Daily Archives: January 13, 2013

I managed to ignore the sleet in the air today and went out for a walk. I thought this brook rushing down to join the Dee by Dhoon Bay might make a nice photo  —

The turtle made me do it 🙂

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Turtle Creek

Timing is everything and not only did I catch high tide when I went out for a walk today at noon but I also caught the arrival of a new boat in town making use of high water to berth at the quayside.

The Argonaut – formerly the Reseda built in the Netherlands in 1993 —

She’s a handsome boat —

from any angle —

even this one —

At a smidgeon under 24 metres in length – weighing 150 tonnes gross and powered by a 220hp Caterpillar 3412 F main engine she would appear to be in good nick for her 20 years at sea.

Here she is under power in her original guise as the Reseda —

and handling the boom rigged trawl nets catching shrimps —

working off the Texel Islands on the Dutch coast —

I wish her well in her new surroundings and good luck to all who sail in her.

The Arrival of the Argonaut

A walk by Loch Ken in November 2011 which I have resurrected from a spoiled post. I’ve been up there recently and there are no geese to be seen – very strange.

I made a slow start to the day and took it easy for most of it. No I didn’t go to church – I just took a photo of it on my way to Loch Ken Nature reserve.

There are usually lots of Red Kites along here but today only a solitary one. I missed the pic when the kite crept up behind and flared above me. What a photo that would have made if I had the presence of mind to grab my camera instead of the binos! He was gone into the sun before I got my act together. Numpty!

Cattle are easier to photograph – especially if they are bogged down amongst the mud and they think I might be bringing food.

Sheep – no problem cos they are just sheep and are also expecting food —

Unless they are black and white sheep who find their own —

It was lovely in the sunshine. I had spotted a highly coloured Jay while I was driving in as it flashed across the road between two woods and thought I might walk back and try for a photo. The other direction towards the hide can be pretty dull at this time of year and there is little chance to view the loch until you are in the hide.

No Jay but I did find some geese —

and an old dingy on the bank —

It wasn’t long before I found the perfect spot to have my picnic lunch with views back over the loch to my geese who were going through their repertoire of goose noises.

I made myself comfortable in the sun on that second root along and listened to the songs from the geese. There was an occasional backing rip of a four cylinder sports bike on the main road across the loch as the rider geared up and down between the bends but for once I didn’t want to change places with the rider.

The gamekeeper had also been ripping it up a bit as he charged here and there on his quad bike feeding the many pheasants and he had company with his under schoolage son perched in front of him and waving to me as they passed. There’s nothing like starting ’em young.

So that was bikes and quads getting a mention and how about this tidy sports car parked behind the shed —

Loch Ken Nature Reserve – a haven for petrol heads 🙂