Hello from Lossiemouth

[guardian]

Good morning all, I'm very pleased to find this forum site, at last folk with similar ideals and enthusiasms.

Let me introduce myself, I am Guardian and I live in the north of Scotland, Moray to be precise and Lossiemouth in particular.

I enjoy watching many bird visitors to my garden and try to garden with wildlife and the environment in mind.

My greatest joy at the the moment is a particular visitor to the bird table in the form of a woodpecker, I have never seen one so close and wish I had a good camera to catch him on film. He particularly enjoys the peanuts but all the wee birdies are scared away by him, he doesn't sem to be aggressive towards them but he is so much larger than they are.

It is a chilly morning but the sun is shining weakly and there's a good stiff breeze.

Yesterday we planted three Ash trees around the garden, we have an old one and the seed keys self-germinate throughout the garden, which is wonderful but they always seem to grow in the most peculiar and inconvenient places, usually where they would undermine the foundations if they stayed. So I dig them up, pot them and then grow them on for a couple of years and yesterday we planted them out. I wonder if they will look like their 'mother' tree when they grow up.

I look forward to making some new friends and exchanging thoughts and ideas.

[goosey]

hello Guardian , so glad you found WAB -I can't imagine life without it now
It sounds as if you have a magnificent garden, have you had success in the past planting out ash seedlings before? lucky you with your woodpecker - birds give me such pleasure when they come to feed in my garden. Enjoy yourself here there's so much to learn and I'm sure you'll have lots to contribute.

[buzfuz8149]

Hi Guardian,

A warm welcome to WAB, glad you found the site, it is very friendly and plenty of help and information available.
We have a lot of Ash trees locally and there seems a few that still have their keys, most have shed them all but these odd ones are still full, have you found that?

Lucky you with the woodpecker.

Carol.

[Tim Chilcott]

Hi Gaurdian,
I used to get a green woodpecker that swept the lawn with a bunch of starlings, I think it was suffering an identity crisis.
I've recently bought a DSLR camera and it's great capturing the beautiful world around us; it gets a little addictive, though, and then expensive (woops, just got another lens for bugs )
Tugboat

[Monkster]

Good afternoon Guardian
And a warm welcome from me too!
You will surely enjoy yourself here. It's a very friendly and informative site, I have learnt so much already and have only been here for a short time .
You are very lucky to have a woodpecker so close , you will have to get a photo of him .....once you see the photos in the gallery you will be inspired. I am and am now saving up for a for a new digital camera myself!
Anyway have fun and enjoy the site.
The Daily Monkster

[Blackdog]

A warm welcome from the West Country. I hope you enjoy WAB as much as I do

[smartie]

Welcome from me too Guardian. Hope you enjoy the site.

[peterjclarke]

Welcome to WAB.

[Martin Wilson]

Hi Guardian.
Hope you find this a great site, the help offered is just fantastic.
So many knowledgeable people on WAB.
Martin

[Deer Stalker]

Hi Guardian.

[guardian]

What a lovely welcome .

I'm very lucky that I live in the countryside and have a large garden for wildlife. I rent my house from the local estate where they still practice private lettings on the old farms which have been absorbed over the years. I have lived here for 17 years so I'm still a newcomer in local terms.

The river Lossie runs alongside my garden which sounds idyllic until you see how high it gets when in flood

These last two summers we have been invaded by mosquitos, I don't know if that's a record for north east Scotland, I thought midgies were enough to cope with.

During the last few years our population of ring-necked doves has increased exponentially and they return each year with their young.

The woodpecker seems to be a loner but I'm sure he has a mate in Lossie forest nearby. the Forestry Commission owns and farms the land for timber, mainly pine but they have begun to be more wildlife friendly. Until the last few years it was quite sad to see the land stripped bare with logging activity but I think they've realised the benefit of being more sensitive to the environment particularly with habitat; leaving dead trees standing and large amounts of timber to rot naturally.

Our soil here is mainly sand and shingle where the sea has receded, much the same as Spey Bay a short way along the coast from here; it needs much manure and compost before it will produce anything much, although it's very easy to work unlike the heavy clays.

I will be planting out more Ash trees in the future hopefully not only in the garden, it's a new thing for me but I'm hopeful they'll grow ok.

[ron1863]

Hello from another Scot