Tour Scotland short 4K Leap Day February 29th wildlife nature camera travel video clip of the sight and sounds of a female Blackbird spotted eating on afternoon visit and trip to my cottage garden in Scone by Perth, Perthshire, Britain, United Kingdom. Female blackbirds are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts and brown beak. This widespread bird is a common visitor to United Kingdom gardens, and has adapted well to suburban areas, it’s often possible to get quite close. It can also be found in woodland and grassland areas, but you’re much less likely to see it on areas of higher ground and in some parts of Scotland, Common and widespread across Britain, the blackbird population is currently stable, although it has seen periods of decline in the past. One of the biggest threats is lack of food availability, particularly when the weather is dry. Leaving mealworms and ground feeder mix out on bird tables and planting bushes that attract caterpillars to your garden are great ways to help blackbirds. If you were to believe various myths and folktales, you’d find this solitary, territorial bird to be imbued with evil and supernatural powers. Welsh poet R. S. Thomas observed that there was “ a suggestion of dark Places ” about the blackbird that was at odds with its beautiful song. In the story of the life of Saint Benedict, the Devil was said to have come to tempt the saint in the form of a blackbird. The English nursery rhyme “ Sing a Song of Sixpence ” involves blackbirds “ baked in a pie ” which reanimate and sing when the pie is opened. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing. This February will be a little longer than usual. It's a leap year, and in 2024, Leap Day falls on Friday, Februaru 29. The calendar oddity means this year is actually 366 days long, instead of the regular 365. Leap years exist because while the world follows a 365 day Gregorian calendar, it actually takes the planet a little bit more than a year to orbit the sun. It takes Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun, and while that is rounded down to the 365 days we recognize as a typical year, those nearly six extra hours don't disappear. Instead, leap years are added to account for the difference. The extra day keeps calendars and seasons from gradually falling out of sync and impacting harvesting, planting and other cycles based on the seasons. Without Leap Days, in 100 years, calendars would be 24 days off, and in 700 years, Northern Hemisphere summers would begin in December. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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