It's Feeling Autumnal

We're going through a period of fairly mucky weather at the moment.  While August can be a great month - we had a week of brilliant sunshine the first August we ever came up here - it's more likely to be dismal while the southeast of the UK gets the sun.  Today we have light winds and murk, but the last few days have seen some strong breezes.  Whenever this happens, the trawlers which fish in more exposed waters in fine weather come in to the Sound and spend the day steaming gently up and down.

One way of identifying passing ships, even in mist, is to take a picture and enlarge it later.  Even at some distance, this trawler's registration, TT57, is clearly visible, and it's possible to identify her as the Tarbert trawler Maryeared.

This boat came close in under the Ormsaigbeg shore on Sunday during one of the recent rougher patches, and its occupants spent some time fishing while the ship rolled.  We tried to see her name with the binoculars, then we tried the telescope, and finally we resorted to the AIS website, but none of them would reveal her name.

A blow-up of one of the photographs produced this fuzzy image, which seems to suggest that the name starts KYLE... and ends with a W or N.  It strikes us as odd that the owner is so ashamed of his boat that he doesn't bother to paint her name signs occasionally; and if this is a boat which tourists use, why doesn't she have an AIS system?  They're relatively cheap, and they mean that interested watchers, and the emergency services, can track her location.

On Monday evening a cruise ship, lit up like a Christmas tree, came slowly up the Sound.  The AidaCara was such an impressive sight that The Diary rushed out to take a picture, and was just about to capture an absolute beauty when someone 'phoned to talk about.... the ship.  The consequence was a dismal failure of photography but, since that same someone keeps asking about the picture, here it is.

The local birds are looking bedraggled, the only ones which must be enjoying this weather being those that eat midges, which come out in their thousands as soon as the wind drops.  This grey heron was out hunting in the pond by the Ferry Stores this morning.

It isn't only the weather which suggests we're moving towards autumn.  The rowan trees are heavy with berries again this year, and many are beginning to turn red.  This rowan is is on Port Beag croft along the Ormsaigbeg road.  Never mind: Yr.No is promising us a sunny day tomorrow.