Sunday 1st January 2012

No walk yesterday as I was working but, the weather was pretty miserable anyway. Got up this morning and it looked to be better than yesterday so, we headed out. First stop was to be the garage but, as it was still shut when we arrived, we decided on a walk through Ramsey first. we parked in Market Square and Chris walked up Parliament Street whilst I went along the quay.

As I walked along, I suddenly spotted a flash of colour - a Kingfisher diving in and catching fish! After watching for a short while I remembered to take some pictures.

After getting some fuel we headed up to the Point of Ayre. It was windy and very little on the sea so, we didn't stay long. As we headed back into Ramsey, I decided to do a walk I had been thinking about for some time. Chris dropped me by Guthries so I could walk down through the plantation and home.

The sun was out and it was bright though cold. I headed off down the track towards the plantation.

Once I entered the plantation, it was quite dark, as the trees blocked out much of the light. I did see some water droplets on the end of pine needles - they would have been easier to take if my new Gorillapod had arrived!

I carried on through the plantation. It was very quiet with no bird sound at all until, suddenly, I came across a clearing and heard a party of birds. Looking up, they were directly overhead then flew into the tops of some nearby trees, still chattering. I had a look through the camera - no mistaking, these were Crossbills. There were about 20 in the party. The shots are very poor - against the light but, you can see the bill shape on some.

I carried on down the track and soon, the clearing was behind me and I was back in amongst the trees

Eventually, I came out at the bottom of the plantation. The last bit was steeper, less defined and muddier than the rest of the track.

I then headed down the glen towards home.