Author Archive
No, not the last choice on most peoples list, just perhaps my last. I have to say from the warmth of a libation it was enjoyable, I suggested to my son we do a munro and take his new dog, a cross between a poodle and a jack russell. he said good idea, today 19/5/12 was set as the day, weather to be good, the Munro was an easy one, well I should say easier, because leaving the track alongside Loch Turret at loch Uaine was a bit of a fuss, one the wee dog tried to leap over the …
hey Petrofac this is engineering, let large, bespoke, not just a pile of pipes and pressurised containers joined together that you have so much trouble getting together.…
May 16th by Ian under Bird Watching
14/5/12Â I was due to fly midday, so having captured a car I had time to explore part of the island, but the event of the morning happened right outside the Sella Ness camp. I heard a bird song that I did not recognise, but yet I did. Phrases of this bird song were familiar, I had put it down to a Wren, but I was not confident as I know a wren’s song intimately and this was very different. The song was coming from overgrown grass around a container on a sub-based area, the fact I could hear this …
Apr 23rd by Ian under Bird Watching
Was watching on station by 8.30 am, on the 22/4/12, female Osprey on eyrie, male nearby but not on sentinel position. Four clamouring Jays fly by making a grunting noise, not the usual “someone is being murdered in the woods” noise. Song thrush is the dominate singer, chiffchaffs and chaffinches the chorus, wrens the sopranos.
The pics are the male osprey at about 10.00 am, showing off his now revealed yellow ring on his right leg, while clasping a large (trout?), I could see the female on the nest cup making begging noises, while the male was nearby beginning at …
Picture of this years Male osprey clearly showing a ring on left leg and clutching a flatfish, taken on Osprey diary 2012, 1 but I thought the camera didn’t work as the batteries gave out during the shot. This week, Ospreys doing nought but being alert, I was there a few days ago and just as I pitched up the female rose off the eyrie and the male soon joined her. My first thought was human interference, and not me, but scanning around there was nobody. They both settled again and I spotted the culprit, a third Osprey flying low …
Aside Post
First Swallow, I got one while scoping in a hail storm on the 17th April, my daughter in Aberdeenshire got one the day before, mind you she lives within dung smelling distance from a farm.
I have been trying to see/ hear another since, but nothing.
Apr 14th by Ian under Miscellaneous
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17612550
where? well that’s the first question, now if you didn’t know where it was you now do. There are a few “stans” out there beyond India and Pakistan. And beyond the pale is Uzbekistan’s policy of involuntary sterilisation of young women. It is hardly believable that women can be treated this way as “a policy”, then for a government statement to say their policy is advanced and a model for others to follow is infuriating. Avaaz where are you on this?
Do click on the link, it is harrowing, but you need to know.…
Flew back from Shetland on the 10th at 12.15 pm and was watching a sitting tight Osprey by 4.30pm. No sign of a mate, but there must be as she/he would not be sitting tight. Scanned around the the other large trees for other osprey eyries but as ever none visible, will have to have the luck to see other ospreys landing with fish to locate what I feel sure must be there, other eyries.
Next day I was on station about 10.30 am and she was sitting and he was doing his sentinel from the highest tree nearby. Knowing …
Where the gas pipeline re-enters the sea after its short land crossing from the Laggan-Tormore field via the gas plant whose infrastructure we are attempting to build despite our client’s gross incompetence at managing anything that’s not metal !!
Well here’s real metal engineering, the world’s biggest pipe laying barge, starting work on a 243 km pipeline to St Fergus.
Oil and gas stuff can make you stand back and admire, then they get involved in ground works, get lost, stay away you nodding donkeys cant, wont understand no matter how much money you throw at it via consultants.…
In Shetland we live in an purpose built accommodation block, a polecat has been seen by various people who have reported the sightings to me of a polecat living underneath our new building. One sighting was of the polecat dragging a rabbit underneath the building. My Brother found a dead polecat on the road near our Sella Ness camp, On the Sunday equinox I was delayed as I forgot to forward my alarm, so on exiting the camp 1 hour late my brother had a surprise in the van, a dead polecat. We put the polecat back near where it …
Mar 15th by Ian under Miscellaneous
Meant to add these some time ago, these are before the recent solar flares that meant the Nth lights were seen as far south as Lincolnshire, the same photographer Peter Sevill was out on those days but clouds were a severe set back. These are his pictures from early February. Note the plough configuration in each shot and the perhaps presence of batman. I have never seen/experienced the northern lights yet. Bummer, need to stay awake longer!!…
Feb 20th by Ian under Materials and Construction, Miscellaneous
Whilst on rota leave I was listening to radio Scotland’s call Kaye, the subject was the nurses as angels, the carers or have they gone too far with academic pursuance. I do have some opinion on that but the thought struck me about the ability to monitor everything via computers. So are we actually slaves to the computer as it can accumulate all and every piece of data and “analysis” it. This thought was sponsored by the nurses having so much paper/input work that patients can become “not the customer”, the system is driven by feedback usually for costs and …
Feb 18th by Ian under Materials and Construction
Being from the mainland, there is a strange to me, drinking behaviour. It is hiring a bus for a party, birthday, anniversary, just being a weekend day !! and going around several pubs. Its a lot like going round the halls for the squads at Up Helly A’s. So there we were in the Welcome Inn in Mossbank, our get a few pints haunt, and it was flooded by this party. I have no idea what it was for or why it was fancy dress, but given some tempting shots I had the camera out of the pocket and took …
Feb 17th by Ian under Travels, my Friends travels
You might be surprised that on Shetland there are 10 Up Helly A’s as the Lerwick one gets all the press attention, it is I suppose worthy of that attention as it has up to 1000 torch holders from a multitude of squads. We had a normal working day on Up Helly A’ day, and by organised bus, arrived about 7.00pm just in time for torch ignition. I was expecting a very historical Scandinavian procession, and was surprised by squads in all sorts of costumes. There were two bands, a brass one and a pipe band, the brass band dominated, …
Aside Post
While chopping logs in the garden, had a female sparrow hawk visit, without prey, and an hour later the first for this garden a tree creeper, on the peanut feeder, then to the Sorbus trees, as I was pointing a camera at it, then of course it flew. One of the most difficult birds to photograph in my opinion.