Last day

The picturesque Trossachs

I fly back to Sydney tomorrow so today, bad weather or not, I headed out with Kath for a day trip to the Trossachs and then over to St Andrews. The weather was bad of course and there wasn't an awful lot to see up in the hills but things began to clear by the late afternoon in St Andrews and it seems that the minute I leave, things might turn altogether more pleasant.

Beautiful Loch Vennachar and the magnificent Beinn Dearg

Careful

Nice to get out into the countryside even with visibility of not very far. St Andrews hasn't changed too much but its disappointing to see that Greasy Joe seems to have been put out of business by Subway.

Highland Coo

Sunset over the Old Course, St Andrews

Rain, snow, wind

Well, all that talk of nice weather on the way turned out to be a tad inaccurate. Just after New Year we had a little snow but then lots of rain and then a rather destructive gale which knocked out our power for a day and left us cooking on the living room fire.

Between showers things look quite nice

At least Falkirk remain unbeaten over the holiday period and are climbing slowly up the league. As a result of the weather I've still not managed to get out much but the garden has been quite busy on the bird front so I've not had to go far to see Woodpecker, Sparrowhawk, Treecreepers and loads of other nice stuff.

Look out! Incoming!

A skulking Dunnock

Tree Sparrow

.... and a Happy New Year

Here - New Year's Day

Well here I am back in Scotland and its exactly as you'd expect it to be at this time of year. Grey and dark. This means that I've not managed to get out and do too much yet but the forecast is, dare I say it, good.

There - Christmas Eve

My two trips to the football at the Falkirk Stadium have both ended in wins. A shocking 1-0 effort over Inverness but also a thrilling come-from-behind job, 2-1, against Hearts.

Very nice

No bird-watching yet apart from the many visitors to the garden but there's a potential trip to track down the famous Bean Geese of the Slamannan Plateau on the cards. Anyway, who cares about the weather. It may be sunny and lovely in Sydney right now but I know where I'd prefer to be!

Robin

Blackbird

Great Tit