ninety eight of anything is a lot

 

Our first trip North this year to Monymusk, to visit Mary's mum who had her 98th birthday on 11-04-26. To those who are thinking that's amazing, bear in mind Margaret's own opinion is that you'd be better off getting out in your eighties and avoiding your 90s entirely. So celebrations were slightly muted, but she enjoyed the clan gathering. "Best birthday ever", and visiting offsprings, making a fun change from the day-to-day. She is not inclined to have her photo taken so I just took a couple of covert shots through the sun-room windows from a distance. And they are not particularly flattering.

Margaret at 98

The drive up the road was a bit worse than usual. Major road works on the Kingsway round Dundee. They seemed to be very poorly flagged up and Mary and I were so busy gassing away we didn't notice the diversion signs until we were off the A90 and heading on crappy roads into the centre of Dundee. We turned the sat-nav on but that was only a partial rescue as we nosed-to-tailed through busy small roads and Mary burned the clutch. It added maybe 40 minutes, along with the extra 25mins we picked up in Edinburgh as the Queensferry Road was down to one lane (only for a small section) and backed up 1.5miles as a result. Happily we didn't have any deadline, although the delays probably contributed to missing the soup at Peggy Scott's Kitchen, one of the less grim services on the A90 just North of Dundee. 2 red kites spotted in the final 20 miles.

When buying cards there wasn't much in the YOU ARE 98! slot. (And not a single one to give to a centenarian.) Maybe Tesco Leith don't anticipate that their customers will live beyond 90? Or maybe they had a rush on that week? Initially I bought a you are 90 years old card and another celebrating you are 8 years old. I had planned on a cut-and-shut job and took scissors, coloured felt pens and a Prit Stick North with the 2 cards. However I was advised by an artist to doctor the older value card with the felt pens rather than butcher both: that the two styles were incompatable. It was good advice and you could hardly notice the handcrafted-photoshopping I did to turn a zero into an eight.

The forecast for the weekend was not very special. In fact it was so short of promise that the actual weather was far nicer in places (between showers) than anticipated, and so we felt kinda lucky to get some sunshine in the excellent garden. I spent quite a while in the garden, mostly pointing the camera at the birds attracted to the bird feeder. Andy had filled it as he knows my enthusiasms. He also has trail cams around the garden and although there have been no sightings of the pine martin that came to stay last year and raise 2 kits, he has been capturing the movements of a fox that visits most evenings and a badger that arrives less often. I had meant to do an evening-fox-watch around 8.30~9pm (the foxing hour) but somehow forgot; we were usually eating dinner and drinking wine around then. And they were spectacular dinners.

Talking of wining and dining, I had been looking out for interesting wines to take up country in the weeks prior to our trip. (Other than the 2 bottles I regularly buy for myself and self blend to make just the right sweetness I prefer.) I had bought three bottles of slightly higher price (and therefore quality but this is not always a rule of thumb.) And set them aside to take North. We were driving out of town when I realised I'd forgotten to pack them. Too late to turn back and do the long queues of Queesferry road again.

Cynics might say this was a cunning plan to fill our house with delicious wines for after the weekend. However I can report that the extra cash invested failed to produce extra tastiness and I'll probably stick to the 2 bottles I mix and match from now on. Yes I know I could have saved the posh wine to take up the road next trip, but I thought it was best to try it in advance (after returning) and see if it was good enough for Karen and Andy. Just being thoughtful!

Another thing I thought was possible was astro-photography and even took a tripod. Sadly that ambition also fell by the wayside. Which is because the process requires that you (I) stand outside in the cold and dark, blowing on your hands while waiting for the clouds to part. Talking of cold, the wooden chalet in which we stayed (Springbok, Wildebeast, Impala (Alexa) - you remember?) was quite a bit colder than room temperature.

In fact it wasn't far above the temperature it was last September; ie Baltic! It has plumbing, running water and a kettle but no substantial heating. It was fine during the day but at night a hat and 2 duvets and blanket were required. I like getting cosy in a cold room, in preference to sleeping in an overly warm hotel room which can be suffocating. It (the cold) feels bracing and we loved lying under duvets watching the stars out the window - the light pollution in Edinburgh ensures we never get such a brilliant show.

If only someone had had the courage to get out with their tripod, headtorch and camera and take photos while the fox and badger watch from the shadowy woods. I meant to check if the space station went over at 11.28pm on Saturday (11-04-26) night or whether I was hallucinating. Pretty sure it was the space station: bright as a star, moving at a regular speed, no flashing lights.

brambling

One of the first things I noticed near the bird feeder was a pair of bramblings. They look like chaffinches that have had their patterns and colours turned up. I believe they are migrants and although they seem to appear in most of the UK according to the RSPB map, I think you have to go looking for them rather than just expect them to pop into your back garden. Last year (January 2025) I went to the hide at Bavelaw, in the foothills of the Pentlands because they were there. (Which was the only time I have photo-ed them.) I haven't heard word of them arriving this year yet, so it was a delight to find them in Monymusk.

