A Nature Friday Miscellany

So the week began with sunshine and a walk around Hazlehead golf course with John and Françoise. 

And with Gail asking if we should enter this photo in a 'rear of the year' contest.

Midweek there was a pretty sunset in the skies above our street.

In Duthie Park the mahonia is just now coming into flower.

So far so predictable.

But who could have anticipated a Thursday morning invasion by a stack of cardboard tortoises from La Bretagne....?

What??!

PS from Gail: thank you so much to Phenny, Nelly, Katty and Mark for sending us this delightful 3D card. Rest assured it was rescued from Nobby's paws before any damage was done...

Happy Nature Friday all!

Same picture, different perspectives?

I'm wondering what you see and think when you look at the photo Gail took on my early morning walk yesterday?

Do you see the pretty white Japanese anemones in the background and think how lucky Gail and Nobby are to live near a park where the gardens are so carefully tended and colourful throughout the year? 

Do you see a wire-haired fox terrier and think gosh what a handsome fellow and isn't he posing nicely? 

Maybe you see Gail's gloved hand and think (correctly) that it must be cold now in Aberdeen and really their summers are far too short? 

Or maybe you see something else entirely? Do tell.

Happy Nature Friday friends! 

Things are looking Rosy

Happy Nature Friday friends! 

It's been a good week in the Nobby and Gail household, for a whole variety of reasons. I aced a rather complex set of manoeuvers (including weaves) at my agility training session on Tuesday; on Wednesday night the England football team defeated the Netherlands to reach the final of the Euro 2024 tournament and at almost the exact same time Gail's pub quiz team, for whom I of course hold the crucial role of mascot, also scored a narrow victory; then we have the fact that the UK has a new Prime Minister who is at the very least a big improvement on the previous five; and today, perhaps best news of all, it has finally stopped raining...

In between all the showers over the past few days we made it up to Hazlehead Park, where the rose garden is in full bloom, and so I am pleased today to present a whole bunch of roses to our dear LLB Gang friend Rosy.

Who knows, next week, I might even be able to locate some sunshine for Sunny! 

A good decision

Every once in a while, I have to give my owner credit for making the right decision.

Wednesday was a case in point.

Initially the plan was to go for a hike up and around Scolty, a favourite hill which long time readers might remember from past posts. Our regular route is about four miles, give or take. 

But gosh it was such a lovely bright, fresh and sunny day that Gail decided to put in an extra loop, northwards down to the river, almost doubling the length of the walk. 

Excellent decision! 

On the way up the hill I posed nicely for a 'fox terrier with foxgloves' shot. 

Then as we approached the summit monument I waited patiently for Gail to catch up. 

I'll admit my patience wore thin at the top. Gail was spending far too long gawping at the fine panorama of Aberdeenshire hills, and so I went in search of new friends, human or canine.

On the way down the hill I yet again had to pause for Gail. 

By the time we'd reached the river, after covering nearly seven miles in the sweltering heat of a Scottish midsummer*, I was more than ready for a refreshing dip in the Dee. 

*Gail says: Nobby exaggerates (not for the first time). It was in fact about 17ºC, with a fresh breeze.

Once again I'm delighted to join  this blog hop, hosted by the LLB Gang. I hope all my Nature Friday friends have been out and about enjoying some splendid weather too! 

Buttercups versus Puffins

Well I thought readers would like to see a nice photo of me standing amid the buttercups for today's Nature Friday post. 

But, for the second week in a row, it seems Gail wants to shoehorn in some pictures of her own, taken on outings when I was not present.

Last week it was Slovenia, this week it was her Thursday bicycle ride, when she and four pals pedalled down from Aberdeen to the RSPB's Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve for a spot of puffin spotting.

It seems they were successful, and although I am not convinced that even Gail's best puffin photo passes my usual stringent quality threshold, I understand it was probably better that my owner did not attempt to scramble down the cliffs in search of the perfect shot...

Thank you once again to our LLB Gang friends for hosting Nature Friday, always our favourite blog hop. 

Roaming free (eventually) on Morven

The weather was set fair on Wednesday for a roam up and around Morven, our favourite Aberdeenshire Hill.

See how I am on a lead at the start of the walk. 

This unsatisfactory situation persisted while we ascended the first, rather steep, section of the hill.

Gail claimed I was restrained because of the sheep grazing on the lower slopes. But we passed a group of hikers who offered an alternative explanation. They had paused to 'admire the view' (i.e. catch their breath) and commented on how lucky Gail was to have a dog helping to pull her up the stiff gradient.

Do you think they were right?

What's certainly true is that when we reached the gentler slopes of the broad summit plateau I was at last allowed to roam free. So I raced on ahead, stopping only occasionally to remind Gail to hurry up and ensure we reached the small summit shelter ahead of the group we'd passed.

I'm pleased to say we made it! As usual on top of a hill in Scotland, even the least protection from the wind was welcome.

I was a good boy and did not chase the solitary mountain hare we saw near the highest point, or the brace of ptarmigan on stony ground a bit lower down. Gail failed to catch these on her camera, but she did take some photos of the wild, expansive landscapes which we both love.

Near the end of the walk, and entirely of my own volition, I took preemptive action to avoid the need for a bath in the kitchen sink.

Wild swimming (or at least wading) is so much more fun than a home shampoo, don't you think?

Happy Nature Friday friends! Once again we are delighted to take part in the LLB Gang's always wonderful blog hop.

Are magnolias "old hat"?

When we returned to Aberdeen earlier this week, Gail was thrilled to see magnolia bushes out in bloom, one in a garden opposite our house, and the other near the entrance to Duthie Park. She took some photos of them on our early morning walk.

But when I suggested this would be an excellent subject for the LLB Gang's Nature Friday, Gail rather pooh-pooh-ed the idea. 

"Nobby, I suspect most of your readers live in places where the magnolia flowers appeared weeks, if not months, ago. Although we might find it exciting that these gorgeous white and off-white blooms have finally put in an appearance in our neighbourhood, I fear others will regard the news as rather 'old hat'."

But I disagreed, reminding Gail that we live at 57 degrees North - that's further North than Moscow and Copenhagen, and almost as northerly as Juneau, Alaska - and just 'cos our spring flowers come later than in many parts of the world, it doesn't make them any the less special.  Quite the opposite in fact. 

So I'm posting the pictures anyway.

Do you have magnolias where you live? 

Snowdrops or Winddrops?

If my left ear doesn't tell you what the weather was like for my early morning walk in Duthie Park on Wednesday...

....then this video clip of the brave wee snowdrops who've emerged into the stormy conditions (and perhaps are wishing they were back in the earth) surely will.

Happy Nature Friday! And thank you once again to our dear friends Rosy and Sunny for hosting this our favourite blog hop.

 

Nature Friday strike

Perhaps my friends can tell me how I am supposed to come up with a Nature Friday posts when it has been raining heavily in Aberdeen almost every day for the past two weeks, the riverside paths are flooded, woodland walks deemed too muddy and down by the sea you get blown off your paws.

And then on the one day this week when it finally stopped raining, all I got was a pre-dawn walk skirting the puddles in the park, before Gail headed off to meet her friends for what looked like a fun bike ride. 

Oh, Gail has reminded me that she did take me for a sniff around Dunecht Estate and the sun put in a brief appearance. I guess this is the closest I'll get to a nature post this week...

I trust my friends will have more to show today than tussocks of soggy grass and trees bare of leaves...