Yesterday was awful with heavy rain at low altitude. I am sitting only seventy six meters above mean sea level. The road I drove in on Wednesday was blocked by fifteen foot drifts. The wind has at long last died away.
This morning dawned clear and cold with just a sprinkle of snow. It has since been snowing continuously but it does look wonderful.
I have spent most of the morning sitting watching the little mites. I did do an hours calculus so felt I’d earned a bit of fun time. Non of the following pictures are brilliant but the camera was trying to focus on the snow and I forgot to press the little AF button which stops it hunting for focus. I’ll never make a birder.
I am quite pleased with the Siskin as it is twig free and I need one for the booklet I started at Christmas, I just need his mate now and all the little birds here are done. The first prints are in and the printer has done a cracking job they are ten inches square on full gloss paper and I couldn’t believe I’d taken them. A big thank you to young Alex. She used to work for an advertising agency and is a spot on printer. I’m in love. She says it is just lust and that I’d do unmentionable things to a trapped rat or a legless frog. I got the impression that she wasn’t about to save me from the rats or hopping frogs or non hopping ones. I’ll send her a bit of lichen as there are no flowers here. I’ll pop a label on expressing my undying lust. I bet that will melt her stony heart.
Have a great weekend.
Magnificas y preciosas tomas, Adrian. la segunda me encanta!!! Buen trabajo.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo y buen fin de semana.
Jordi, muchas gracias por sus comentarios en español y no catalán. No es necesario. Cuantas más lenguas del meyor.I tratan en catalán ahora.
DeleteJordi, moltes gràcies pels seus comentaris en espanyol i no català. No és necessari. Com més llengües del meyor.
Adrian, why on earth are you doing calculus? Just, why?
ReplyDeleteI forgot how to do it is the simple answer.
DeleteI used to be able to solve spherical trigonometry in my head. Not quite but I knew within a bit if the answer the graphing calculator worked out was correct. Same with integral calculus.
I got myself a Christmas present of lectures from a chap in Florida. I may be a bit sad but I'm enjoying it. Pure mathematics is wonderful.
I digress. It started when a little girl was trying to work out algebraic functions whilst at my sisters. I said that's easy to explain but the poor lass was doing A-Level Mathematics and though I could convert her graph to a function realised I had forgotten how I did it. Hence I spent £50.00p on a big course from America.
I worked it all out over a couple of days, both empirically and algebraically. I told her to copy it and hand her homework in. The teacher was gob smacked and asked her where she got it from. She told him Dressage lessons. Liz's brother told me how to do it.
Why teachers try to teach calculus when they can't teach basic algebra or trigonometry is beyond me. It is much easier to understand Trigonometry if one ignores the Right triangle definitions and uses the circular ones and works in radians.
American has it right for once they refer to anything before calculus as Pre- Math.
I am sorry if you wished you hadn't asked.
I'm just.....well, full of admiration? But if we should all start doing things we haven't done for years, then I ought to begin climbing wall bars and doing handstands and growing broad beams in a dark cupboard. But I'm not going to.
DeleteYOU grew beans in a dark cupboard? Were you in there with them? That sounds very silly.
DeleteI'm happy to hear you have grown out of it. I don't garden but when I did I popped mine in the earth and they grew up a stick.
I can't turn upside down. It's a little known fact but I thought I'd drop it in.
DeleteJudging by the snow covered feeders any birder would struggle. But it has to be said the male Chaffinch in the snow and Siskin are very good I feel for that pheasant though
ReplyDeleteThe Siskin isn't that sharp but it is recognisable. I know they are common but it is amazing how people are inspired to look at common birds by having pictures of them. I find as much pleasure in feeding a Robin or Chaffinch as I do seeing a Golden Eagle. Little chance of the latter as the shooting estates have shot most of them.
DeleteMale Pheasants are too thick to notice.
:-) Beautiful as ever Adrian! I know that you don't like snow but it is so beautiful
ReplyDeleteLaura, I love snow. I hate rain.
DeleteYou're getting good at these bird ID's Adrian. If I get stuck, I know where to come.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with Alex.
When I read the last bit, I suddenly thought of the film.
Keith, I only know what I know. If you do get stuck then I'll be pleased to help.