The bird-feeder is strategically placed outside the kitchen window and most of the initial images, up to the yellowhammer were taken from the comfort of indoors, pointing the camera out the window. The weather was a touch gloomy initially so my inclination was to stay indoors and take photos. Later when the sun came out, I went into the garden, and the bramblings were less happy to come forward to the feeder. The first photos out the kitchen window came out best (of them) although suffered a bit from the lack of light and shooting through double glazing. But what a treat!

great tit

chaffinch (f)

songthrush

siskin (f)

brambling

siskin (m)

greenfinch

chaffinch (f)

bluetit

yellowhammer in the back garden

great tit

Hunter sisters

The horse incident was fun. What I mean is we narrowly avoided a tragedy with swift action and a bit of foresight. We saw this pair - pony Luna and smaller pony Pickle walk unaccompanied past the sunroom while we were doing birthday celebrations. If anything I was thinking, ahh rural life how charming, a pair of ponies taking themselves for a walk. Andy and Karen were a bit sharper and realised what would happen if they strolled out onto the nearby main road where the locals zoom round blind corners at 60mph. 

All apart from Margaret and Mary (whose legs need to be saved for emergencies) were mobilised and Andy and Karen used their cars as roadblocks while Caroline and I were sent into the field to retrieve the horses who were now walking through the (wrong) field as if inspecting it before taking up residence. It was planted with short grass and seemed to meet with their approval. C and I made a pincer movement and encouraged the four-legged friends back out the field but without stampeding them. Andy had blocked their way with his car and we encouraged them to return to the original field from which we reckoned they'd escaped. A field with a non-padlocked gate, which the horses had nosed their way through. And which Karen (with her car blocking the way to the main road) ensured they re-entered. The gate was tied shut and horse owner informed. If she wasn't very grateful she should have been.

The whole thing was done casually and with no shouting, ropes or restraints. It would have been unthinkable if they'd got out onto the main road.

the wrong field

on their way home

tree in neighbouring garden

larch ladybird
small, brown and no spots

goldfinches on feeder

Benachie

another walk - this time through the village to the neaby river

I hoped to find ladybirds and spiders for Cemetery Wildlife Watch fb page
but the place was devoid of insects or nature. A couple of jackdaws only wildlife.

Down at the river an osprey had been fishing but flew off when it heard the continual chitter-chatter from our group of three. I struggled to wedge the sentence there's an osprey into the conversation and it was ignored for far more important stuff.

a few sand martins flew low over the river

goosanders (f)

the big house

large metal container art

greenfinch back in the garden

siskin (m)

siskin (f)

chaffinch (m)

blue tit - had to choose their moments
when the feeder was not being guarded by siskin command

brambling
when I was outside in the garden they kept their distance

siskin (m) mid-hop

coal tit - v cute, v small

siskin (f) mid-hop

It was great to see a clan of siskins all around the feeder. They were fiesty and quite aggressive with each other and all the other birds, despite being about the smallest species at the feeder other than the coal tits. They would be fairly aggressive with much larger species and I spent a while trying to capture their interactions in slo-mo, sat quietly in a patio chair just a few metres away. I tried to anticipate their interactions and capture just the liveliest moments as the 120fps mode uses a lot of space on the SD card and then fills up the computer hard drive when uploaded. (26+gb for 2000 images and 20video clips from the 3 days of this trip.) 

I also experimented with higher frame rates (up to 300fps). Normally I don't use this as it is manual focus only. However it was possible to focus on the feeder and the birds didn't move significantly away from that focal plane. The results confirmed you can get too much of a good thing and that perhaps 120fps is optimal. When slowed down too much the action becomes laboured and boring. I think there are a clip or 2 in the video from the higher frame rates but it is difficult to remember which stuff was slow and which super-slow. 

female siskin giving a blue tit a really hard time

With Mary finding more than a couple of miles walk a struggle currently (and with the weather being dull mostly) we didn't bother with any trips to nearby castles or nature reserves. However it was still a good weekend and reminded us off the joys of the North East. With K and A being excellent hosts (and chefs!) as always. Great to catch up with everyone and we will no doubt be returning soon for more adventures.

The drive home was much easier than expected. We had been prepped for detours and diversions at Dundee but sailed through on the usual (previously unavailable) Kingsway. Not sure if they opened it for the weekend or whether the work had finished. The flyover pedestrian walkways were removed and a million cones still lined the route but it was something of a relief to cruise through without incident, getting home in nearly record time. A fun few days.

video of siskins around feeder