Looking Back at 2019 – Thank you for the Magic

a golden striped frog sitting between stones, grass and wildflowers

Looking back at our tenth year in the Scottish Highlands we are once more so humbled by the beauty of nature and grateful to share a few favourite moments from the places we love.

  • close up shot of three fully grown cygnets by a snow-covered river bank
  • a pair of greylag geese bonding in shallow water beside reeds
  • a pair of greylag geese in the shallows of a loch
  • a pen feeding six of her cygnets with underwater plants in a pond
  • two three week old cygnets beside their mother, water splashing between them
  • a swan couple with their cygnet in the pond
  • close up shot of a mature raven high up on a tree branch
  • a male merganser standing proudly at the edge of the river after preening
  • five one-week-old ducklings in wet grass
  • two ducklings feeding in the shallows of the river
  • a flock of greenshank flying in formation above the sea and sandbar
  • close up shot of a flock of greenshank wading towards the shore
  • side-on close-up shot of an oystercatcher wading through the shallows
  • four snoozing harbour seals on a sandbar

We have enjoyed our walks along the river, the pond and the shores along the Moray Coast. It was early January, when the last grown up cygnets flew the river nest and began the next stage of their journey. The pond swans were fortunate to have cygnets again this year, with one them surviving into adulthood. The river has been abundant with wildlife, with merganser, heron, redshank, goosander, and a record number of ducks. The mild Autumn brought a second wave of ducklings, who are still thriving today. We’ve seen many migrating birds pass our shores, especially geese, greenshank and dunlin. In the forests, we enjoyed peaceful encounters with raven, each of them inspiring a poem.

Raven’s Call became our most popular wildlife post of the year. A few other popular posts featuring wildlife were Summer Cygnets and Autumn Equinox featuring the pond swans, Two Herons and Mountain Frog.

  • macro shot of a violet crocus bloom with orange stigma and anthers in the centre
  • macro shot of green budding leaves with a heart-shaped raindrop resting on one leaf
  • macro shot of a yellow Doronicum Little Leo bud with unfurling petals
  • macro shot of a chive blossom newly flowered with a bumble bee feeding
  • close up shot of forget-me-not flowers with a green bokeh
  • macro shot of a painted lady butterfly on top of lilac blossom
  • macro shot of a white feather
  • macro shot of the face of a painted lady butterfly feeding on purple buddleia
  • macro shot of a peacock butterfly feeding on a magenta Duddleia
  • macro shot of apple blossom
  • macro shot of a ripened, red apple
  • macro shot of raindrops on blades of grass
  • macro shot of a wide open empty beech nut husk
  • macro shot of brown leaves covered in melting hoarfrost
  • macro shot of a pink geranium flower with raindrops

With our mild Winter and plenty of rain during the Spring and Summer, 2019 was a good year for flowers, bumblebees and butterflies. The mild Autumn that followed saw many flowers bloom for a second time.

Hoarfrost became our most popular post featuring macro photography, posted late November after our first overnight frost. Flowers in the Detail, Fuzzy Blue and Cuckoo Flower also feature in the top ten posts for this year.

  • a barn and farmhouse beside birch and pine trees reflected in the water
  • a wooden bench made from tree trunks overlooking Findhorn Bay
  • morning mist lifting above the Dornoch Firth, a wooden bench in the foreground
  • snoozing and sleeping harbour seals and grey seals on a sandbar in Loch Fleet
  • a sculpted wooden seat with birch leaves carved in the wood and an otter resting
  • sculpture of a female geologist at Knockan Crag, the loch and hills in the background
  • Views of mountains Canisp and Suilven from the Stoer road with gorse in bloom
  • view of ten colourful beach huts in the dunes overlooking the Moray Firth
  • flowers in the foreground by the ferry terminal in Ullapool
  • Loch Dunmore in Autumn with reflections of the trees
  • close up shot of a a full moon art work suspended in Faskally Wood
  • golden sunrise over the Kyle and mountains
  • a vibrant rainbow coming through the clouds behind a hillfarm with Aberdeen Angus

With the weather so much kinder than in 2018, we were able to travel North and West a few times. The beautiful landscape inspired many poems. In addition to haiku, haibun and tanka I revisited the villanelle and experimented with the lai nouveau and rubaiyat.

Our most popular post on the blog Fragrant Breeze was inspired by the wonderful landscape of Assynt in the Spring. Five other scenic posts feature in the top ten for the year, including Loch Broom, Forest Lake and Where Ducks Fly. We were delighted when our photographic post Castle in the Rain inspired a poem by a fellow blogger in Castle Ardvreck.

We want to say a very big thank you to all of you who take the time to visit and comment on our blog and to those of you who share your experiences through your own posts, photographs and poems. You are all an enormous inspiration and help make this world a better place.

A very big thank you too to all the lovely bloggers who host regular prompts and challenges. With so many photographs and impressions to chose from it’s a great help in finding a focus or different angle from which to approach a subject.

We look forward to what 2020 holds in store and wish you all a great start to the New Year. May this new decade bring new understanding and greater care for our natural world with increased compassion and peace among human beings.

macro shot of a painted lady butterfly on a purple lilac

You can see the 2019 highlights from our sister blog Whippet Wisdom in
2019: Favourite Moments Through the Seasons.

Wishing you all a Happy Hogmanay,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #77: Favorite Photos of 2019

Author: Tranature - quiet moments in nature

The stories, poems and photographs on Tranature are the original creative work of Xenia Tran, inspired by the natural surroundings of the Scottish Highlands.

43 thoughts on “Looking Back at 2019 – Thank you for the Magic”

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and your support dear Eileen and for sharing your lovely walks with us too! 🤗💖 xxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and your support dear Lois and for sharing your wonderful posts with us too! A very happy New Year to you, Parker, Piper and Pumpkin from all of us here 🤗💕🐈 xxx

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and your support dear Eliza and for sharing your beautiful vases, flowers and walks with us too! Wishing you a fabulous new decade with love from all of us here 🤗💕🌺 xxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Marcus and for sharing your beautiful photographs too! All good wishes to you and your family and a very happy New Year 🙂🙋‍♀️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Cee, the light and the weather have been so good for bringing the camera out this year 🤗💖🌞 xxx

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and your support dear Anita, it’s a great honour and pleasure to share these moments with you 🤗💖 xxx

      Like

      Reply

  12. So many inspirational poems and images – I send you my most grateful thoughts and love for your work, Xenia. I can only echo your words: “May this new decade bring new understanding and greater care for our natural world with increased compassion and peace among human beings.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and your support dear Ann-Christine and thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs and challenges with us too. Here’s hoping for a blessed new decade and we wish you and your family a very Happy New Year 🤗💖🐕 xxx

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Patti and for hosting this lovely challenge! All the best for 2020 to you and your family too 🤗💖 xxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Tina, it’s been a real joy to capture these moments 🙂💜 xxx

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear John, we are so blessed with all this natural beauty. A very happy New Year to you and your family too 🤗🎉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Laurie. We hope 2020 got off to a great start for you and wish you a blessed new year xxx

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.