Each week the Scottish Snippets Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!
In recent weeks, the planet Venus has been clearly visible as the sun sets, so long as the sky is clear. This picture was taken at Drumpellier Country Park in North Lanarkshire on Wednesday - Venus is that small spot in the upper left of the picture.
Continuing the "astronomical theme" of the previous graphic, here is a picture taken on Tuesday night, when the skies were clear and the nearly full moon was high in the sky. I thought this wasn't bad for a hand-held photo taken with the telephoto lens at maximum. Clearly the "anti-shake" technology works!
You may be wondering at a photograph of a rhododendron to illustrate the current week, when it's the middle of December. But this is one of the very early flowering varieties and indeed it has been in bloom for a few weeks. But the flowers then were at the top of the high shrub and it was only this week that some appeared lower down, allowing a close-up to be taken.
Regular readers may recall the contortions of the local grey squirrel in my garden, which successfully reached the peanut block and the seed-feeder, which had been set up for the birds. At last, I seem to have found something which is thwarting even the most dexterous squirrels - allowing these greenfinches and many other birds to nibble away at the peanuts. Of course, Vaseline spread on the branch above is also part of the successful defences... (If you are a supporter of squirrels, I should point out that there are nuts and seeds on the grass too!)
The Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow gets into the festive spirit with its Christmas tree and ghostly spotlights.
A similar illustration to this one of George Square in Glasgow, appeared in the Colour Supplement a few weeks ago. On this occasion, however, the photo was taken before all the light had left the sky, adding to the colourful Christmas scene.
If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page
