My Sunday Photo... Creeper

Today, I thought I'd show you a few more of my visitors.

This little bird is a treecreeper.

I have never seen a treecreeper on the ground like this before... but obviously the fallen seed from the bird table was too tempting.

Once you know what you're looking for, a treecreeper is quite noticeable with his white underside.

They use their tails in a similar way to woodpeckers' as a support when climbing and they really are quite acrobatic... but with those claws I suppose it's not surprising.
Their bills are curved and sharp, for extracting insect food and seeds from crevices in tree bark.

He definitely could do with a pedicure!

I did miss a fantastic photographic opportunity today, as I drove up my lane as dusk began to fall.

A buzzard was sitting on a telegraph pole with the sun behind him. 

If only I could have stopped in the lane to take the photo, but that would have been foolish.

It'll have to be one of those tales of  'the one that got away'!

But here he is a little later, flying low over the fields looking for a meal before bedtime.

Apologies for the blurred image, but the light was fading... I'm surprised I managed to get any image in the circumstances.

Whilst I was photographing this buzzard two crows came and started to attack him... he was obviously on their patch.

But then so was someone else!

Mr Fox

At this stage our girls (hens) were still out in the folly... safe but because we didn't want Mr Fox to get too familiar with their whereabouts... we had to go out and get them into their coop. 

It was getting near to their bedtime anyway and three of them had already settled down and were comfy for the night.

We made a few unwelcome noises which made Mr Fox go elsewhere for his supper!

I'm linking up with My Sunday Photo once again.

Have fun and enjoy your Sunday.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

Summer Slips Away and Autumn Arrives

Summer has slipped quietly away and I for one will miss it, even though it wasn't a particularly good one for us up here in the North East of Scotland.

I'm hopeful that our Autumn will be spectacular... and so far it's not doing too badly. 

I thought I'd highlight just a snippet of what's happening around our place.

The fields of gold have been harvested with this beast!

It doesn't look particularly large on this photo but this was captured on my zoom lens... the machine is approx 250 metres away!

Trust me it's huge.

It must be a terrifying thing to see and hear if you're a little wee beast.

With all of the various changes with autumns arrival, our little elegant resident roe deer is in the process of changing his summer coat of reddish brown to grey.

I've done a little research and I believe he might be between two and three years old.

He appears regularly near our house and settles down to rest, which is a huge honour. 

He must feel safe.

I think it's pretty special having such a majestic neighbour.

 I'm not sure if I've mentioned in previous posts, but I've been trying to photograph one of the few wren's that frequent our garden. 

Yesterday I had a chance but oh my word he's a flighty little critter!

The photo below was taken from my kitchen window across to the decking steps... as you can see it was also raining, so not the best conditions for a photographic shoot.

But I'm happy that it's not just a blur.

The blackbirds are enjoying this time of year too with lots of goodies available.

This particular blackbird is enjoying the berry bonanza.

If I'm showing you some of our visitors, then how could I not include our new robin.

He's looking mighty handsome in his new red waistcoat and is still friendly.

Everyone knows I love to take photos of the busy bees and I'm including this one because who knows it might be the last visit of the year!

Oh how I'll miss them.

But there'll be lots of other wonderful sights to capture with the coming seasons.

I'll hopefully have my camera at the ready and be snapping away, so feel free to pop back anytime.

I'm linking up with My Sunday Photo over at Photalife.com

and Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk

Have a great weekend and thanks for popping over to my place.

Kingfisher PPF

It appears that I have the most bizarre flock of birds gathering around me just now.

I can't seem to stop seeing amazing birds that I want to paint, so I'm embracing it.

Unfortunately, I've only ever seen a fleeting glimpse of a kingfisher in flight... just a spectacular splash of vibrant colour catching my eye for a tantalising second.

They really are what you might call flighty!

During this current painting trance, I completely forgot all about taking work in progress photos, but I did basically the same process as in my previous bird paintings. 

(If you'd like to see a pheasant click here or perhaps a Bluetit click here

or maybe a Firecrest click here)

Layers and layers of under painting, building up the watercolours with each layer.

