SOPPY SUNDAY

n baby crw
 Baby Crow.
n capri
Capri
n craigievar castle
Craigievar Castle.
N Mongoose 2
Just for Sue… Mongoose.
n mount robson
Mount Robson.
n jaguar
If you thought Jaguars were cars, you were wrong.
n oerang3
I didn’t get to do the welcome at the top of the page, coz I don’t have any teeth. But that Herring Gull got to do it, and he doesn’t have any teeth either. Not fair!
n ireland
Lovely Ireland.
N Mongoose 3 (Sue)
Baby Mongooses.
n dominica
Dominica.
n deer
Deer in Glencoe. Or, more correctly, as Jutie pointed out, Reindeer in the Cairngorms!
n sunset
Sunset in Indonesia.
n trongate 1921
Trongate, Glasgow, 1921.
n otter
I’m a baby otter…
n raptor
Raptor.
n water monitor
Water Monitor.
n turtle
Turtle in a hurry.
n scarista beach Harris
Scarista Beach, Harris.
NOR
OK, that’s it for this week. See you next Sunday, if the rain stops.

I don’t know if I mentioned this blog before. It really is worth a look now and then. This guy has a knack with photographs, and he spends endless amounts of time getting them right. He sounds immensely knowledgeable and dedicated to wildlife.

 

64 thoughts on “SOPPY SUNDAY”

    1. A friend of mine raised a hoodie from a chick he found. It followed him everywhere until the Puff the Magic Dragon moment… He called it Munin, strangely enough.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I’ve had a few. My dad kept pigeons, so every hurt or unfledged bird was brought to our door. Nursed back to health and released. One seagull would return year on year, eventually bringing its young with it.

        Liked by 3 people

        1. Fantastic, Jim. What satisfaction to make that kind of bond with an animal.

          It’s a small thing, but I absolutely love that my blackbird “Bertie”, comes and stands on the lawn, not far from where I’m working to tell me, in those little whopping noises that they make, that there are no more sultanas on his dinner table.

          Liked by 1 person

  1. I loved Kipling when I was wee – Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was a favourite. I slept well, knowing an imagery mongoose was keeping me safe from imaginary cobras.

    I also liked Maxim guns slaughtering heathens, and dropping poison gas upon Afghan villages, so I’m probably showing my age.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. The Mongooses are cool. Most species cannot be imported and legally owned in the USA (except Hawaii.) But Mr. Magoo was allowed:

      From Wiki:

      “An exception was made in the 1963 case of “Mr. Magoo”, a mongoose brought to the Minnesota port of Duluth by a merchant seaman. Mr. Magoo, as the animal was to become known, faced being euthanized, but a public campaign resulted in the intervention of Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who exempted Magoo from the regulations. Magoo lived out his days on display as the most popular attraction of the Duluth Zoo, dying of old age in 1968.”

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Speaking of Kipling and mongooses and the land East of Suez:

      “I am sick o’ wastin’ leather on these gritty pavin’-stones,
      An’ the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;……
      Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
      Where there aren’t no Ten Commandments an’ a man can raise a thirst;
      For the temple-bells are callin’, an’ it’s there that I would be
      By the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea;……
      O the road to Mandalay,
      Where the flyin’-fishes play,
      An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay !”

      Liked by 3 people

  2. Is anyone else having problem seeing the first picture? Anyho do you know want else is a car – a Capri 🙂
    Have been to CraigiVar castle – lovely place would recommend going if in Aberdeenshire. (Couple of typos today but as Munguin refuses the pay the proof reader, she’s on strike). Harris looks lovely I really want to go one day. Of course Pongo looks lovely as always. Ohhh hark at her using Genus names.

    Horrible thing seen on twitter – the gorilla and Bornean orangs heading ever nearer extinction. Why can’t Tories be nearer extinction and we keep the cousins?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi PP……I’ve been having trouble seeing the first picture on Soppy Sunday for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago, I could see it using Firefox, but not on Chrome. This week, I can’t see it using either browser. If I right click on the little picture icon that comes up and left click on “open image in new tab,” I just get a blank page with the words “440 Login Timeout.” All the other pictures after the first one come up fine.

