Taexalia

wild.life

Isle of May

A few photographs I had the pleasure of taking on the Isle of May yesterday...

I've been having a week of what I call losing my rhythm, where the healthy and creative routines I've been developing just sort of fell off without warning. I've allowed myself a bit of negative self-talk over this and a bit of blah blah blah about my lack of consistency. Then this morning I was writing my Morning Pages this morning, the first evidence of climbing back on the horsie, and thinking about the cycles I seem to go through and that linear routine is not really my style. Perhaps ... read more

Worrying Decline at Isle of May Puffin Site

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Decline at biggest UK puffin site Regular readers will know that I am a regular visitor to the Scottish Seabird Centre where I enjoy getting up close with the bird colonies that nest on the Forth Islands via some funky remote control camera links. Sadly the Puffins in the Forth are facing challenges these days that put their longterm presence in the Firth of Forth at risk. Volunteers have spent winters cutting back the non-native Tree Mallow plants that have ... read more

Fife and the Firth

Today we caught a train from Edinburgh to Aberdour with the intention of finding a new beach to explore. Neither of us have ever been to Aberdour other than when the Aberdeen train whizzes past going North, so it was all new :)We left the train and followed the signs to the Fife Coastal Path:The path is flanked by the railway line and it's a peaceful haven of leafy trees, wildflowers and plants. Some folk seem to have missed the fact that leaving their dog poop behind is against the law - ... read more

Rock Pool Roomies

We spent the day rooting around in rock pools marvelling at life at low tide. Each of these beings measures about one inch ~ I'm not sure but that last one appears to be a tiny plaice or flat fish... I shall have to go and look it ... read more

Glimpsing Spring

I've covered a fare bit of ground over the past week really. My folks took us over to Lomond Shores which is basically a shopping centre at one end of Loch Lomond. It wasn't as awful as it might sound, but since I'm not a stuff buying addict I was more interested in the scenery. I'm also still trying to forget the cloying stench of perfume that permeated the air - I hate perfume and can't see the attraction of a) perfume shops and b) walking around with a chemical cloud for an aura. We ... read more

A Fleeting Moment

I stood on this spot in the middle of winter, hands slowly turning to ice and watched the water rolling, breathing, building energy and crashing. Each turn of the water was different linked only by an underlying rhythm. Sometimes I watched the rocky outcrop anticipating a big wave crashing and spraying, my finger poised to take a rapid fire of images, hoping to catch perfection. Sometimes I looked further out to the swell of the Forth and saw shadows play on the surface and the ululating water ... read more

Romancing The Stone

Can you tell the difference between these two pictures?They are both pictures of the Bass Rock, an extinct volcanic plug, which rises from the Firth of Forth just off the coast of North Berwick. Regular viewers may recognise it :)But can you tell the difference between the pictures??Well the top one was taken on a beautiful day in December and the bottom one was taken today. The difference is that in the second one there are Gannets!!! Yay! We are proud to present the beginnings of this year's ... read more

Coasting

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Bass Rock Firth of Forth"][/caption] We have been enjoying the beauty and solitude of the North Berwick beach recently. Here the Bass Rock shows herself nude, without the mystical white veil of 140,000 gannets that live and breed on the island between February and October. It is an eerie sight to twiddle with the cameras at the Scottish Seabird Centre and find little more than bare rock... But look to the other cameras and you will see ... read more

See Birds!!

Suspecting disappointment, we decided to abandon an attempt to sample the Hovercraft. We felt time would be better spent making our way out to North Berwick to take advantage of our new membership at the Scottish Seabird Centre. We arrived in time to discover that we had just missed a train and had around 50 minutes to wait, so we had a lovely cheese and ham bagel for breakfast in the station and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Waverley. The train wasn't very busy when we boarded and we ... read more

Puffling Hunting

10am saw the arrival of the Parental Units and the Prodigal Sister (mine this week). Yes, there was a reason for the busy-busy Saturday - parental visits in quick succession are great for the zen quality of my home. After cups of tea, some practical joking (PaternalUnit) and various gifts exchanges (none of which were to do with ageing) it was decided that we would introduce Prod to the delights of North Berwick. Time constraints meant we took the big road, rather than the much lovelier ... read more

Sand and Sea

We caught a train to North Berwick on Thursday and spent the day at the beach. It's a beautiful, peaceful place with some amazing geology. It's hard to imagine as you kick your feet in the sand and enjoy the complete lack of city sounds that this area was once a hotbed of volcanic activity. The Bass Rock protrudes from the sea like a white ghost - once an active volcano and now a nesting site for thousands of gannets who recently arrived from West Africa. We discovered a magical ... read more