Spring Tides

We were woken this morning at about twenty past six by a sharp hail shower, the first of several today. Our immediate reaction was to disconnect the router from the BT socket as there's often lightning in these squalls, and we've lost too many routers to lightning strikes over the past few years.

The wind has risen steadily through the day, moving round from southwest towards the northwest and bringing in colder air - the temperature struggled to reach 6C at lunchtime.  There's talk of snow across the hills during tonight and tomorrow, and then high winds are forecast for Monday morning.  The picture shows the view across the mouth of Kilchoan Bay this afternoon, with the perch on the right, Glas Eilean, the grey island, on the left, and the hills of Morvern in the distance.

The contents of this boat, pulled up at the Kilchoan jetty, is evidence of the amount of rain we've had over the last few days.

There are plenty of wildfowl in residence along the coast.  With a new moon in the sky it's spring tides, with a high of 4.8m and plenty of seaweed exposed at low tide.  The three mallard pairs here are joined by an oystercatcher on the right.

Wildfowl aren't the only ones taking advantage of the low water.  Prices of wilks (winkles in English) rise steadily as Christmas approaches, so collecting them is a useful supplement to crofters' incomes.  But it's bitterly cold, wet work, and it's not for anyone with a bad back.