DeleteWhat film? I was thinking of the Elvis song Wooden Art.
Ice Cold in Alex.
DeleteMy mind works in strange ways sometimes, I must admit.
Gotcha now. Sylvia Simms. She was a real beauty.
DeleteAdrian, these are extraordinary shots!
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Mersad, they are okay for snowy shots.
DeleteThat snow makes me fell cold, glad i got my winter fuel allowance.
ReplyDeletepeter
Peter, I bet nomads don't get one. Is it worth complaining for?
DeleteCheck out the you gov web site for details, it will fill the vans tanks up a few times !!
DeleteThanks Peter I'll have a look.
DeleteLove the bird shots! The pheasant looks a bit annoyed. No math = no logic, says I....
ReplyDeleteBill Pheasants always look cross but they aren't they are too stupid to feel much about anything. Pure Maths I really enjoy.
Deletewow! what a productive outing. Hugs to Mol and Alf
ReplyDeleteR. Mac, it was a good morning. The dogs love rolling in snow.
DeleteSome lovely snowy bird shots to brighten my day. And your funny comments brighten it further. You're anything but common. :)
ReplyDeleteHilary, a van full of excitement with the first proper snow of the winter.
DeleteHI Adrian That is some snow there. The poor birdies. The way you could ID a House Sparrow from a Dunnock is to look at the beak. The Sparrow has a seed eating beak and the Dunnock's beak is thin, more like a Robin. Stay warm.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, thank you. That's how I do tell and they tend to behave more aggressively.
DeleteYou made the best of a very bad situation. 15 ft. drifts? That's enormous. However you did get some good bird photos. It's surprising to see the pheasant feathers so wet.
ReplyDeleteRed, I haven't seen the drifts but the snowplough couldn't get through on Thursday. They have a digger up there now. Everything was wet down here on Thursday it was a vile day.
DeleteYou need to take up knitting Adrian - so that you can make little woolly jumpers for those shivering birds.
ReplyDeleteYP, I've never tried knitting. Should I give it a go do you think I should leave wing holes?
DeleteDefinitely little wing holes and how about bobble hats too?
DeleteThis is looking like a job for GLO
DeleteI had a chuckle at that miserable looking pheasant. You're right, they are pretty stupid, he probably didn't realize he looked so bad. The birds still look to be well fed despite the weather. I think the shot of the chubby little chaffinch is adorable.
ReplyDeletePauline, the male pheasants are very slow. The females are a bit brighter. They seem to be surviving but I've yet to see the Long Tailed Tits.
DeleteDelightful photos, Adrian ~ loved them all. Thoughtful of you to leave a pile of seeds to be more accessible for the birds. Looks like a lovely wintry place ~ hope your van won't get stuck. Are you able to drive out easily?
ReplyDeleteVery commendable studying calculus to get your brain cells re-invigorated!
Glo, some days the crossword can't get through so a bit of calculus stirs up the little grey cells.
DeleteThe van is fine. The plough comes through at between seven and eight most mornings so I can get out when i like.
Wonderful shots. Enjoyed them very much
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3
Thank you Cloudia. I spend more time than I ought to watching the small birds.
DeleteUuufffffff... Mucha nieve tienes. Yo no distingo hembra o machos.Las fotos son preciosas.
ReplyDeleteBuen domingo Adrian.
Un abrazo.
Laura. ha llegado el invierno. Algunas aves no puedo decir que es masculino y lo que es femenino. Ellos tienen el mismo aspecto.
DeleteVery beautiful snow pics and birds!!
ReplyDeleteRuby it is good here now the wind and rain have stopped.
DeleteLove the snow, love the birds, but what I really want to comment on is your thinking you are at a low altitude because you are "only" seventy-six meters above sea level. You are kidding, right? Tell me you are kidding. When we lived in Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, Florida, the whole town was five to six feet (that is, less than two meters) above sea level. My driveway was on a slight incline as the house's foundation was eight feet above sea level. All the neighbors oohed and aahed over our "hill"....Seventy-six meters would have been akin to Mount Everest.
ReplyDeleteBob, all things are relative. Everywhere I walk from here is up hill.
Delete