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Diary . . . continued (3)
Jenny Craddock saves our souls!
We had returned to the scene of one of our longest waits, namely Channonry Point near Fortrose on Scotland’s Black Isle, a beach where Bottlenose dolphins breach so close to the shore that observers get splashed, for another stint. Last summer we put in 36 hours in 48 for some mediocre action, made worse by the fact that when we arrived someone showed us what they had seen yesterday - a bloody dolphin fest - and in July we went back.
Same old story . . . The Saturday before the Monday when we arrived all hell was breaking loose with a show to make anything at Seaworld look tame . . . For us, one dolphin patrolling and eating a few fish, and about three minutes when a group swam by for a bit of a breach. It really didn’t give Trev much of a chance but as usual he got the best of it. Then we waited another 12 hours. This resulted in myself amassing a collection of sea-glass and Jenny finally taking a welcome trip to the off-licence for a bottle of wine. Top work! We toasted our tenacity! ( The next day we went to John Lister-Kaye’s Aigas Field centre near Beauly, great host, great place and great result. We had gone to see Pine Martens and with John’s expert assistance we waited . . . Seven and a half minutes! Now that’s what I call wildlife! You can keep your blubbery marine things , the Marten was absolutely beautiful). |
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Oooh look at this!
This is not a particularly great photograph of this fabulous flower but then photographing plants properly is a bit of an art and requires some time and trouble. Invariably there is a bit of a breeze which causes the blooms to wobble about so you need to keep them still to make sure that all of the flower is in sharp focus and sunshine is never a great asset as you will see from the top of this picture where it has all gone a bit white and nasty! I would have liked to have covered the flower with a diffuser to soften the light and allow me to keep it all sharp and I would have liked to have got down a bit lower so that it was framed against a dark background and not the confusing mess of grass.
Nevertheless, you have got to admit, it is a bit of a beauty!
Each flower on the spike is said to resemble a little soldier, two legs, two arms, a chest complete with rows of buttons and a little helmet to top it off. It's also a national rarity which grows on less than a handful of sites. Getting up this close was a real treat and not something I've been able to do for quite a few years. I've given up all hope of ever getting this close to Ms Welch. Shame!
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Trevor Adamson and Jenny Craddock and Jen's face unwittingly says it all
We were filming Skylarks for the Top 40, I'm lying down eulogising about the songster, using the word ‘quintessential‘ a lot which everyone does when the talk about this bird - boy does that annoy me - and within five minutes my car was broken into and Jen's bag stolen. We were within sight of it and the Itchy and Scratchy gang were in the back. They barked, I went back to investigate and the scallies drove off as I watched. Then I saw the smashed window and started swearing like a . . . Skylark. A quintessentially English crime perhaps? |
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The Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth puts a smile on my face and that of Phil Spencer
Gordons bouncing fishing boat nearly wiped it off an hour later but by then we had witnessed a brilliant display of diving courtesy of a cloud of Gannets. They were so close to the boat that we were getting splashed! It was amazing! It was part of a seabird trio of treats we were doing in one week. We started on the Farnes with Arctic Terns, then did the Bass and then went off to the Isle of May to see the Puffins. The latter don’t do it for me - too gaudy, like little WAG’s with their tacky chav outfits wobbling about on too high heels. Ill take the dynamic, sleek and classic Gannet any day! |
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All hands on deck
Nigel Chatters on sound, but grabbing a quick snap, Phil on camera and the producer Paul Greenan with the toy wobbly-cam. Everyone is hanging on tight, it was a little bit choppy for us noncy land lubbers, but the show was superb. Gordon, the boatman sails from Dunbar with a tray of small fish and as soon as the birds start to circle they are thrown in. The Herring gulls get in first but as soon as the Gannets get their confidence up they are splashing in all around the bait. You might have seen a bit of it at the end of one of this summers ‘Natures Calendars‘ but don’t miss the ‘Top 40‘ edition which will probably go out in the spring. |
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Got to have a dream
Some ropey old snaps from around the world pollute the walls of the Cheng-Kim Loke Gallery at Slimbridge. Some people were kind enough to say some nice things about them which always flatters me. The ‘best’ of them are still under the bed though because they feel too personal to ‘give away’, and they are a bit too wacky for most people anyway I expect. I'd like to live long enough and one day find the time to concentrate hard enough to be able to take just one truly beautiful picture, just one image which entirely and purely portrays my emotional and unique response to some time or place, or person, or species. Still got to have a dream haven’t you!
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