The first shot is of a Scotch Argus butterfly on a Devil's-bit scabious flower beside the track we followed up the hill:

Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning.
 The first farm encountered is Wester Cudrish, there is little left of the farmhouse but the barn still has its red tin roof:

Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning.

There is a little more of the Easter Cudrish farmhouse but the other farm buildings are seriously delapidated:

Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning. There were plenty of Meadow Pipits in the area and I named this picture Pipitree:

Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning. On the decent we took a detour into the woodland beside a small burn so Archie could get a drink and found some lovely light emphasising the verdant vegetation:

Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning. Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning. Cudrish WalkTaken on a walk with Archie the dog this morning.

It was quite a long walk (for us) in warm conditions, the light wasn't great with just an occasional glimpse of sunlight:

Coire ÀrdairSteave (Stoates) and I took the strenuous (for us) walk in to Coire Àrdair in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve with plenty of stops along the way to photograph the magificent landscape. We had a few stops along the way to try to capture the majestic scenery:

Coire ÀrdairAnother from last weekend's stroll in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve to Coire Àrdair. This was one of the stops along the way to take in the magificent landscape and grab a snap or two. ...and stops to photograph the Allt Coire Ardair definitely slowed our progress:

Allt Coire ArdairThe final shot from last weekend's walk in to Coire Àrdair in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature with Steve (Stoates).
This is one of many attractive cascades on the Allt Coire Ardair just before the corrie is reached. Finally we reached the Corrie to find a group of hardy individuals 'wild' swimming in the cold water, this gave us a chance to have a sandwich before photographing the lochan beneath the cliffs of Creag Meagaidh:

Lochain a' ChoireSteave (Stoates) and I took the strenuous (for us) walk in to Coire Àrdair in the Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve with plenty of stops along the way to photograph the magificent landscape.
 

I am looking forward to getting my hands on the E-M5 II; I have held one before but there is a worry at the back of my mind that it is too small and I should've gone for the E-M1? I'll just have to buy one of the grip options when I sell my four thirds lenses
 

I took the plunge last night (04/05/2015) and ordered the camera along with the 12-40 Pro lens less than 10 minutes before the offer at SRS Microsystems expired!
 

A short while ago I sold my Olympus E-5 camera and had been using the E-M10 until an accident on a windy day left it somewhat mangled and twisted. Using a borrowed E-620 (thanks Ron) I had managed to keep shooting, but was happy last week when the insurers instructed me to send the lens (12-60mm) for service/repair and stated they would be transferring money for replacing the camera.
 

Happy that I would be receiving money to replace the camera, I decided at the weekend to have a play with the broken E-M10 and started removing some of the bent external components; to cut a long story short, after a few blows with the hammer and some twisting by hand the lens mount now accepts lenses and the base plate is much more level than it had been! It isn't pretty (hammer blows tend to have that effect) but it is now functioning and can be used as my 'carry everywhere' camera - that's what I call a result!
 

Today's Blip comes from Strathconon