Amelia's photos

The little bird is a not really in focus, but at least it remained still for a few seconds.

URGENT. www.ipernity.com/blog/team/4737428

The Tay Road Bridge crosses the Firth of Tay, linking Newport in NE Fife with the City of Dundee. At 2250m (1.4 miles) in length, this was the longest road bridge in the UK when it was opened on 18th August 1966 by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900 - 2002). It carries the A92 Trunk Road into the heart of Dundee, replacing a ferry service affectionately known as the Fifies. The bridge consists of 42 spans with a navigation channel located closer to the Fife side. During the construction of the bridge, 140,000 tons of concrete, 4,600 tons of mild steel and 8,150 tons of structural steel was used. The bridge has a gradient of 1:81 running from 9.75 m (32.0 ft) above sea-level in Dundee to 38.1 m (125.0 ft) above sea-level in Fife. The bridge took 3½ years to build at a cost of approximately £6 million. When I was a child living in St.Andrews (Fife) in the 1940s and early 50s, we used to travel by bus to Newport and then cross on the ferry into Dundee, either to visit relatives or to attend the dental hospital there. The biggest excitement was when the paddle steamer was working and my Dad used to take me into the engine room to watch the massive pistons working the ferry. Three vessels operated the service, namely the B. L. Nairn (a paddle steamer built in 1929); the Abercraig and the Scotscraig (diesel powered, fitted with Voith Schneider propellers and built in the Caledon Shipyard in Dundee). The paddle steamer was only used when the other ferries needed maintenance. www.britishpathe.com/video/tay-bridge-has-royal-opening en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Road_Bridge When the road bridge was opened the paddle steamer was scrapped while the Scotscraig and Abercraig ended their days in Malta. The road bridge is convenient but the magic is lost. These days we still visit Dundee as one of my granddaughters is now working as a dentist there, having studied at the aforementioned Dental hospital.

Cold, frosty and slightly misty.

Tremella mesenterica (common names include yellow brain, golden jelly fungus, yellow trembler, and witches' butter is a common jelly fungus in the family Tremellaceae of the Agaricomycotina. It is most frequently found on dead but attached and on recently fallen branches

Today's Sunday Challenge is: MUSHROOMS/FUNGI We had a very wet, mild and windy December 2021, and many trees and branches were blown down. January 2022 is having a late fungal fest, The main photo was taken this week at Attingham Park. Of the two PiPs, they were both taken the previous week, one at Attingham and the other in Ruyton. The yellow fungus is Tremella mesenterica, the Yellow Brain Fungus, and is mainly seen in winter, when it appears on fallen branches of deciduous trees.

I love looking at ice puddles, the patterns of Nature are always so unique and interesting.

The light on that day is what I refer to as 'rainbow light'. Dark skies and sunshine. We didn't see a rainbow, but I'm willing to bet that there was one in the vicinity.

The first Fence Friday of 2022. I hope you are all keeping safe and well.

On the same day as our visit to Portmeirion we incorporated a detour to the Mach Loop (also known as the Machynlleth Loop) which is a series of valleys in the United Kingdom in west-central Wales, notable for their use as low-level training areas for fast jet aircraft and propeller-driven aircraft. Adrian is a keen plane spotter, but unfortunately we only saw a couple of trainers probably flying from Anglesey. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Valley . Here is what Adrian had hoped to see on the day: Low-level Flying Mach-Loop with some rare aircraft

Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the community of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the estuary of the River Dwyryd, 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Porthmadog. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmeirion PORTMEIRION North Wales. THE PRISIONER: The Village - Filming location If you are sharp eyed it's possible to see this wall in the above video.