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| Bald eagle with dinner in claw, WA state. |
HAPPY NEW YEAR! This post contains two stories that are sort of related and two groups of photos (the birds and the bees/bugs) that are related to each other, but not related to the stories. I hope both the stories and the photos are enjoyable in their own way. It’s going to be that kind of year—all mixed up. but we still find joy where we can.
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| Goshawk in forest, Perth, Scotland. |
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| Goshawk in flight. |
Voices in the Wall
It was a lovely afternoon for watching the Lamlash Bay lap on the shore of Isle Arran, Scotland. After a great round of golf at Shiskine GC, we had stopped at Arran Cheese and picked up a couple of rounds and some crisps (what we’d call crackers) for snacking. Back in our room at Lilybank B&B we had cut into one of the cheese rounds, broken out some crisps, poured two generous drams of Lochranza single malt scotch, and were sitting back enjoying the view of the bay and the Holy Isle. We were the only guests so far in the B&B, but yet we could hear voices. The closer we listened, the more the voices seemed to be coming from the wall of our room. Was it the whisky? Was our room haunted? The voices were indistinct, yet they were recognizable as voices. I walked over to the wall for a closer listen.
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| Gannet |
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| A very patriotic gull. |
I couldn’t tell what they were saying or where exactly the voices were coming from, but they seemed to be repeating the same refrain. I went to the door and listened outside the room. No, they seemed to be just in the wall of our room. As I moved along the wall to try to pinpoint the voices, the sound moved from the wall to my backpack which leaned against the wall.
It took me only a moment to find my mini voice recorder, the one I use for verbal notes as we play a golf course. Somehow it had turned on and was playing back the same sentence describing a hole from the previous day’s golf. Mystery solved, but it might have been a better story had it been a talking mouse in the wall or the spirit of a former guest who really didn’t want to leave the place.
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| Pheasant near St Fillins, Scotland. |
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| Red grouse in Glen Quaich, Scotland. |
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| Duck, Lower Slaughter, Cotswolds, England |
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| Meadowlark, Taos, NM |
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| Scottish Robin |
The Noise at Home
First, some background. A couple of months ago in the middle of the night one of our smoke detectors started beeping one chirp about every 15 seconds. We checked all the rooms in our unit (two bedroom with a den) to make sure there was not a real emergency. When we were satisfied that we were safe, we realized we were still being annoyed by the constant chirp telling us the battery in the detector was running out. With no ladder or willingness to climb up one if we had it, we called maintenance. Even though it was 1:30 in the morning a worker came to the house and changed all the batteries in all our alarms. Ah, senior living.
Now to the real story. A couple of weeks ago, again in the middle of the night, about 2:30, I was awakened by a very piercing but soft noise—a whistle or alarm sound. I had been sleeping in my living room recliner— something I often do when my Parkinson’s tremors are acting up. I looked around to see if I could see a source for the now irritating noise. I couldn’t. So, I got up and looked at every electric item we had in the room (tv, radio, DISH module, alarms, clocks, stove, fridge, microwave, etc.). Nothing was making the noise. By turning my head I tried to triangulate the location. Nothing was definitive. I checked every other room and outside, but I was sure the sound was emanating from the kitchen-diningroom-livingroom area. I still couldn’t identify a source for what now sounded like constant electric screaming.
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| Canmore, Alberta, Canada |
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| Yellow Swallowtail |
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| "Let me out!" Huntingtower Castle, near Perth, Scotland |
I finally woke Anne, who had slept through the noise and my noise because, of course, she doesn’t wear her hearing aids at night. Together we went through the whole process again and came up blank. We were just to call for help when she said, “Wait a second.” She moved a couple of books on a shelf, “Look at this.” She was pointing to a small, very old Sharper Image travel clock. It was indeed the culprit. I turned the clock over to see battery acid leaking out of the battery compartment. It was so corroded that the alarm must have been shorted out. Plying the batteries out shut off our noise invasion. Not as interesting a tale as voices in the wall, but certainly closer to home.
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| Assassin Bug (?) |
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| In Scotland this would be called a ginger wooly bear. |
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| This walking stick hitched a ride on my golf club bag. |
If you want to view some really fine wildlife photos, check out the sites that feature two of our great friends from Canada. See Kathryn Delany's website -- www.colorsplashes.com -- and find Nick Delany's work by going to www.psa-photo.org and searching for Nick Delany.
NEXT: We've had the birds and the bees; next is, of course, the Beasts.
