THE FLIGHT OF THE HERON

I have been trying to get a decent picture of the Heron that is always on our lake but it has been very difficult  as he always hears me coming and takes off before I can get a good shot.
Today I caught him beautifully as he was engrossed in watching frogs instead of me.

 LOOKING FOR FROGS,if you look closely,you can see some in the reeds and water just under the Heron.

BUT SEES ME.!!!!

UP AND AWAY .....

.....FAR AWAY...

THEN HE CIRCLES ROUND AND RETURNS TO THE TREE TOP,OVERLOOKING THE LAKE AND THE FROGS.

I am happy to report that we have several hundred frogs,after the two I posted in my last blog,the rest arrived over night,The lake and ponds are a heaving mass of frogs and spawn,I think this year is the best we have had for a long time.
Besides the Heron,our next visitor will be the Otter,he always comes to visit when the frogs arrive.I hope I can get a picture of him this year as well.
Until the next time,take care everyone.

THE FROGS ARE ARRIVING.

Well , two of them anyway.!!
Normally we have hundreds but last year the lake and ponds  were still frozen solid until March and we only had about 50 frogs that turned up very late in the mating season.The heron took most of the spawn and the otter took what was left of the frogs,so I hope we have more come this year.
These are the two that were on the patio yesterday.

This is Romeo,handsome  fellow,looking for his Juliet.......

.....but she is making her escape.she obviously does not love him like I do.!!!

 A pied wag tail,they have such a comical walk.

 Ireland is famous for it's mist,this is an example.

This is not mist.There is frost on the ground but the sun was quite warm and made everything steam.

These will enlarge,if you wish.

Sorry I have been away for so long but our renovations are still on going.A job that was supposed last  3 or 4 days is now entering it's third week and will not be finished until next weekend.I hope I can keep my sanity for that long.
Have a good weekend every one.

The colours of Ireland in February

 These were all taken with in half an hour.The light changes so quickly here.

I am still preoccupied  with  builders,plumbers and electricians at the moment,my sitting room looks like a builders yard,my bed rooms and bath room are non existent and we have had no water since Monday. By the weekend we should have most of the cottage put back together,then the decorating will have to be done.
Take care everyone,will be back as soon as I can.
Carolyn.

FEBRUARY TRIVIA

Sorry I have been absent for a while but family life and events have  kept me from having much time to do my blog.
I will try to catch up with you all soon,in the meantime I have a few photographs to share.

A swan coming in to land.

Approaching runway.

waiting for clearance to land.

Abort landing,incoming jet on same flightpath.!!!!  These were taken near to Cork Airport.

This little bird is a long tailed tit,he did not want his photo taken,I disturbed his nap.

To finish,this next shot is a frosty sunset taken on Sunday evening.

I will be back as soon as things get back to normal here,take care everyone.
Carolyn.