"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

12 January 2008

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather and the seasons, plus the flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. This separate "colour supplement" displays some more pictures, in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!


With so much rain, cloud and high winds this week, it was a delight to get some sunshine last Sunday when out for a walk in the countryside north of Glasgow. Of course, the sun still sets fairly early at this time of year (this picture was taken at 4.30pm) so it soon sank below the horizon - in a blaze of gloriously coloured skies!


A tree which had been struck by lightning many years ago failed to recover and withered and died. But that provides an opportunity for fungus to take hold. It is now covered in fungi - this is just a small selection.





Ever since the story of Noah and the rainbow became part of our culture, we have always responded with pleasure when we see one in the sky - even though we now know it is due to the refraction of sunlight on raindrops. But maybe there is a pot of gold at the foot of this one... The backdrop is the Campsie Hills, north of Glasgow.


The media were full of dramatic pictures of storm damage caused by the hurricane-force winds that swept across Scotland on Tuesday night. This was just a fairly minor example of tree branches torn down and almost blocking a suburban road, north of Glasgow.


Looking a bit like an old-time bandit with those black markings across its eyes, this Blue Tit has just been "robbing" the nuts from the bird-feeder hanging on a tree in my back garden. The picture also shows the red buds of the hawthorn beginning to expand in a portent of spring.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





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