      Craigievar castle is very interesting, but looks sort of odd as castles go. Built in the seventeenth century in what Wiki calls the “castle-like” Scottish Baronial style. I guess I like the old castles better. Back in the days of the conqueror, those big ground floor glass windows would be a non-starter in a castle. Maybe pink isn’t quite the color for a castle either. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Actually, Danny, pink is quite an appropriate colour for a castle like Craigievar, the stonework of which is covered in a type of rendering called harling. Harling often contained lots of crushed sea shells, for their lime content, and they gave the harling a pink colour. Craigievar was owned by a merchant known as “Danzig” Willie Forbes, “Danzig” (modern Gdansk) because of his trading connections with the Baltic, back in the days when Scotland was a country with good trading and cultural links to Europe without needing any “support” from our southern “neighbours”.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Very interesting Andi! Somewhere I read that some of the old medieval castles which are now heaps of stone once had plaster on some of the inner rooms, with some bits of plaster still visible on some. Reminds me of a few smudges of the original brightly colored paint which can still be seen on the Sphinx if you know where to look.

          Liked by 2 people

    2. The first pic is working here OK. Anyone else having problems with it?

      I dunno what you’re on about. Munguin has sent a Czech or a Swede or something like that, every time you’ve worked for him. He told me that he thinks you drink it all on the sly!

      I didn’t know that Pongo was was the name of Orangutans. There was a lad in my class who was nicknamed Pongo. It never occurred to me to ask why, but as he wasn’t wither redheaded or hairy, I can;t imagine what it was anything to do with that. (And no, I never discerned any “pong” from him.)

      Odd. I’ve not thought about him in years, and I’ve no idea what his real name is.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. The name pongo takes me back to my youth, when manly, upright clean shaven types (apart from the obligatory zapata moustache) in the army were referred to as such by the bearded bellbottom wearing hippies in the Navy.

          Liked by 2 people

          1. Inter-services rivalry, I believe it was called.
            I asked once about the origin of the term “pongos” and it was explained to me that “everywhere the army goes, the pong goes too”.

            Liked by 1 person

      1. Wicked calumny. Suggesting I drink it on the sly or otherwise. Chance would be a fine thing!! These Czechs or Swedes never arrive. One more thing to blame on Brexit I guess.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Pic 1 no shows,seems to link to a hotmail email address.

    These are great pix Tris. Thank you for brightening up the weekend as ever.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I’m sorry everyone (particularly Frank).

    The first pic of the Herring Gull just won’t load onto here. I tried everything I know to get it to upload. It worked ok for me, but others can’t see it.

    I tried to load it into the “replies” but that doesn’t work either.

    Big thanks to Frank for sending it.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m commenting on there using my Sunday, storebought name. The people at Rise started all this in their usual People’s Front of Judea manner; where people lose sight of the main schwerpunkt of the movement to count the Angels dancing on the head of a Mod.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I liked your thoughts on the fringe No-ers and their bullying bile – folk like Spanner or Ian Smart or the SDL or National Front for example and the article about that. Oh that’s right, MSM never prints those.

      Nutters on both sides and I condemn both. Looking forward to the day that Unionists acknowledge their dark side. For reasons of self preservation I won’t be holding my breath.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. OK, Dean.

        I’ve read the article.

        I’m not much “in the loop” with what goes on in the Yes campaign, and frankly, I’d not want to criticise anyone in particular. I by and large don’t know enough about them to be critical.

        I’m a very back room guy myself, and I try to keep out of the politics of it all… I mean the internal politics obviously.

        In any organisation you join, there is background internal squabbling. The golf club, the drama group, your local supporters’ club… the church is the worst. Jeez, can these people fight?

        The Yes Campaign did well… not well enough…but well up to the referendum. I’m not sure that they stuck together throughout the campaign, but I didn’t see much about them falling out. After the campaign and the failure at the referendum, there was the dramatic surge in support which brought us the 90%+ of seats in Westminster. But there have been disappointments since then. Most specifically over Brexit and the loss of support in the last UK election. I say you can’t be at peak all the time. You have to have ups and downs. Accept it. But people are looking (rightly) for reasons.

        In any group of people who can hold it together in a campaign, there are bound to be differences of opinion. I know people who have been Tories all their lives, but who want independence; there are Liberals who want independence, and (as you know), there was a very active Labour for Independence movement. The Greens term themselves as an independent party. Then there is Tommy and people from the Radical Independence movement.

        Some people are pretty right wing, and some are left wing. It’s hard to hold that together.

