Waterfall, Maspie Den

It was very dark when I took this, partly because of the time and partly because this was tucked away in a small gorge with lots of trees above it.  As a result there was no need of ND filters to get a long shutter speed!

Maspie Den is part of the Falkland Estate in Fife.

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Irises

A few days later I went to Cambo, which has the National Snowdrop Collection.  However what really caught my eye was this dwarf iris, which I believe is a cross between two species.  I love the delicate colours and fine detail, and for me these are plants to look at close-too rather than from afar.

Snowdrops

By March the snow had gone from the lowlands and the snowdrops were in full flower.  On my visit to the Falkland estate I took some photos of them, both as a spring celebration (they are one of my favourite flowers) and as another test for the replacement UV filter.  The filter passed with flying colours, and the flowers raised my spirits.  I also got some delicious freerange eggs!

Falkland Estate Fishpond - Inflow

Originally I seemed to have some problems with the 55-300mm lens and was on the point of returning it, until I decided to try without the UV filter.  Bingo!  I ordered a Hoya HMC replacement which was fine, and celebrated by taking a walk on the Falkland Estate towards sunset.  One of it’s features is a fishpond, with beautiful inflow and outflow weirs.  This is the inflow.

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Barbed Wire

Things were no long quite as cold and in a few places there was lots of hoar frost.  I found this example on barbed wire – the bit dangling seemed to have formed on a bit of sheep wool.

The next day the thaw started, and although it was still freezing at night it was warm enough during the day for the hoar frost to go.

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Falls of Moness

Christmas Day arrived and everything was still covered in snow and freezing hard.  I decided to go to Aberfeldy and walk up to the Falls of Moness.  The car park was shut because of snow and ice, and I left the car in a street.  As I walked up to the viewing point I thought I seemed to be very unfit – but as I walked down the other side I realised it was quite steep!

This walk is well worth while.  It passes through beautiful woodland, has the sound of water for much of it, is circular, and takes you right into the gorge before the sharp pull up to the viewing point.  Although not long it is quite steep so relatively hard work.

As photos go this isn’t particularly good, but it is recording something maybe not seen for 30 years – the falls are frozen from top to bottom. There is just a tiny bit of moving water visible, right at the bottom.

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Melting Snow

With time, the snow on the south- and west-facing roof started to slip away, helped by warmth from inside, and this attractive semi-abstract gradually appeared.

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Meena

Meena is another of Barbara’s queens, daughter of Cara.  She was looking so relaxed in the cat nest and her blue eyes looked stunning.

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Willow

After a week and a lot of snow clearing I was finally able to get the car out again.  My friend Barbara breeds Siamese and Oriental cats, and her original queen Cara had some kittens, and she had entered one of her other cats in a show, and I saw able to make my long-planned visit.

The kittens, of course, were utterly adorable.  Willow was a little boy, not particularly typy, but a lovely cheeky little lad.  I looked up, saw him looking down and me and snap – there was another photo.

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Starlings

It was so cold I took a fat ball in the house and crushed it once it had warmed up. I scattered the bits on the snow, and this is what these starlings are busy digging for. There had been more snow and the top lay6er was dry and powdery.  At times they were almost burying themselves in their eagerness to get to the food!

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