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!
The mixture of weather this week in the west of Scotland was highlighted on Wednesday when bright sunshine would disappear and be replaced by a heavy shower, only for the sun to reappear. At the end of the day, when I stopped the car to take this photo over the water at Gadloch near Lenzie, there was a fiery red sunset in the west - and threatening dark clouds (out of the picture) to the north.
The sun was certainly shining last Saturday when this photo was taken at Colzium Estate, near Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire. The trees are still without their leaves but the first of the many snowdrops at Colzium had burst into flower (see below).
The walled garden at Colzium is attractive at most times of the year but especially so in the spring when a huge number of snowdrops of different varieties come into flower. There are not huge drifts of them (unlike the daffodils which will burst forth later in another part of the estate. Instead, there are small groups of speciality snowdrops, each with its label showing which variety is showing. I used to think snowdrops were snowdrops - until I saw Colzium in the spring!
There was only this one, delicate crocus in flower at Colzium last week, presumably an early-flowering variety as most of the crocus bulbs in the west of Scotland are only showing green leaves just now. The label beside this crocus said it was "Tourneforth".
As the weeks go by, the colours of the feathers on chaffinches are beginning to get stronger and brighter. This fellow was gulping down the seeds in my garden - before another 20+ of his clan also descended!
The sun was shining brightly in the greenhouses at the Kelvingrove Botanic Gardens in Glasgow when this picture was taken on Wednesday. The orchid house there is a popular place for locals and tourists alike - particularly when it's cold outside!
If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page
