Oban and Edinburgh, Scotland

Hi hi,

A few weeks back I went to see Chris for a few days, it wasn't long enough by far but we sure did have a great time. Oban is situated to the north west of Scottish coast. It is a beautiful place.

The next day we went to Edinburgh and by coincidence the Fringe was on. Lots of cool dancing, acting and tricks in the middle of the street. Camera Obscura and World of Illusions was absolutely crazy and made my brain spin for a few more hours afterwards.

We also went to Edinburgh castle, as castles are generally cool, unfortunately this one was not really impressive. In comparison Sterling Castle was far better, ah well.

Enjoy the photies,

SW

Most of Oban from above.

Almost looks like a painting, doesn't it?

A stairway to.........

Where salt water meets fresh water, or the other way around. Cool bridge btw.

My love Chris climbing a bit, as usual :)

A dog at the entrance of Edinburgh castle.


Edinburgh skyline.

Utrecht, the Netherlands

Hi everyone,

It has been a while, but hey dissertation is almost at end. 17 September is hand in date and I still have to do a lot. By the way, if any one is interested in reading the literature review on "The biology and welfare of toucans" and my paper on "The welfare of toucans in two dutch institutions" than please do let me know. It might still take a while before everything is peered etc. but at least I will know.

And now for something less intellectual. Photies!!! A few weeks ago I went to do a city trip with my dad. This time we went to Utrecht. The thing is that we never intend to do something with architecture, however it does always happen. We climbed the Dom and had a huge walk through the centre and some other bits. I can recommend it to everyone, especially if you are bored with Amsterdam *G* Utrecht is a student city and therefore there are many comic stores and other wee funny shops with strange and cool stuff.

Greetz,

SW


The Church to which the Dom used to be attached. A twister took the middle part of the church *G*

The courtyard garden, I avoided the very ugly modern architecture part

The Dom itself, it is 112 meters high


The view from atop the Dom

Like Amsterdam, Utrecht also has canals. most of these canals have lovely bars and restaurants right at the water, where in this case ducks are taking a nap


And of course the typical canal houses should not be forgotten. Though I don't quite know if that is a wise place for stairs, but perhaps that is also why the fence is there *G*

Puffins in trouble

This is a reply to an off topic comment from Math (thank you) on a news heading on puffins in trouble:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6933378.stm

It has been known for a few years that the fish puffins normally catch to feed their chicks and themselves have been in trouble as well. Due to overfishing and possible other factors the normally fat long sand-eels are small and thin and hard to find.

Overfishing would not only seem the problem, as good old global warming is also blamed for the up rise of a non native plant called mallow tree. The nest sites are overgrown with this plant which leaves the chicks and puffins vulnerable to predators and weather elements.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2323405.ece

And apparently those are not the only threats, according to this article (from 2002):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2406179.stm
Rats have been and most likely still are a threat to puffins.

However there are still many things done for these birds. Have a look at this:
http://www.projectpuffin.org/
You can adopt a puffin and watch the live puffin cam, and there is lots of other info on puffins on as well.

Ow and perhaps we should stop buying sand eels of course!!!!!
More info on these tiny eel like fish can be found here:
http://www.marlab.ac.uk/Delivery/standalone.aspx?contentid=657

Thank you and kind regards,

SW