Snowdrops

The snow has, at last, almost vanished revealing the first tentative snow drops under the trees in the park.

Fraserburgh's key bearing ostrich

Just as we thought that the snow was about to disappear there was a fresh overnight fall leaving  a dusting  on the Promenade railings into  late morning, despite the sunshine.

 The Saltoun Place Fountain 

Today Grey Granite has learned that the 'Granda Swings', the name given to  the play park behind the fountain, is  apparently a corruption of 'Granders'. This is due to the 'grander' folk who liked to be seen taking the air  in this genteel district.

The Saltoun Place Fountain was erected in 1904 and originally stood on the current site of the War Memorial at the junction of Strichen Road and Saltoun Place where it was intended to create an impressive entrance to the town from the main Aberdeen road. When it was first erected the fountain was the centre piece of the newly created playing fields on land gifted by Lord Saltoun .  The fountain was one of the prefabricated iron fountains produced by Walter MacFarlane and Co., Saracen Foundry, Glasgow. The prefabricated design was customised for Fraserburgh by surmounting the canopy with an ostrich holding a key. This bizarre addition was in acknowledgement of the ostrich in the burgh coat of arms. The ostrich is thought to  be derived from the ostrich holding a horse shoe which appears in the arms of the Comyn Earls of Buchan through whom the Fraser's of Philorth obtained their lands. The ostrich was incorporated in firstly the Fraser coat of arms and later, holding the key to the burgh, rather than a horse shoe, in the burgh arms.

In 1923 the fountain was replaced by the War Memorial and moved to its current site by the 'Grandad Swings' in Saltoun Place. The fountain was painted silver in commemoration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. 

Philorth Woods:Winter landscape

A favourite elm by the North Lodge entrance to the woods catches snow and sunshine  on a beautiful still morning. There was a couple of inches of snow during the night, it was bitterly cold, still below freezing at 10 am and a little icy underfoot, but the conditions were perfect for a walk.

 The wood was still and magical

Looking back towards the woods from Philorth Halt

Avian foodstore.

The recent combination of storms and high tides has left banks of seaweed and other debris on the beach. Here at the mouth of the Kessock this provides rich pickings for the birds. This morning oystercatchers, starlings, sparrows, wagtails, sandpipers, the odd crow and a great cacophony of squabbling gulls were picking over the spoils.

Hogmanay:Swans a Swimming

Pale end of year sunshine catching the distant white wings of swans on flooded fields at Pitblae

The year ends with waterlogged and flooded fields providing temporary swimming pools for swans, ducks and geese, and with flocking pigeons, rooks, starlings and geese  scavenging in the stubble.

Philorth Woods: Boxing day walk

Sunlight on the treesby  North Lodge where noisy rooks were making seasonal adjustments to their nests and squabbling mildly. Elsewhere in the wood we heard strident pheasants, gently cooing pigeons and the chirping of the many small, highly active  small birds, tits and finches, in the trees, too rapid for precise identification.

The low sun caught the tree trunks and highlighted the red brick chimney of the old gas works by the pond.

Pale spears of wild garlic poking through the leaf litter, colourless but already  smelling faintly of garlic

Newly emerging lesser celandine leaves

Alders on the flooded north edge of Flagpole Plantation.

Possibly a male scaup (?)swimming on the flooded field

The field between the wood and Philorth Halt was completely under water, there was a flottila  of gulls and the single duck, pictured above, is it a scaup?

Christmas Greetings

Christmas Greetings from Grey Granite and Rufus to all their followers.