Sunny Weather

We've returned to Ardnamurchan to some beautiful weather, so one of the first things we've done is to go down to the beach below the house to enjoy the sea.  The Diary believes that swimming should only occur in water of tropical temperature, but Mrs Diary and her friend, while far hardier, required him to paddle round the bay checking for jelly fish before they would enter the water.  Last year we had a few of the big, brown lion's mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, which have a nasty sting, but this year there have been reports of large numbers of the less painful moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita.  Having checked the water and found no jellyfish, the ladies took their swim while the men paddled down the coast to the west, increasingly into a stiff breeze and choppy water.

Lunch was taken on the terrace where we watched the small birds at the feeders.  The redoubtable one-legged sparrow - see earlier post here - kept coming and going, and we traced his destination to a short section of fence, on which he was feeding what was obviously his young.