Each week the Rampant Scotland 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!
This unusual orange and white azalea was growing in the National Trust for Scotland garden at Geilston, near Cardross, Argyll. The garden is full of blossom on the many azalea and rhododendron bushes which were planted by the earlier owners of the property. For more on Geilston House and its gardens, see Places to Visit - Geilston House.
A sure sign that the seasons are marching on - despite the temperatures being below average for late May - is the appearance of the chestnut "candles" with their promise of glossy nuts later in the year.
The new road bridge at Finnieston (known locally as the "Squinty Bridge" as it crosses the river Clyde at an angle) is progressing rapidly towards completion. When this photo was taken, there was a bright interval, but only minutes before there had been a heavy shower. On the left, the hammer-head Finnieston crane towers over everything. It is 200 feet tall with a cantilevered jib of 150 feet. When it was built in 1932 it was the largest in Europe.
Regular readers of this colour supplement will be aware by now of the contest between the local squirrels and myself as I attempt to ensure that the wild birds get the food intended for them. The persistent and acrobatic squirrels have no doubt been consulting their Internet chat rooms for advice on how to cope with Vaseline on long thin wire and my other defences. Even I have to admire this squirrel that needs all four feet to cling to the wire cage in order to nibble through to the ball of fat and nuts. But it then hangs nonchalantly down so that it can hold the titbit with its front paws, for easier eating. My only consolation is that the ground-feeding birds get the crumbs dropped by the squirrel!
The BBC "Springwatch" project records on a map the reports submitted by nature lovers of the arrival of a number of the harbingers of spring, such as ladybirds, swallows - and hawthorn blossom. Looking at photos I've taken in previous years, there is no doubt that the flowers are opening later than usual. For more on "Springwatch" in the UK, see this BBC Web site.
This zantedeschia is covered with water droplets from a shower which had passed over shortly before the photo was taken. Yes, it had been another of those days where "if you don't like Scottish weather, wait half-an-hour and it'll change."
If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page
