Happy Festival of Beltane!

A Happy Festival of Beltane to you all!

The festival of Beltane is April 30th, the eve of May Day. It is a fire festival that celebrates the coming of summer and the fertility of the coming year. Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands

Beltane rituals would often include courting: for example, young men and women collecting blossoms in the woods and lighting fires in the evening. These rituals would often lead to matches and marriages, either immediately in the coming summer or autumn.

This year I am spending the Festival Beltane in Extramadura, Spain, in the central plains where the eponymous rain is said to mainly fall. It is, however, also an excellent area for wildlife.

Here are a few pictures that I have taken around the Festival of Beltane in previous years.

Ben Nevis, Scotland

The Taiga forest, Russia

Lapland

Nutcracker, Tatra Mountains, Poland

Sunflower field, Andalucia, Spain

I wish you all a Happy Beltane!

Brandenburger Tor / Brandenburg Gate

I visited Berlin in April 2002 to attend an international ornithological conference. I was so disappointed to discover that the Brandenburg Gate was "under wraps" for restoration that I resolved to make a special return visit. I snapped these pictures in February 2005.

Kestrel

This Kestrel Falco tinnunculus landed close to me and
seemed as surprised to see my as I was him!

Sky Watch Friday

Maalie selects images from his albums of travel pictures for Skywatch

Click here for a complete list
of all the participants
of this week's Sky Watch!

Introduction to the Peak District

I have been looking forward to exploring one of England's oldest and most beautiful National Parks, the Peak District National Park, with my sister Lorenzo the Llama, her husband Peter, and Badger the dog.

A route is selected along the Penine Bridleway...

and Peter and Maalie are eager to set off...

But soon Lorenzo, Peter and Badger disappear into low-lying stratus and it seems pointless to continue...

Peter has a better idea and we head for a local pub for lunch...

Where Lorenzo is in her element chatting up two Australian gentlemen.

After a large lunch and two pints of Spifire real ale, there was a discussion as to what to do next. Going home for a post-prandial snooze was high on the agenda until we saw:

when an "Easy Going Trail" seemed perfect for the occasion...

where a leisurely stroll along a river through a limestone gorge gave the ever-energetic Badger an opportunity to swim and to chase the Coots.


Sky Watch Friday

Maalie selects images from his albums of travel pictures for Skywatch

Click here for a complete list
of all the participants
of this week's Sky Watch!

Emily's Jay

During a bird-ringing session last week, my trainee Emily caught and ringed (banded) her first Jay. This handsome bird is a member of the crow family and has a viciously sharp beak. It left both of us with bleeding fingers!

The sun goes down on Galway Bay

In December 2007 I visited my friend Big Dave in Ireland to spend my birthday. Here are a couple of images to remind myself of an excellent trip.

The Shannon Callows are in Central Ireland where, in winter, the River Shannon overflows it banks to provide a wonderful wetland habitat for wildfowl

Crepuscular rays over Galway Bay: a drive to the Atlantic coast was rewarded with this sight of the sun going down over the eponymous Bay
Please click on the picture for a treat!


Sky Watch Friday

Maalie selects images from his albums of travel pictures for Skywatch

Click here for a complete list
of all the participants
of this week's Sky Watch!