        Even within political parties, there are folk who are miles apart from each other. In your own party, you have people like Ken Clarke and people like Fox. They inhabit different universes. Indeed, rumour has it that Amber Rudd is having secret meetings with Ruth Davidson both people who are remainers, in a bid to avert the disaster over which Mrs May is currently presiding. Likewise, of course, Jeremy Corbyn and Kezia Dugdale see eye to eye on NOTHING.

        So, what I’m saying is that divisions are inevitable.

        There are those who think that we should declare UDI and a republic…of course there are. And others who think softly softly catchee monkey will in the end work.

        Has it become unpleasant? I don’t know. I’m not part of it, and I don’t want to be. I see the odd thing on Twitter and walk away from it. No one has (to my knowledge) said anything about me.

        I’ve heard criticism of Wings. Indeed Mr Greer’s boss was really harsh about Stuart, citing homophobia.

        I guess he is the one person I know anything about. So I’ll say this. Stuart can be rude. It’s not my style and it’s not my preference, but it is the way he is. At the same time he is a kind and decent man (Remember when he used his pulling power to raise a lot of money for some poor woman in Manchester who was staring and stole a pack of Mars bars. Despite not having any money …thanks to IDS… the judge fined her and gave her a few weeks to pay. Stuart raised the money and paid the fine, keeping her out of prison.)

        As for what he said about Oliver Mundell? It was unpleasant and, in my opinion, in poor taste. It’s not a huge deal, but wishing someone had never been born, because they made a boring speech… well, it’s not my style. Was it homophobic? Nope. Not even slightly. Ginger Dog wrote a very good piece on it.

        And Kezia Dugdale, embarrassed about her party disobeying her and going into coalition with the Tories and her having to suspend them, was gagging for something to say that would distract. And she used our time to do it. It was nothing to do with the SNP; nothing to do with the government of Scotland; nothing to do with the first minister. But she raised it in Parliament. It caught the newspapers and took the heat off her and her falling to pieces party.

        Personally, I wish that people wouldn’t fight. But it’s how things are.

        As for the keyboard warriors and their spiteful comments, well, you know, I’d be careful of criticising anyone too much for that. There are hot headed/drunk/stupid/thoughtless/ half a dozen other adjectives, on both sides. It’s not hard to find abusive tweets across the political spectrum.

        Should Theresa, Nicola, Kezia, Ruth, Jeremy and who ever is leading UKIP control their supporters?

        No.

        I don’t know about other leaders but I think I heard that Nicola had said that something about people taking care when they tweeted. Fair enough. I’m sure at least some other leaders have done the same. What else can they do? We don’t want a situation where party leaders can order supporters to say what THEY want us to say.

        Dunno if that much explains. Sorry, it’s a bit garbled.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Good advice for all from David:

          Taylor‏ @dtaylor5633 8m8 minutes ago

          Speak your mind
          Try and be polite (not always possible)
          Act as you would in public
          Ignore those that attempt to shit stir in name of “Indy”

          Taylor‏ @dtaylor5633 7m7 minutes ago

          That’s the only rules u need really. & even at that, it’s down to u if u follow them or not. Folk gotta stop preaching, were *not* a church

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I’d add that none of this is doing the Yes movement any good, which is doubtless why people like Dugdale are happy to make their contribution. I wish it were not so, but it is.

            Fortunately for us, the London lot are all at each others’ throats over Brexit (except the Liberals and UKIP and they really don’t count at the moment) and when it comes to lunacy no one can manage to trump Trump!

            Like

        2. I have no skin in the game. I am 100% yes, and I deliberately subsume my right wing tendances because independence transcends everything else. However the yoon press is not friend of independence. I note that much of the “debate” about who said what where when and why is carried in a press which is universally opposed to our core aim. I am fine with debate on our websites, but there is nothing published by the MOT or by even the suspect National which should be taken with anything other than a pinch of salt.

          I, and 100k other people joined the SNP because we believe our country should be independent. I do not share all the policy of the party. I find lots to disagree with. But for now they are the only party which is in a position to deliver our independence. So until we have that independence or we are bust then I hold no truck with anyone who does not put up and shut up. We are in the endgame. Within 2 – 4 years we will get our last chance to settle this matter. Its not long.

          This is a dull political summer. The news is dominated by a Brexit disaster which no-one with any brains can fail to see is a disaster. We have a government at Westminster which is in office but not in power. There is nothing of substance to report and so we are getting a lot of navel gazing, and we are being drawn into catfights ( no pun! ).

