Sunday 13 December 2009

Frost and Shooting Stars

A clear sky last night brought a vivid sunset - this view looks west along Ormsaigbeg to the shoulder of Maol Buidhe and the croft house called Coilum - followed by an exciting display from the Geminids: by ten o'clock, the sky was split by a shooting star every two minutes, all behaving very correctly by radiating out from the constellation Gemini.

As can be seen from this shot of the road by Lagnalion, it must have stayed clear all night as, by early morning, Ormsaigbeg had a hard ground frost, though the air temperature at 7 this morning was still hovering just above zero. The frost was much thicker in Kilchoan, and the radio reported -8 degrees Celsius inland. We are fortunate to be kept warm by the North Atlantic Drift which brings tropical water up from the Caribbean.

As the day developed we had hardly a breath of wind, the Sound of Mull like a sheet of glass reflecting a watery sun - ideal conditions for spotting sea otters. We saw two, one along the beach beyond Mingary castle, but he must have seen us as he dived and disappeared, and another swimming along the shore below Ormsaigbeg.

JH

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