The snow ceased and where the sun shone, which it did, soon disappeared.
My jaunt to the Prom after lunch had the sun gone for a while. Very cold. Not many people walking. And no Gull Gang or Oystercatchers or anything much apart from
Four Skurries (Herring Gulls) having a drink from the Kessock Burn.
A deserted beach.
Snow on Mormond Hill. Mormond Hill is our biggest hill in this area and can be seen from most places, our house, the road back to our house and Fraserburgh and Strichen as that is where it is. It is quite an interesting hill. This view is on my way home from the Prom.
On our side of the hill is the stag. Made of lumps of quartz it is regularly sorted by volunteers who weed the lumps of vegetable growth in between the lumps. To clear and make visible the stag again.
On the other side of the hill is a horse. There is a story about that - later.
Mormond Hill was home to Station 44 of the US North Atlantic Radio System (NARS) serving as an early warning radar system between 1961 and 1992. The NARS system was intended to warn of missile launches. The station was built in 1960, as the penultimate link in a chain of radio sites reaching from Iceland to Fylingdales in Yorkshire, which would transmit that information to the Cheyenne Mountain complex in the USA. Mormond Hill provided connectivity from the radar site at RAF Buchan to Fylingdales. NARS used tropospheric scatter to provide its communications links, however this method proved less than ideal as data rates increased over time, being replaced by more reliable satellite based systems. The USAF left Mormond Hill in 1992, and the site transferred to the MoD in 1993.
It is still used by the MoD who often object to windfarms interfering with their masts reception of goodness knows what.
We can just see Mormond Hill from the Shedudio.
Card production. And some painting.
Short Eared Owl with some salt up the fence post. Hopefully make it look like wood.
Hmm.
On the way back up from the Shedudio noticed the magnificent Hellebore. A cheapo from Lidl last year it has spread and we have white flowers and the lime green ones. Nothing else is flowering.
And a bit of snow...!
Jean. The bird count for the Garden Bird Watch. The rules are quite specific. You count the birds you see. But you count the numbers of each bird as the number you see at once. So sit for an hour you see 1 Blackbird. Then you see 3 together. So 3 is entered. You see 5 Blue tits at once so 5 is entered. I had 6 Goldfinches, but then more came until I had a total of 16 in front of me so 16 was entered. So no you do not count each bird as it comes in, it is the biggest number of a particular species that you see all together. Hope that clarifies it for you, so when you see the final results you can believe it.
I have a lunch date tomorrow. Exciting. All will be revealed!
5 comments:
Can't wait to hear all about your lunch date tomorrow. Don't keep us guessing!
I do believe it, just wondered how it worked. I read on the news that the last one said that pigeons and longtailed tits were at the top of the list, and a decline in thrush and greenfinch numbers. This I can totally agree with since I've only seen a few greenfinches in the last few months, and can't remember the last time I heard a thrush breaking a snail shell on a stone. My recent sightings of pigeons and longtailed tits also supports the item I read. Thank you for clarifying the method used. As a keen birdwatcher and nature lover, I have been meaning to take part in the bird watch for a few years now but never got around to it for one reason or another. I shall make an extra effort to take part In it next year.
Bitterly cold tonight -snow flurries but nothing sticking. See what tomorrow brings.
Interesting to see your stag.
I too am excited to hear about your lunch date??? We have had snow overnight too. Sadly due to the wind it is frozen so making it difficult for driving. Love your amazing cards.
There is a lot of MOD land and action near our cottage down on the Mull of Galloway. They do a lot of target practice into Luce Bay and often parachute down on mass from helicopters which looks a bit frightening as if we are being invaded. The local residents (the men) love the exercises they do especially when they bring in the heavy Tonka toys too!!
There is a 'station' for goodness knows what on the top of the hill beside us but round the other side so we cannot see it from our house. We are hoping they will sell it for a £1 one day like they did our harbour as it has a great view and would easily convert into a little holiday escape.
Your dinner date sounds very mysterious is it one of those where you will be incognito, wearing a red rose and carrying a newspaper?
Post a Comment