I have to admit I wasn't completely happy with the bright turquoise blue, but sometimes it's best to quit whilst your ahead. I think if I'd have carried on I would have taken it too far. 

My apologies for the slightly blurred photo.

Yesterday wasn't the best day to take it, so I might try again today, as the sun is shining.

I think spring may have arrived... it's a little early, but there's a definite springy feeling out there.

So that's my painting for this week. 

I've no idea what might be next, which is both terrifying and exciting all at once.

If I can keep this momentum going, of painting one painting a week, I'll be very happy. 

I'm linking up as usual with the Paint Party Friday group.

 If you'd like to pop across with me... click here. 

Right the sun is shining and there's warmth out there, so I'm heading out into the garden.

Have a fantastic Friday, no matter what you have planned. 

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon. 

Thistle and Robin... PPF

Welcome to 2017

I'm hoping that this year my art can go up a gear... or at least get out of first gear.

I have lots of ideas, half hatched plans and masses of enthusiasm. 

I just need to prioritise now.

I started off this week painting a thistle. 

I used Windsor & Newton Cotman 111 round brushes (no 3 and no 5)

Why these particular brushes you ask? Because basically my daughter left them behind when she left after the holidays. 

I couldn't resist trying them out, but don't worry I've sent her new replacements. 

Something tells me she came off rather well in this transaction.

Brand new brushes for old ones... but I'm pleased because they worked beautifully.

For those who like to know details...

I used my Kuretake: Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolour paints on Daler Rowney Aquafine smooth A4 Hot pressed paper (300g/m2) 

I'm pleased with certain aspects of this painting, but it was also yet again a learning curve. 

I have so many learning curves that it feels like once again I'm in a complete spin. 

I've decided to go larger and have another go at painting it.

I think that I should keep to one theme instead of flitting like the proverbial blue * fly. 

That way I hope that I might actually develop a style.

I'm linking up for the first time this year with the Paint Party Friday link. Click here

Happy New Year Eva and Kristin and thanks for hosting your fantastic inspirational link up once again.

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I'd just like to add that I've had some success with my new camera zoom lens. 

As regular readers of my blog will know, I've been trying to capture the image of my camera shy robin for quite some time.

But at last I managed it...

How cute is he? 

I was doing a little tidying in the garden and he was very interested in what I was doing out there, especially as the ground was frozen solid.

As soon as I moved away, he hopped down into the dried leaves to check out what I'd unearthed.

I'm so happy with these photos, but as you can probably imagine I've got about 150 others of my new little feathered friend. 

Lovely to see you here once again and I hope to see you again soon.

Have a wonderful weekend

Robin Red Breast... PPF

There's nothing quite like the song of a robin... it's something quite beautiful and enchanting. 

I missed both the bird and it's song a great deal when I lived overseas. 

They are such a cute bird and sound amazing, with their little bobbing movement on such spindly legs, but there is a dark side to them. 

They are extremely territorial birds and will fight quite fiercely to protect their patch. 

We have four robins that visit our feeding stations, that are dotted around our property, but even though there is plenty of food available... sometimes the feathers fly.

Nothing shouts 'Christmas' more than seeing a robin on the bare frosty branch of a tree, but as you can see out of my window... we're in the middle of a grey, misty, foggy day.

I can't complain because we have had a fabulous, bright, sunny week up until now. 

Due to the weather being so good, I did manage to spend a few hours outside tidying the garden with a very attentive robin watching my every move. 

I tried desperately to capture a photograph of him...  but he's incredibly camera shy!

So I had to paint him instead. 

(I took inspiration from Anna Mason over at her blog... I can highly recommend that you take a peep at her beautiful website). 

I'm ashamed to say that this is the only Christmas card that I've produced so far... and that bow by the way, is only balanced on the top. It won't be appearing on the actual card... I know so tardy it's untrue. 

I'm trying to get into the swing of things and have requested the boxes of decorations to be brought out of the loft... so that's a start.

Are you all festive and ready to go?  

As usual I'll be linking up with Paint Party Friday
Have a wonderful week everyone.