This was the view from our bedroom window this morning, looking down the Sound of Mull as the sun rose over Morvern. In amongst the catspaws which patterned this side of the water....
....close in to the beach in
Port na Clachan, something broke surface, an otter, except....
....it wasn't one otter but two, while further out....
....a small flock of cormorants or shags practised their group hunting techniques.
It doesn't take long to pull on a pair of wellingtons and head down the brae to the beach, only stopping on the way to catch a flight of five oystercatchers speeding across the bay - why is it that these birds always have to go places in such a chattering hurry?
When I reached the beach the two otters were still there, about thirty metres offshore, practising their synchronised swimming, both having simultaneously caught something and brought it to the surface to be eaten.
Soon afterwards the cormorants decided it was time to move on, the otters following, both heading along the coast towards Kilchoan Bay, leaving me to wander homewards....
....as the last colours faded from the view.
As if the weather wasn't satisfied with one spectacle, by midday Ben Hiant seemed to have caught fire....
....a great plume of 'smoke' rising to spread out where it reached an inversion.
I have never seen anything like this. Has anyone an explanation?
Some beautiful shots, very good, especially the moody shot as the colours are bleached out, stunning! As for the mist rising, its caused by evaporation of the frost from the hillside rising into the chilled air where the dew point is exceeded and results in mist forming. Another great shot.
ReplyDeleteAnother set of beautiful photos, thanks very much.
ReplyDeleteYou could have caused a national crisis with the eruption of "Mount" Hiant if you had let the Daily Mxxx see the photos.
Thanks again for my daily dose of sanity.
Thank you both for your kind comments and, Ian, for the explanation of the 'smoke'. And yes, Dufffish, it's such an unusual picture it probably did deserve a little more publicity - but not as a volcano. The Diary tried that once with some unusual clouds over Rum, and locals had people phoning from Australia to ask if they were okay. Jon
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