Nearby.

The photographs are by the Dawn Patroller.  

The Ythan Estuary The Ythan Estuary is the tidal component of the Ythan River, emptying into the North Sea 19 kilometres (12 mi) north ofAberdeen, Scotland. Wikepedia.

It is also a favourite for seal pupping.

Little Egret.

Grey Heron.

The DP takes the photographs and some of them I turn into a painting.

He enjoyed himself today.  He also saw Avocets but in the distance.

I enjoyed myself as I went to the hair dressers. Well I enjoyed the end result. NOT the instrument of torture to get there. The rubber hat and the hair being pulled through with a crochet needle.

When I finally got to breathe easily, after I had arrived at the salon, the lady waiting for her personal torture asked me if I was okay and why did I have the chariot.  So I explained about COPD and the chariot was a walking aid which really helped.  

She said, " I have incontinence."

And do you know what I said "You wont want to cough then."

I really should get my brain into gear.

Artistic Licence.

How lovely to return to my sanctuary.  Classic FM on the radio. Bird feeders full just outside.  And then to finally want to pick up a paint brush.

This painting of a seal cub was done some years ago.  Grey seal pups are now popping up/out around and about on our beaches.

I had it framed. But I was never happy with it.

Obviously no one else was happy with it either as he remained hanging on the wall.

So I had the frame taken off and put his eye right.

Much better.  Frame to have put back on . Fixed.

Would that in real life it was so easy.

The Bucket List.

Seems to be the order of the day these days.  Having a bucket list.  Although I have not actually sat down and done one as I have no intention of shufflin off this mortal coil just yet, it did occur to me that had I done so I would, very recently, been able to cross some off.

My first sight of a real live hare, and not one of the DP's photos.

 Ok.  This is one of the DP's photographs.  It was so far away by the time I had screeched to a halt and screamed "Is that a hare?"  He got his camera out, I wound the window down, well I pressed the button that does it, and he then focussed, it was so far away he has had to 'enhance it' so it looks like one of my paintings now!

But today......  today was MAGIC.

The DP and I had an art groups meeting in the morning so had gone for lunch to the Lighthouse Museum where he got a text from a bird watching friend to say he had seen Killer Whales at Rattray Head.  Then at St Combs.  So they were heading our way.....

I drove everyone mad leaping up to peer out of the cafe windows.  The DP left me to it.  Most of the customers in the cafe were also considering leaving this mad old woman to it when I saw them.

 

 Sadly my camera is crap.  So I have permission to borrow ones taken by our bird watching friend, Tim Marshall and his wife Joy for their amazing captures.

(I doubt I could have taken a picture with the best camera in the world as I was SOOOOOOO excited. )

For information. On the first photograph, at the bottom right of, you can see two seals.  We have an abundance of seals in the North East of Scotland and that's what Orcas eat.  They also eat fish.  Where I first saw them there were lots of fish as the Gannets were many and diving into the sea to catch them right where the whales first surfaced. 

Perhaps I should now be considering a Bucket List after all.  Any suggestions?

An Aaaaa and an Ooooooo

Baby seal at Cairnbulg Harbour today.

Elsewhere in Buchan, in the countryside by Rora, we have Rheas.  These birds chase off foxes.

I am now on, "I want to paint.....................Overload."

Stir Crazy.

There is only so much time one can spend watching dust fall and counting the dead Daddy Long Legs in the corners of rooms.  I cleaned the bathroom I use most, my excuse, getting rid of any germs, while the DP was out shopping.  (I am not allowed to do anything vigorous so I did it very s-l-o-w-l-y.)

He made a detour, well actually he does this every time he shops, calls in at Cairnbulg to try and snap the seal who usually swims off on sight of him.  But today it posed.....

 Needless to say I feel a painting coming on, in fact four paintings, might do a whatever they call  -one more than a tryptic.  Its the facial expression on each picture that is sooooo yummy.