          Stop quarrelling about nothing. Get your shoes on and get out there. We have 18 months to get the picture. Lets concentrate on that. We can seize our liberty if we just concentrate our minds.

          Dean is a self confessed Tory. I share with him his conservatism, but not his unionism. He has tossed the firecracker onto your bonfire here. I refrain as you know from commenting on the Hellenic troll’s comments, and was in two minds about commenting here. Don’t get drawn in.

          Liked by 3 people

          1. Thanks, David. That’s a good response.

            I won’t get drawn it.

            Fights are not to my taste.

            As I say, I’m not even vaguely interested in getting involved at the level that Mr Green and the Rev Mr Cambell are.

            Disagreements are to be expected, but as you say, we don;t have long to save our country from god knows what fate is coming its way at the hands of the chronically inept London government.

            As it goes, I’d be interested in Dean’s take on how the Conservatives are doing…

            Liked by 1 person

    3. My first reaction to that piece by Ross Greer is that it’s pretty much same old, same old… Right now we’re in a waiting game because we have to see what comes out of the Brexit negotiations before we can ask people to vote on independence – before, it was status quo v. the unknown, and now it’s clearer what independence will look like but no one has a clue about the alternative except it’s highly unlikely that we’ll like it very much.

      In other words, this is a long, boring bit of the journey, and it’s only natural that the kids in the back are getting fractious and saying not just “Are we there yet?” but “Why aren’t we there yet?” and “He touched me! He touched me!” Summer silly season, devil finds work for idle hands, &c., &c. And the weather doesn’t help.

      I am fed up with those who promote discord – almost as if they were actually supporters of the Opposition, isn’t it? – but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the Usual Suspects make great play of Vile Cybernats and their Constant Abuse of Decent Unionist People, while the stuff that They lob at us frequently beggars description.

      For that reason, I’m very suspicious of any piece of writing that seems to focus on just one side of the equation. I need to go back and read Greer’s piece again properly, but I’m short of energy right now. My guiding principle is that if I wouldn’t tolerate someone’s speech and behaviour in my own personal life, I don’t tolerate it on line either. Freedom of speech does not imply the freedom to abuse.

      Gentle readers, you are of course free to hurl abuse at me as much as you like, but please do it quietly and behind closed doors, because I shall be snoozing.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Ed. You make good points there.

        We are treading water and people don’t have as much to do as before… and of course, we don’t know where the goal is, and how to get to it.

        We should do what you are doing… and take a snooze till such time as we know what we are up against.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I’ve followed the fracas a bit and to be honest I’m getting a bit bored with it now. Mr Greer decided to get his neb in with his Herald article and that’s up to him. He had a wee go at the National a few days ago as well, also up to him. He’s also had a go at ‘old white men’ is that racist, I don’t know.

          We’ve had or are having. as has been said, a quiet spell and a skirmish has broken out between disparate groups in the independence movement. One leading light has said she proudly voted Labour and has faced a storm of abuse from many with yours truly not being very complementary also. But really, FFS what did she or her supporters expect? It is I believe normal for people to react negatively to betrayal.

          Stuart Campbell has been targeted and from what I can see his opponents have had their arses handed to them by the other Indy bloggers and us plebs who comment on them. They’ve been given a reality check and are not at all chuffed.

          It’s run it’s course and I think folk need to look at the big picture get on message and try at least to unite around our common aim, independence. Whether we’re left, right, centre, Marxist, Trotskyist, fascist has to wait till after because our politics as all here already know, doesn’t count as long as Scotland is part of the Union. So why argue about it just now?

          And just to end this lengthier than I meant it to be post I would like to say something on political correctness. PC quite wrongly in my opinion is often looked upon negatively, but really it’s about respect and the right of all people not to be targeted for their beliefs, race, gender etc.. Political correctness is a good thing, it is the people who weaponise it that so often creates resistance and resentment, they do it harm. Everyone has the right to learn and that means that they should not be automatically ridiculed, demonised or preached to from the pulpit when they say the wrong thing. I’ve seen so much damage done to the cause by people wielding PC in order to dominate others or control outcomes. Prejudice toward prejudiced people. Yes it sounds daft but think about it. It drives people underground, they will be what ever ‘ism’ they’ve been accused of behind closed doors with like minded people.

          Sorry for the ramble.

