Morning all - in a bid to control the intense dread that driving instils in me, I've now resumed the 'Early Morning Driving to Places of Great Interest', or EMDPGI. This involves dashing off before dawn with as much coffee in me as my veins and bladder will tolerate, to far-flung places where it's a lot colder than I was expecting and a north wind is blowing, all this without proper insulation and no gloves. Put another way, I went to my old favourite Pagney this morning, and though it was bitterly cold, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Best of the day were 10 Garganeys, of which 9 were stunning males. The rare treat of bubbling Curlew (nearly extinct round here) and over 100 Lapwing (not doing much better, this is the only site I know of where they nest). The first Chiffchaff was back, a pair of Red Kites drifted over, and a Hare met up with a group of Great White Egrets. That's enough writing now, so I'll stop telling the story in Ballamory and get on with putting pics up.
(the writing is pure sleep deprivation, the artwork can also blame cold hands)
Here is Zippy, being very helpful as usual. So close to the metal, the paint froze almost instantly and it was like spreading a Slush Puppie onto paper. (I imagine, don't think I've ever done that for real)
