Back and Forth Across the Pond

As I was walking to the bus stop the other day, I noticed that autumn was pretty much done. The vibrant leaves were now more brown, and half the trees had no leaves at all. I looked over at the hills in the distance, and they were now a dull brown that was occasionally broken by a band of evergreen. But when Steve and I walked to the city center yesterday, I discovered that autumn wasn't quite done. Here are a few shots of autumn's last gasp. This is my favorite photo of the bunch. There are some small islands in the middle of the River Ness that are open to the public. We keep hearing about them, but had yet to visit them. Even though it was raining, we decided to have a quick look. I stopped in the middle of the footbridge leading to the Ness Islands to snap this photo. You can see the twin towers of St. Andrew's Cathedral in the distance Here's the view looking in the opposite direction. The mainland is on the left, the main Ness Island is on the...

We set up a bird feeding station within a week of moving into our wee bungalow. We quickly got the attention of the neighborhood coal tits and a wood pigeon, but they were our only visitors. As the temperatures have dropped in the face of autumn, the number and variety of birds has increased. We now have coal tits, blue tits, great tits, wrens, house sparrows, tree sparrows, blackbirds, robins, and pigeons (both wood pigeons and your urban rats with wings). We even had a goldfinch drop by a couple of times! I haven't been able to get a photo of the goldfinch, but I did manage to grab pics of some of the others. I still haven't got the hang of the DSLR, so some of the photos aren't as sharp as I'd like. One of these days . . . This robin is a daily visitor to the seed tray.  The blue tits enjoy the peanuts. One of the many coal tits who come by several times a day to eat. I think this is a house sparrow. I think the fellow on the right is ...

I remain completely fascinated by autumnal color. I suppose a part of it is the colors are in my favorite palette and another part is it is so strange for me to witness. Florida just doesn't have this degree of changing leaves. Will I be as fascinated next year? Only time will tell, but for now, enjoy the colors around my neighborhood.  Mom, this one's for you. :-)