Well, the sun is shining and we are back to t-shirts and no socks. Yippee. I went to the laundry today...big news! On the way I saw a brimstone butterfly and from the laundry window I saw a pair of jays. We don't get too many of them in and around Aberdeen, so it was a bit of a treat for me. Saw them in Ludlow last year, but they were very shy.
I was able to observe some of their feeding behaviour, which was very entertaining. They are quite comical really. They look odd with their striped heads and handlebar moustache that makes their beaks look gapey. They have an odd slightly bouncy walk, like the other corvids, but the curved beak is more like a chough than the larger crows. The way they search for their food is quite dramatic, lots of head tilting and turning over leaves and twigs.
One of them started to wipe its beak on a tree, I presumed that it had mud on it and was cleaning it, but the strokes were almost langorous, lazy sweeps of the head. It had caught something and either it was wiping off the dirt or maybe taking off hairs or legs. Don't know which because I couldn't see the morsel.
At the moment we have an amorous moorhen clucking at a female in the stream behind the van. Spring has sprung!
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More exciting feedback from your now extensive travels. Sounds as though some of your sites have been remarkable and some have been somewhat short of perfect. Loved the picture of the van in the snow, very Christmasy and tranquil. Obviously some areas have left am impact for the right reasons, especially the people it would seem. I still think there is a book in there somewhere, your experiences would be very helpful to anyone thinking of undertaking the same adventure. I hope you took some pictures of the Burstners in the German garage, I bet there were some crackers, Ah, if only I had the money now that I have the time. Weather is not so spring like here, currently force 8 gales, I would'nt want to bou out in a boat on the Forth to-day. Keep sending the news and drive carefully. Lots of Love to all, Mum xx
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