugoslavia'.)

Anyway, this is what I found when I asked Google: 'is Slovenia dog-friendly?'

 

Sounds just up my street, don't you think? And I could so contribute to ensuring that the hiking trails remain "well marked"...

But it turns out Gail thinks I am "not yet calm enough" to be taken on a holiday that would entail several lengthy train journeys. One day perhaps?

Meanwhile, my disappointment was somewhat mitigated when I heard I've been booked in for a stay with my fox terrier relatives for the two weeks when Gail plans to be away.

Full of the Joys of Spring?

Happy Nature Friday friends!

Wot, no Brussels?

 

Do you like Brussels sprouts?

Gail does but I don't. A Sunday carvery meal with roast beef but 'no Brussels' would suit me just fine, although I do wonder if calling something a 'Brexit Special' might not be the cleverest marketing ploy in a city which voted heavily for 'remain' in the 2016 referendum.

I am still hoping that Gail will take me on holiday to Germany or Switzerland one day, like she did with my predecessor Bouncing Bertie. But she says travelling with a pet over to the Continent has got more complicated and expensive since the UK left the European Union. As has so much else.

I do believe that in some quarters my human would be labelled a 'Remoaner'.

A Sunday walk with some favourite companions

Oh it's been ages since we met up with our dear friends M and J. 

Far too long.

In between horrid weather, winter viruses and them swanning off to Munich to visit family, I've been missing my favourite walking companions. And not only 'cos M can be relied on to carry biscuits big enough to satisfy a labrador's appetite in her coat pocket...

We met on Sunday in Maryculter Community Woodland and made our way to the lookout point for elevenses. It was almost warm! 

I helped M and J find a seat, but my offer of further assistance with organising the mid-morning refreshments did not seem to be appreciated.

After posing nicely, once the humans had finished their coffee I carefully checked that no scraps of food had been left behind.

On the way back to the car I jumped in some agreeably muddy puddles. Apparently this is the reason I was not then invited to join M, J and Gail for a post-walk lunch in a nearby restaurant. 

Instead, this was my reward...

I hope my friends all enjoyed nice walks this weekend too. Perhaps without the foot bath bit.

Keystone Species in Loch Torridon

Welcome, dear friends, to a Nature Friday special, inspired by the quiz night Gail attended last weekend to raise funds for the Maerl Friends of Loch Torridon.

Can you explain what is meant by a 'keystone species'?

This was one of the quiz questions which Gail was apparently able to answer correctly. When I looked it up I found the following definition:

"A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether."

I am delighted to report that my close relative the wolf counts as a keystone species, which makes me feel kind of important too. 

I'll admit I was a bit surprised to learn that in Loch Torridon one can find small nodules of frankly unimpressive looking purple algae called 'maerl', and this stuff is also considered to be a keystone species. It's a long way from Canis lupus. The nodules of maerl (pictured below) form carpets known as 'maerl beds', and they are a 'priority marine feature', their presence supporting a diverse assemblage of sea life. Young scallops in particular find these maerl beds a congenial habitat, so I'm told. 

photo from NatureScot website

Well after I heard about this, I hastened down to the shore of the loch at both low tide and high tide, but couldn't spot anything that looked remotely like a carpet of maerl.

Gail laughed and told me I was barking up the wrong tree. A bit insulting as well as an inappropriate metaphor I feel, but it seems the local maerl beds are located some distance away, in a few meters of water near the head of the loch, and I would need diving kit if I wanted to see them in situ. 

Also, I'm told that the precise location and extent of these precious but vulnerable algal carpets is poorly understood, and this is why the 'Maerl Friends' group has formed and is raising funds to further survey, research and protect Loch Torridon's maerl bed habitat.  

Which I guess is a good thing. 

But no, I'm not offering to go snorkelling or scuba diving... 

Once again a big thank you to our dear friends Rosy and Sunny for hosting our favourite blog hop.

Feeling at home

If you are a van called 'The Grey' then I can guarantee you'll feel right at home as soon as soon as you arrive on my street in Aberdeen. 

If you are the Grey's owner (whom some of you already know as YAM-aunty), I will invite you into my house and onto my sofa, and soon you will feel quite at home sat beside me.

