Sunday 31 October 2010

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

On Saturday monring I decided to make a visit to the avenue to see how the trees were looking...

Off up the long hill. I'm heading south-east so the rising sun is hidden behind the hill which creates lovely silhouettes such as these trees and, if you look closely, a flock of birds flying between them.

The moon is still up, pylon lines cut across the blue sky.

Looking back from underneath the wires.

A couple of cows watch me make my way slowly up the road.

I like the contrast of bare branches against wintry blue skies.

Made it to the top. Unfortunately the sun has since hidden itself behind a large bank of clouds. Never mind, some cows come over to say hello.

Autumnal trees lie ahead. When I reach the trees I disturb lots of little birds who have been feasting on the beech nuts. Among them are...

... great tits (similar markings to a blue tit but with a solid black cap),...

...and bramblings. I find the RSPB website a big help in indentifying birds, particularly the "similar birds" section as I had at first thought the brambling might have been a chaffinch.

The avenue and the reason why I came this route. I'm a little disappointed as the sun is still proving elusive and the sky is rather grey, so not such a good photo as I'd hoped for.

Looking up.

Also on this route a few miles further on is the little ruined cottage, I stop to take a photo through the window.

And then the sun comes out, hooray!

Now heading downhill towards Barcraigs reservoir.

The whole time I've been out cycling the hills on the other side of the strath have been bathed in constant sunshine. I definitely picked the wrong direction weather-wise today.

The gorgeous colours of the trees around this little section of road cheers me up though. The previous day we had quite a lot of rain as you can see.

At the junction coming up I'm going to turn right in the direction of the sunshine...

...found it! What a difference, it makes the leaf and berry colours dazzling bright.

Barr Loch.

Bridge over the river Calder.

A swan on Castle Semple Loch. The big bank of clouds is still lying over the area I've just spent the last couple of hours cycling around.

The notices warn of issues with the water quality, nobody's told the ducks.

The swan on the left with a yellow beak is a whooper swan. He has a damaged wing and stays at the loch year-round along with the mute swans.

I then zoomed home along the cycle path.

That afternoon we all went for a little walk on the braes...

... someone tell this guy he needs a bigger bike.


12 comments:

Helsie said...

Lovely as usual. Thanks for taking us along.
Cheers
Helen

Hazel said...

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for the ride. x

Marie said...

Your photos are brilliant, i love the one of the avenue, the tree trunks look amazing in the slightly hazy light. A bike ride full of atmosphere :-)

Unknown said...

I look forward to your weekly bike rides and photos. Thank you for sharing.

Just wondering, what will you do when it starts to snow there?

Anne said...

Gorgeous photos. Thank you for sharing. Would it be ok to use the photos of the little birds in the branches for some illustrations? If you are interested, I'll send you one. You can contact me by email, my address is on my blog profile.
Have a lovely week,
Anne

Dawn said...

Lovely pictures, as usual. I really like the avenue one.

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyable cycle ride this week, as per usual, just wish I had the benefit of the excercise too!

topchelseagirl said...

The Avenue is stunning. Always love your cow photos!

...Nina Nixon... said...

Ohhhhh that guy at the end - oh dear.

Simone said...

A quality post as usual Anne. I am glad that you got the pictures of cows in too!That man definitely needs a bigger bike!!! Thank you for the bike links Anne. I would like to learn to ride a bike but I wouldn't ride along any main roads. With regards to my chickens - I still have them and they bring me great joy. I may post up a photo of them later in my side bar looking curiously at a Pumpkin I put in their run. Thank you so much for your comments. x

Sandra McD said...

So lovely to see these photos! My parents have just moved back to Largs after 30 odd years "Doon Sooth" and my family and I have been in Australia for 2 years so have missed all the excitement. Can't wait to get back to Scotland!

Lyn said...

Bravo!
beautiful post as usual, lovely photos, I love them all even the avenue and especially 'looking up'
love
Lyn
xxx

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails