SEPTEMBER BITS AND PIECES

From 600 to this. Still too many but I may carry on editing as I caption. I imagine you will have to whisk through them - sorry!  

We saw these lovely Highland cattle yesterday. It was pretty warm in the sunshine so they must have been sweltering.

These next ones are the various evening skies I captured during the brief walks after supper with the dogs. During the real summer months, M has time to take them out for much longer ones but now that's all over and they've slipped into winter mode, sleeping all evening by the fire.

A ruffled Wheatear:

The Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared briefly on the feeder:

And a male Chaffinch; the breeding colours faded now:

The Meadow Pipits are flocking at this time of year, with over a hundred of them soaring around Kestor. This did not photograph well but here are a few on what I thought looked like 'The Singing Ringing Tree', if you remember that Euro-classic TV programme:

A couple more Pipits:

A Magpie eating ticks off a sheep's back:

Crow:

Green Grasshopper:

Meadow Grasshopper:

Bright Eye. These are SO tiny as to be nearly invisible unless you're deliberately looking for them:

Jess from Rusty Duck ( http://www.rustyduck.net/ ) on a visit here. We had a lovely walk to the river. I realise, having blown this up, that it looks as though she's weeping but is actually taking a very lovely photograph:

Scorhill (pronounced Scorril) stone circle that day. There was someone sitting to the right so you don't get the full effect:

She had her eye on us.....

Speckled Wood on the washing:

I only put this appalling photo in because It's the best I've achieved in I don't know how many years of of Snipe hunting, and I mean that in a photographic sense obviously, not for the pot. I disturb them constantly and have never even got a blurry image until now.....could do better:

Enchanting sheep:

A pair of Kestrels have been breeding up at Kestor this year and I've been watching them with their two surviving offspring, hunting together over the summer. The last month is the first time I've managed to get any pictures of them though, and not brilliant ones at that. Obviously they're all ones of them hovering; such an awe inspiring sight:

This is my absolute favourite. The bird was at least a quarter of a mile away and the background is at least two miles away:

And to lower the tone, some beautiful dung fungus. they seem to grow exclusively on cow dung. No accounting for taste. 

The deciduous grasses are fading fast:

OB's Christmas decoration....there will be many more I hope:

I think this is a Sea King; I love that heat haze around it:

Ponies on the move:

Meerdog on the right:

Snippet just before everything started to go brown and it was still seriously hot:

More recent; a lot less green but no shorter:

Jack with a good vantage point:

I love the Meadow Pipit in the background here:

If you haven't fallen asleep by now after all that, I'll talk briefly about the Skype call from GOSH. It too over an hour, which was impressive in itself, and they went through all the results of their tests and observations. We now have and absolute and definite diagnosis for Aspergers, or a high functioning ASD as I believe it might be termed now. All this changing of names for things drives me mad. This means we can go forward with trying to get OB a statement of special educational needs. Ah - no - that's changed and is now called a DAF which apparently stands for Devon Assessment Framework. What it means is that, at the point where OB changes schools, there should be access to someone to help him through it, should it be necessary. Previously he would have had to have three statements, one for Tourettes, one for Aspergers and one for his amazing maths ability so I suppose this will be better....we hope. It feels scary to have to go back to our local services to do anything after our previous experience but, with back up from GOSH, we're hoping we might achieve results a bit quicker. We only have 11 months and they'll be gone in no time. They will send through a written report very soon with their recommendations which will be sent to everyone down here. 

So, if you're still with me, have a great week and until next time, here are those naughty boys speeding towards the camera.

BACK TO REALITY - WITH SERIOUS UNDER-EDITING

Over two weeks since we got back form Scotland and I have a MASSIVE backlog of photos to edit having documented our trip in three hits. I really have tried to cut them down and have, from 264 to 40-something, but there's always so much I want to show you. As far as Nikon vs. Fuji is concerned, I'm a convert. Sorry Fuji. I can't believe the Nikon has picked up all the flies around the Buzzard I took in a tree last week; I didn't even know they were there and tried to clean them off the computer screen thinking OB had been mucking it up again. I'll put these in categories......birds first. A few more of that Buzzard at 7.30am.

And a different Buzzard on a cloudier day:

Kestrel scanning the landscape from Middle Tor:

Meadow Pipit hovering:

Sparrow at the feeding station

Female GS Woodpecker:

Feeding frenzy:

Blue Tit; aren't those feathers amazing?

Magpie:

Siskin with a feather that needs pulling out:

Sparrow juvenile alone......

..........then there were two......

....then three:

Meadow Pipit. I just love photographing them:

A new foal:

Number 3 playing with this year's first foal, Will:

The latest foal, Dot. I hope the black dot remains:

Sleeping in the sun up at Kestor:

Another new one since going away, Zorro:

Diamond:

Scut sleeping early one Sunday morning:

Number 3 punching above his weight. He attempted to mount this very large mare......it didn't go well for him:

Diamond again with his mum:

Scut and Jack:

Diamond scratching.....a lot:

A bit of landscape before.....

Some sheep and lambs:

Including these twins and their mum:

At about 4.30pm last week when going up to feed Trigger, I disturbed this Roe Doe feeding in the long grass. She stopped at the field boundary for a minute before bounding off:

I caught this beetle (possibly a Dor Beetle?) just as it opened its wing casings to fly off:

Speckled Wood:

Sunshine makes everything in the garden look beautiful. Columbines:

Geranium Phaeum:

More Columbines:

So much seems to have happened over the last couple of weeks and I will catch up eventually. It's OB's sports day tomorrow which he isn't looking forward to as usual. He's qualified for the high jump again this year, but by default since two children were away. Not as glorious as last year and straight in cold tomorrow after 12 months not doing it. I have so much stuff I need to do and seem to be chasing my tail all the time. On a positive note, OB's Great Ormond Street Hospital appointment has come through for July 10th so we'll have to stay overnight and take him out of school for a couple of days. 

Better get on. Only an hour and a half before bed and I have so much STUFF to do. So, until next time, where more restraint might be shown in the photo department, here are the dogs back on their patch. have a good rest of the week and welcome to some new followers!