Indecisive trees

It's that time of year here in Aberdeen when the leaves on the trees can't quite make up their minds.

There's the optimists thinking it's not quite time to give up on the photosynthesising business, and the realists who know that colder nights and shorter daylight hours mean the energy cost is too great and are ready to call it a day. 

We've had lots of sunshine this week and I've been been out and about in the streets and parks near our home, admiring the splendid display of colours as the trees try to decide which season it is!  

Happy Nature Friday! 

Maybe we'll find out if the leaves have made up their minds in other parts of the world if we visit all the posts in the LLB Gang's wonderful weekly Nature Friday blog hop. 

Autumn colours and a special friend

So Gail and I are staying with our lovely friend YAM-aunty this week, and I have been busy demonstrating how both 'Nice Nobby' and 'Naughty Nobby' are appropriate names for me. (Gail says perhaps 'Noisy Nobby' should be added to the list...) 

In between defending our friend's cosy 'Hutch' from invaders (noisily) I have been out and about enjoying the pretty autumn colours. I hope you like them too.

Happy Nature Friday! 

Dodging the showers

Suddenly it's all autumnal, blustery and cool.  Rain is threatened. The weatherman calls the conditions "unstable" and tells us that a depression is moving across the country, slowly losing its identity*...

I am taken for a walk up and around Millstone Hill, long a favourite. 

I pose nicely on the 'pose nicely please' stone, allowing Gail a convenient pause to catch her breath half way up the ascent.

Higher up, I hear a rustle in the heather, and hurtle off to investigate. 

But I am Nice Nobby these days (mostly, give or take the occasional dead snail incident) so I rush back when Gail calls, and claim my treat. 

The panoramic view from the summit allows us a preview of showers heading our way. 

The wind has lifted my ear flaps and it's time to hasten down. 

There's a brief blue sky interlude before we get back to the car, but I sniff the air and sense more change on the way. 

*Gail wonders if this a subtle commentary on the broader state of the UK...

Celebrating my first Torridon Autumn

Each season has its loveliness,

But Fall is my favourite by far.

Hills clothed with gold. No crowned princess, 

In radiance could compare. 

 My nimble paws tread lightly through

The once green bracken, sedge and grass,

Transformed to soft autumnal hues

Of amber, russet, burnished brass.

 As darkness crowds out daylight hours

Each sunlit moment grows more prized,

For soon I will retreat indoors,

To comfy rugs and warm log fires.

Happy Nature Friday friends!

All over the place

No, the title of this post is not a commentary on the state of the UK government (although we would understand how some readers might think it should be...)

Rather, the fact is that Gail has been taking me here, there and everywhere this past week, celebrating the variety of different landscapes within a twenty mile radius of our Aberdeen home. Apparently at this time of year, in our part of the world, it is particularly important to take advantage of any not-too-cold and not-too-grey days that come our way. Especially when the autumn colours are so pretty.

So I have of course, as always, been enjoying my early morning walks in Duthie Park, where the sycamore trees are putting on a particularly fine show just now. 

Last Friday, I 'posed nicely' mid-way up our ascent of Millstone Hill, allowing Gail to take in the view over the fields and forests of Donside.

Then I ran ahead up the winding path through the now faded heather.

Of course I still had plenty of spring in my step when we reached the Millstone Hill summit cairn. (Mither Tap, the pointy peak in the background, was the final destination for this walk.)

So onwards to Mither Tap, where I tested Gail's nerves as I explored a gully in the weatherbeaten granite outcrop. 

I tested Gail's nerves again on Saturday, when I balanced on a wall beside the lake in the grounds of Crathes Castle (photo courtesy of our friend 'M'). More splendid autumn colours! 

On Sunday I discovered what a nice hike it is, along the Ythan Estuary (home to an impressive array of wading birds), to reach the beach at Forvie Nature Reserve.

And on Tuesday I had fun too, exploring the shoreline and checking out the beached strands of kelp closer to home near the mouth of Aberdeen harbour.

Finally, on Wednesday I helped Gail find the route through the beech trees in nearby Tollohill Wood, despite the path being hidden by all the fallen leaves.

All in all, it was a fine week. (Unless you are UK's now ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss.)

Happy Nature Friday friends!