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!

A walk in 'Auld Reekie' and some quiz answers

So Gail and I said goodbye to the quiet fishing town of Eyemouth on Friday morning and took a final quick peek at fog-bound Coldingham Bay before heading north.  No swimming for Gail this time, but several other middle aged ladies were cavorting in the waves with great apparent enjoyment.

Next stop was Edinburgh to meet up with friends Françoise and John for a gentle stroll up Blackfold Hill.  Gosh, doesn't Auld Reekie look dry at the moment?

And I was hot and thirsty. 

We were home in Aberdeen by evening and, wow, I must say Gail and I were most impressed by the response to our Nature Friday quiz! We had great fun reading all your answers. 

Everyone did brilliantly, of course, but that was to be expected as we know our readers are super smart and knowledgable. 

So gold stars to all who entered the quiz. Below, a few comments on the answers.

#1 Yes it was of course doggy paddle.

#2 Most of you already knew that the adder is a venomous snake. Extra fun fact - it's only poisonous one we have in the UK.

#3 We're pleased to note that all our readers are aware of the dangers of straying too near the edge of steep cliffs.

#4 Several good guesses here, but Gail thinks Rosy of the LLB Gang was most likely correct in suggesting I'd detected the presence of a vole

#5 You all seemed to struggle with this question. Perhaps the lack of Nature Friday relevance put you off! The correct answer is 'Biscoff'. Well done Dalton and Benji for coming close with Biscotti.

#6 Yes it was a rat. Full marks to YAM-aunty for scientific rigour in giving the species name Rattus rattus. 

#7 Perhaps no surprise that our friends Millie and Walter and their super-observant bird-watcher Mom did best with this question, spotting the gulls on the rooftops as well as the more obvious ones in the foreground, 

#8 Several creative answers here. We like Cecilia's suggestion that the rat disguised himself as a Black Sheep, and Rosy's idea that what we are seeing in this picture is a Black Sheep convention. And yes Ruby, it will indeed always be the Black Sheep of the family who is made to clear up after Christmas dinner...

Nature Friday Quiz!

Greetings one and all from sunny Eyemouth, just north of the England/Scotland border, where Gail and I have been enjoying a few days out and about walking in the (mostly) sunny weather with our dear friend Janet. 

Today, I have a special treat for you, a quiz for the LLB Gang's Nature Friday blog hop. It's based on my experiences this week. I hope you will forgive a little latitude in what constitutes a nature-relevant quiz topic. Just eight questions to exercise your brains. Best of luck!

Let's start with some easy ones.

1. Which swimming stroke might I be using if I go out of my depth in this stream near Whiteadder reservoir?

2. Why would I need to be careful and alert to the presence of adders? 

3. Is there a good reason why Gail is holding my lead firmly just here?

A little harder now. 

4. What might I have spotted in the grass while Gail was distracted taking pictures of the cliff scenery just south of Eyemouth? 

5. Which flavour of ice cream did Gail choose from Giacompazzi's Ice Cream Parlour by the harbour in Eyemouth.

6. What species is this two dimensional creature that Gail didn't allow me to pick up and carry home...?

Now, to test your powers of observation...

7. How many gulls can you spot in the picture below? (You can biggify this image if you want.)

And a final puzzler...

8. How do you tell which one is the black sheep of the family?

P.S. Gail wants you to know that she has succumbed to the annual September 'back to school' urge and has signed up for an 8 week online course titled 'An introduction to non-fiction nature writing', run by the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education's Centre for Creative Writing. It started this week. I wonder if she will learn any stuff that might filter through to my blog...

 

Quiz answer and "almost sensible"...

 Just rushing over for a wee Monday chat!

First I want to say thank you to all those who took part in my Nature Friday quiz last week. All your answers were spot on, so full marks to everyone! (The 'official' answer we had in mind was tree photo #5, the odd one out as it was the only picture taken in Scotland not Cuba.)

So anyway, I am delighted to report that Gail and I are now back to our usual happy routine here in Scotland, and we have been out and about enjoying the not very wintery January weather.

On Saturday we explored a new walk, starting from the Aberdeenshire village of Monymusk.

It is still the case in this part of Scotland that many woodland walks are obstacle courses. Although it's now well over a year ago since Storm Arwen decimated huge areas of forest, too many tracks hereabouts are yet to be cleared.

I am an agile and springy little fellow so can easily leap over or crawl under the fallen tree trunks. My human is not quite so agile, and any expertise she once had in high jump or limbo dancing is but a distant memory.

Still, we managed to reach our goal, the pretty little artificial loch at Clyan's Dam, where two swans swam over to greet us.

While Gail stood back to admire the their graceful presence, I was keen to get a closer look at the first arrival.

But when the second swan came up to the bank, I decided to back away a little, feeling perhaps that if it came to a conflict, the odds had shifted in favour of the feathered contingent.

 

It was rather patronising of Gail to observe that I might actually be becoming "almost sensible" now that I am into my second year...