Low Tide

Spring tides have come with the new moon and, with them, a change in the weather. We woke to snow on the hills and some slushy remains on sheltered roofs, though it must also have rained a fair amount overnight. During the morning the sky steadily cleared and the sun came out, angling low across the landscape.

We wandered along the Ormsaigbeg beach in the early afternoon when the tide was at its lowest, looking across Kilchoan Bay to the Coastguard shed and the distant, snow-covered hills of Morvern.

This barnacle-encrusted anchor near the end of the jetty is usually covered by the sea. It's neatly placed so that those of us who kayak in to the jetty scrape against it. The trouble with anchors, by their nature, is that they are difficult to move.

Still water and low tide make for good hunting amongst the seaweed for the grey heron who owns this waterfront. They seem to be the most solitary of birds and, when two are seen together, they always seem to be quarrelling. This one never allows us closer than about fifty metres, when he lets out a harsh cry, takes off, and flaps a short distance down the coast, a performance that's repeated several times as we follow him.