Dismal Weather

The Lord of the Glens came up the Sound while we were eating lunch today looking as if she intended to round Ardnamurchan Point, which rather surprised us as the wind was gusting around force 7 and the sea pretty wild.

Within five minutes she had turned - which must have been fairly exciting for the passengers as she came broadside to the sea - and was coming back past Ardmore light.  With time on her hands, she headed east towards Loch Sunart where she worked her way up the loch as far as Salen.

The weather has been unusually wet and cold for the time of year.  While the total rainfall in May 2015 was 191mm, the same period in 2014 saw 161mm.  While the mean maximum for May 2015 was 14.7C compared to 15.3C in 2014, the mean minimum was significantly different, with 2015 seeing a cold 6.2C average against 2014's 8.2C.

Wet, cold nights are far from good news for fledglings.  In a normal year, by this time we'd be seeing plenty of them around the feeders, but this young robin is one of the few that's been around.

Global warming seems to be having the opposite effect as far as we are concerned, though it was always predicted that western Scotland would get wetter rather than hotter.  Perhaps wood pigeons prefer a damper climate: they aren't usually seen here, but this pair have been around the village for some days.