galavanting with the milky way

and the promise of clear skies let me loose

a lot of rubbish shots hit the bin abd thanks to Debbi Beer a few were salvageable

focus was off but did the best I could pre op..

and the added bonus fo an Aurora alert on the way home meant we swung in and caught a glimpse of the lady lying along the hill side.

galavanting of an evening

with the prospect of a clear night or two I went out to check out a new place to shoot

and had the joy of a beautiful sunset sky while at the Harlaw Monument 

galavanting with monsters!

A wood wasp landed in on the patio at a friend's house, we don't know if it was not long hatched or was dying as it couldn't fly very well , I put in in the next garden away from the dogs in hopes it could take off again. the large black  "stinger" is actually for laying its eggs in the wood I don't know about the shorter yellow bit thought!!! 

galavanting with Dahlias

lots of different colours 

and petal forms

the border runs along the length of the garden 

galavanting to Fyvie

The gardens are beautiful 

the colours of the sweet peas are gorgeous

from blues to pinks

to purples 

and in between.

galavanting through the eye of the needle

the eye of the needle is a large rock formation 

on the shore below MacDuff 

near the entrance to the Tatlair out door pool which is slowly being refurbished by an action group

galavanting waves

yip more slow mo practice on a nice rocky beach

Im getting the hang of it

very slowly!

galavanting at midnight!

the milky way shot from my garden no the line top left isnt a shooting star its a phone wire!

with lots of shouts of aurora I then grabbed camera and tripod and hot footed it to my sons garden 4 door up the street, but the clouds were faster!

galavanting down the coast

So while out to play with the filter we moved down the coast 

and had a wee play at Portsoy

galavanting on the shingles

still playing with the nd filter and slow motion

so stumbled across the cobbled beach at Spey Bay to the waters edge 

galavanting south

the visitors are gathering ready  to head home  

50+ sat on the phone lines  some are swallows 

and others are house martins

(notice the different tails to is in flight and colours when landed)

galavanting low down

thats low down on the shore

and hoping that the water didn't get too close to the camera!

galavanting slowly

got a nice day with no time constraints

so decided to try some slow exposures

which gave an almost misty appearance 

and smoothed out the waves 

that were crashing over the rocks 

galavanting at the shore

a wee bitty surf hitting the rocks

and a wider view slowed down to a snails pace

galavanting in blue

after a visit to the tea room in teh hall I went to the gardens and found these beautiful blue plants

this is sea holly  

and this is a globe thistle with a wee hover fly enjoying the freshly opened tiny flowers that make up the globe

galavanting peacefully

I spied my wee peaceful seat was unoccupied 

so wandered under the ancient cherry tree to have a wee rest and enjoy the view.

galavanting birds

while ot for a wander round the pond at Leith Hall, out of the corner of my eye I spotted  this wee wren posing on a post

when he spotted me he flattened himself thinking it made him invisible. 

I sat to rest upon a seat and this years ducklings thought they were going to get fed 

the lack of food obviously puzzled this one and left it scratching its chin in confusion 

galavanting on the roof

lots of young swallows sat on my roof today

getting a bit more food from mum or dad

landing in some odd places or just showing off to their mates?

but still wanting fed by its parents