In return, I might later be taken for a ride in YAM-aunty's magnificent electric vehicle, sitting on the lap of my very impressed human, and both of us will feel right at home in there too.

And of course, as you know, I will always feel right at home if I am taken for a nice walk in the woods at Crathes. (Even if my human fails to capture my look of delight on camera.)

THREE prizes!

It was a smart move of Gail's to have us escape the ongoing damp and dreary weather in Aberdeen and make a dash for Torridon, where an east wind has brought fresh and bright conditions these past few days.

It was not such a smart move of Gail's to leave her trusty mascot behind when she attended a quiz night at a restaurant in nearby Diabaig. 

The event was aimed at raising funds for a newly formed marine conservation group, Maerl Friends of Loch Torridon, and many of the quiz questions required knowledge of marine biology.

I'll tell you more about the conservation group later in the week (on Nature Friday), but for now I just want to point out that Gail was NOT on the winning quiz team, and I think we can all guess the reason for the team's lack of success. It was not 'cos they didn't know that an octopus has three hearts.

Here I am, left home alone on Saturday night.

Remarkably though, Gail did come home with THREE prizes, won in the raffle. She says it was one of those raffles that goes on forever as there were more prizes than people present.

So we now have some lovely cards with photos of the Torridon area, a book of poems by local writer Les (who also used to help Gail tend her cottage garden), and some yummy looking honey from Diabaig.

Gail says she might break open the honey when a Very Special Visitor arrives in Aberdeen in her Very Special Vehicle very sooon.

Watch this space!

(Not) Playing Ball

So Gail came back LATE from her Thursday bike ride and wondered why I did not leap up to greet her instantly when she stepped inside the house. 

I guess she thinks I have nothing better to do than sit at the front window anxiously awaiting her return. 

Anyway,  I made it quite clear that I had important business to attend to and that just because she wasn't playing ball it didn't mean that I couldn't.

Gail then tried to interest me in her photos of some newborn lambs they'd cycled past in a field on the way to Stonehaven. 

Frankly I wasn't impressed by the photos. I was even less impressed when Gail tried to tell me how I was a lucky boy because her friends had been discussing what they did when they got home after a ride and all the others said the first thing was to either eat, take a shower or clean their bike, whereas Gail claimed she always prioritised taking me out for a walk. 

Oh, to be strictly accurate, they ALL said the VERY first thing was to have a cup of tea.

(I was clearly much mistaken in imagining that these ladies would discuss the state of the world and the meaning of life while pedalling along the Aberdeenshire byways...)

Well I did get my afternoon walk, albeit a short one, in nearby Clochandighter Wood yesterday. My word, the weather is grey and gloomy right now. I bet those little lambkins are yearning to be back inside mummy sheep's womb!

Happy Nature Friday! 

Twin Peaks (without the weirdness)

With spring in the air, and a spring in my step, I accompanied Gail up not one but two Aberdeenshire peaks on Sunday afternoon. 

It was a grey day, but not cold, not raining and, at least when we set off, not windy. 

Good weather in these parts tends to be defined by an absence of the bad stuff.

First we went up an old favourite, Millstone Hill and then, instead of looping back round to the Donview car park as per usual, we extended to the walk and bounced onwards towards Mither Tap, one of a range of hills forming the prominent Aberdeenshire landmark known as Bennachie. 

Well, to be more accurate, I bounced and Gail walked. 

So it's a steep initial ascent through pine and birches and up to the heather.

At the summit of Millstone Hill we encountered a family enjoying some sandwiches and cake, and Gail insisted on us moving further along the path before she took a photo of our ultimate destination, Mither Tap. That's the pointy bit in the picture below. 

We went down into the trees before ascending again, having checked the directions carefully.

I stopped to pose nicely and allow Gail to catch her breath. 

And again, just before the final scramble.

Apparently is is ALWAYS windy on the rocky summit of Mither Tap, even if relatively calm just a few meters below. 

Do you like my streamlined look?

So that was my 'Twin Peaks' experience.

Disappointingly, there was no cherry pie.

PS from Gail: a spectacular hill fort forms part of the Mither Tap summit. My excuse for not taking any photos of the impressive ramparts is that keeping my balance clambering over the rocks while making sure Nobby didn't go wandering off looking for foodables to steal from other visitors took all my attention...