Taexalia

wild.life

Sloe Bug

Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum)

Some of the salad plants bolted and produced flower heads. Apparently this means they are no longer any good for eating and are best added to the compost heap.

Curiousity prompted me to leave them a few days to see what the flower heads looked like and I was tickled to find this Sloe Bug feasting on the buds.

A pretty little shield ... read more

The days between Imbolc and Ostara are, for me, the time I feel the Quickening. Tempestuous and unpredictable weather matched by the rampant behaviour of animals and birds, and the persistent appearance of plants like the snowdrops and crocuses. Always, the long dark days of Winter ebb seemingly too slowly into the shorter days of Spring and we find ourselves always seeking definitive signs that Spring has arrived. This is something that has been with us for thousands of years and something ... read more

Oh Shit Sherlock

Having a plan is always a good idea, setting goals is often a great motivator and laying a good foundation is generally clever. Embracing life as it comes, accepting failure and letting go of expectations is wisdom. I had a long list of Things To Do On Holiday and they did not come to pass in the ways I had hoped and planned for, but the surprises and the unplanned moments more than made up for the not-quite-there-yets. Like my nephew learning to stand then gradually having the confidence ... read more

Foxes Full Of Beans

This morning brought another snowstorm and with it the best ever garden fox watching extravaganza. Our vixen was full of high jinx tiddling about in the snow, burying scavenged bread under the snow and flinging something into the air and playing with it. She was disturbed a few times by an inconsiderate human who kept opening the window to see better... pfffft! Our vixen also involved herself in a game of tag with a crow and two magpies which she lost gracefully. A little while later her ... read more

Battle on to save Red Squirrels

This is an actual Fetternear Red Squirrel

The Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is under threat. The two main culprits are habitat loss perpetuated by human development, and the spread of the non-native Grey Squirrel (stupidly imported from America in the 19th century).

Scotland now accounts for 75% of the UK Red Squirrel ... read more

Arctic Vixen

Last night the snow was still falling and the blanket of white was almost intact, blurring the boundaries and creating an erie light. This morning the world of humans has taken over and where the road and pavement were one there is clear tarmac and orange stripes of salty sand. The cars, you see, must go on. The gardens tell more interesting tales as the criss-cross of animal tracks bely the journeys of the night. In the dim morning light under clouds laden with more snowfall to come ... read more

Wordless Wednesday ~ Red Squirrels at Fetternear Estate

A Goal in Gairloch

You may have noticed my Day Zero linky in the top bar - the page that lists my 101 in 1001. This is an experiment in goal setting, and also a bypass of New Year's Resolutions - instead giving myself 1001 days to complete the list and, quite probably, also embrace failure ;-) I found writing the list an interesting challenge - despite all the To Do lists floating around in my brain I had to really get creative to make it to 101. On Sunday I was taken on a surprise trip to Poolewe and ... read more

Welcome Distraction

Packing orders this afternoon and I was distracted by a flash of red outside... our resident pair of foxes were slinking around marking territory and chasing each other. Such is their hearing that they reacted to the click of my camera one floor up behind double glazing... but they did not see me ;-)

More foxes in my garden

How To Begin The Day

[caption id="attachment_503" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Crow"][/caption] As I sat down at my desk to begin work this morning I looked out the window and was taken with the scene outside. The sky was a crisp, clear blue colour with a few cotton wool clouds drifting gently. The clouds were tinged pink by the sunrise, as was the frost on the rooftop opposite and there was a slightly unreal feeling to it all, as if I had arrived a little too early and the Dreamworld was still at ... read more

Dig Our Fox

[kaltura-widget wid="vohid1a5gg" width="410" height="364" addpermission="3" editpermission="3" /] Mister Fox was very intent on digging around under Skeleton Tree and I'm not sure what he was doing - finding food? making a den? or just exploring...? They seemed to be having fun ... read more

Solstice Solace

I took refuge for a few days with my family and return with a bundle of stories and thoughts and a sense of feeling refreshed.My sister has a wonderful new home that is a pleasure to spend time in for a number of reasons, not least bosies and snuzzle time with my perfect nephew.One of the other luxuries of my sister's new home is the garden which is secluded, spacious, diverse and has the added bonus of a woodland estate behind it. You can imagine how I lap it up given my current situation... ... read more

Oily Thorn

"It's Scotland's oil." This has long been a call to arms for nationalists in Scotland. I have even been known to mutter about the fact that Scotland is oft referred to as the only nation in the world to have struck oil and become poorer. I remember seeing graffiti as a youngster, I think it was on that railway bridge on the A96 that now has traffic lights (ye ken the een that has the 45 degree blin corner and sometimes a neddie in the field on the richt heading North?) - the graffiti said ... read more