The DP also worried me when he suddenly went down on the ground, ye gods he has collapsed, but no, it was to photograph this

Hmmmm.  I will give it a go. Someday.

So - what else could I do/allowed to do?  Down the shedudio thats what.  Remember me buying and having to plant over a 100 Alliums?  Well no way did over a 100 Alliums come up.  But those that did were magnificent.  As they 'went over' I broke them off and have three vases full of them drying beautifully.

Photograph.
 

Beginnings of painting.

Now then Autumn is slowly beginning.  The Pink Footed geese are coming back in huge skeins, the starlings are beginning to get together and soon we will witness their murmurings, where they paint pictures in the sky, (another idea for a picture).  

So if my betterment continues I think a bit of retail therapy is in order.

How can s-l-o-w-l-y wandering round a shop become a problem?

And the Winner is.

Our resident harbour seal. (Though actually a grey seal. )  When the Lobster Fishers return and, hopefully, empty their creels of lobsters, they also scop out the bait they have used and clean the creels.  So the bits of bait are scopped out to........

Juvenile Great Blacked Back Gull, also wants some.

So - the battle commences.  Sometimes the seal will hang on so tightly and the gull will hang on so tightly the seal drags the bird into the water so it then gives up.

Yum.

Our weather remains odd.  Surreal mists in the evening.

Our two ornamental cherries have no blossom on.?

Fortunately the real ones, that produce fruit, have blossomed.

And in the field across the field, a lovely surprise.

A real winner.

So we had Spring, all one day of it.

Back to normal.

The Broch (Fraserburgh) lifeboat out on manoeuvres.

I believe it is a bank holiday today.  We don't take much notice of them up here.  Hogmanay, well that's different, the whole country closes for two days.  But anything in May nah.

So to brighten the end of your May celebrations here are some garden ornaments displaying in New Aberdour.

And a wee croft/cottage/dump being lived in and has been for many years, near Mintlaw.

I just love the eccentricities around.

And finally a quick tour round Fraserburgh Harbour.

One of our permanent residents.

Having had his tea.

Hope you all had a good day.

Friday aroond Fraserburgh.

The Dawn Patroller met this chap around 6a.m. today.  Using a long lens, and the light not being that bright, just after dawn, well, thats his excuse, but if you hit on the picture it becomes better.

A Swan.  (didnt we all know.)

Merganser.(no I did not know)

A seal doing what comes naturally, eating a fish.

Yum.

In between Inverallochy/Cairnbulg and Fraserburgh are the Waters of Philorth, which is a local nature reserve.  With one hell of a beach.

These photos are untouched, this is the colour of the sea, the colour of the sand.

You just have to try and think - minus 3 degrees.......

Its a bit of a dog walkers magnet.  The DP doesn't visit often because of that.  

As the dogs stir up the wild life.  

And as one viewer of this photo pointed out, one of the dogs on the pic is obviously performing what nature does to us all,  and hoped the owner was to remove the result.......

And so, back to watching paint dry.  I am now doing the background for my hens who feel happier, as their ancestors did, in the forest.  I think they will be stood on the straw bales that the human provided as in the original photograph, but am still open to suggestions on this or possibly some divine inspiration.

I havent had much time lately to really go 'into my paintings' as I would like, but just doing a bit of background in odd times has made me happier.

Friday aroond Fraserburgh, tonight its the movies, The Hobbit on dvd and a bottle of red to share. (share? huh)

After the storm.

Mounds and mounds of sea weed on Fraserburgh Beach, which is normally just golden sands.

No boats out yesterday!

A sad tragedy of the storm.

The Loch of Strathbeg near Crimond, just south of us.

Thousands and thousands of pink footed geese return here every year from Iceland, along with some Barnacle Geese, to spend the winter with us.

From now until Spring next year we hear them calling every morning as they leave the Loch to go out into the fields to feed.  Then as dusk gathers they return.

Their presence attracts others.  Above is a Marsh Harrier.  But bigger predators, such as Sea Eagles, also stop by. 

Which certainly causes a storm among the geese.