First attempt with our new trail camera

Well it would help if I got the camera straight, but here is the resident heron caught in our garden at last! All previous attempts with an ordinary camera have been defeated by its extraordinary ability to detect movement and fly off before you get anywhere near enough!

Not a perfect photo, but at least it’s a start in trying to capture the wildlife around us. Next targets are the elusive geese that fly over the house regularly, but never giving enough warning. After that the resident Dipper and then the otters. Eventually I hope to catch one of the local sea eagles. One recently nearly took my wife’s hat off near the house, but the sneaky approach from behind caught us unawares!

But first of all I have to learn how to use this camera properly!

Waterfall path finally finished

Been a long project, as done it all ourselves, but at last the plants are growing back and everything is beginning to look great. It’s now so much easier to see the dippers and many other birds going up and down the waterfall. Also to see the butterflies and blue damsel flies that appear on sunny days. Makes it well worth the considerable work involved in digging up numerous boulders on the way! They must have been part of the old mill lade, which led to an old mill wheel adjacent to the waterfall (some remains of which can still be seen). Need to investigate that more in the future. Next task though is to remove some more stones from below the waterfall, as guests seem to love swimming below it. Can’t beat that for a morning shower!