          Loved the crow chick by the way. I’ve seen 2 or 3 but never seen one as clean as that.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Rather a good “ramble” though 🙂

            I think you made a particularly good point here:

            “Whether we’re left, right, centre, Marxist, Trotskyist, fascist has to wait till after because our politics as all here already know, doesn’t count as long as Scotland is part of the Union. So why argue about it just now?”

            I also agree 100% with what you say about political correctness.

            I guess the baby crow knew he was going to be on Munguin’s Republic and had a wash and brush up! They are incredibly smart wee things.

            Liked by 1 person

  5. I think that male blackbirds all have a distinctive opening “call sign” in May and June, a couple of which I have been able to imitate and had many springtime whistling “conversations” while standing at my back door. (The birds often perch on the TV aerial of the house behind ours.)

    This notion took root when I was recovering from surgery and lying on my bed in the afternoon. I regularly heard a blackie whistling something not unlike the first few notes (7 or so) of the Pachelbel Canon. Doing my own imitation at the back door, I got an identical response from some distance away then the appearance of bird on aerial. Some of what followed sounded like derision and other bits left me wondering who was imitating whom.

    A couple of years later, I picked up another opening sequence which I could pretty well replicate then a year after that was quite thrilled to hear it again, replied and had bird appearing on aerial for a long “chat” incl something else that sounded like derision. (Think of the three note pattern which begins the Laurel and Hardy theme, drop the third note and repeat the first two instead and you pretty well have it).

    Am I away with the birds ? Who cares – it’s great fun (except perhaps for some confused female blackbirds).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Brilliant story. It’s a magical feeling to know that you have some sort of contact with a totally wild creature.

      The terrible shame of it is that they live such short lives.

      As for the confused females… They’ll always let you buy them dinner!!!

      Like

  6. Thanks, as ever, for the great pics, Tris. I particularly liked the one of Glasgow’s Trongate in the 1920s. Apart from the trams, cobbles and guys in “doolander” bunnets, it looks pretty much the same today. It’s strange, though, that there seem to be no women in the street. On the right of the picture you can see a sign saying “Amateur Night”. That must have been for the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall which is still there and is well worth a visit: it’s a fascinating place with an interesting history – a bit of a hidden gem. It’s got a website –
    https://www.britanniapanopticon.org

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Welcome Andi.

      I love these old photographs. Interesting to see the changes and the similarities. That Music Hall sounds interesting.

      From what I heard Glasgow was considered a hard place to play. If they didn’t like you… you soon knew about it.

      But I think the Edinburgh audiences must have been even harder nuts to crack.

      Like

    2. I like the old city pictures too. How some of the city changes over time while some things remain the same. Interesting info on the Panopticon where Stan Laurel began his career. From Wikipedia:

      “With a natural affinity for the theatre, Laurel gave his first professional performance on stage at the Panopticon in Glasgow at the age of sixteen, where he polished his skills at pantomime and music hall sketches. It was the music hall from where he drew his standard comic devices, including his bowler hat and nonsensical understatement.”

      He was in the same music hall troupe (called “Karno’s Army”) with Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin and Laurel came to America together on the same ship.

      Some film of Glasgow: (Will Fyffe was born in Dundee)

      Liked by 2 people

      1. They put on the occasional show at the Panopticon. If you come over to visit you may be lucky. Its a delightful dive of a place with a great character.

        Like

        1. I noticed on the Panopticon website, pictures of Laurel and Hardy. That was when I looked up the Stan Laurel connection. I knew he (and Chaplin too) were from England, but didn’t know about his music hall origins.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Danny, not only is there a Stan Laurel connection, a young fellow, Archibald Leach, just short of his 16th birthday, appeared at the Panopticon – he’s better known by the name he used later – Cary Grant.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Andi…….Amazing show business history at the Panopticon! I love the story about the fan who came up to him after he was a big movie star and said “I would LOVE to be Cary Grant.” He supposedly replied “Oh so would I.”

              I see that he ultimately toured music halls and theaters with a popular group, and it was on a tour of America that he decided to stay instead of returning to Britain.

              Liked by 1 person

        1. Andi…..I liked the film too. although being in USA, I don’t recognize the Glasgow locations. Interesting that they are so recognizable.

          Liked by 1 person

  7. Thank you so much for the mongooses – it´s much more comfortable seeing snake pictures when they are around. Especially loved the young ones. Any chance of a white seal for next week 🙂

    Great pics as always, and as you remarked already some fascinating information in the comments.

    Liked by 1 person

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