Eagles Over Ormsaigbeg

We'd seen a pair of golden eagles over the house in the morning but, when we set off for Portuairk in the early afternoon, we noticed that the gulls were making excited noises along the Ormsaigbeg shore beyond Trevor Potts' campsite.  The object of their anger was a sea eagle, spotted by Rachael as we passed Port Bheag, sitting on a seaweed-covered rock.  This picture isn't terrible good - there was a flurry trying to find cameras, and then the Diary made the mistake of holding the camera against the door pillar with the engine running, which provided an ideally shaky support.

Fortunately, Ben McKeown was on hand to take rather better shots as the eagle took off, pursued by the hooded crow which can be seen in the top picture sitting within feet of him, and by....

 ....one of the gulls.  By this time we'd noticed he was carrying something in his talons, but....

....as he set off down the coast with a mob of birds on his heels, he dropped whatever he was carrying, probably a fish, in order to make his escape.

Many thanks to Ben McKeown for the pictures.

Ben's website is at thebigbluetree.com

The Optimist

This morning saw the first real break in the weather for some weeks, so we took the opportunity to move some of the seaweed we've been brought up into the vegetable garden, and began the task of digging it in to the beds.  By the time we'd finished, this was all that was left to move.

It's always good to have one of the annual heavy jobs nearly done but, as well as all the satisfying hard work, we learned something.  We've been under the impression that it's winter.  From the evidence of....

....this strawberry plant, we're wrong.  It's summer, and to prove it, it's carrying both flowers and fruit.

Would that the little strawberry plant were right.  By mid-afternoon it was raining again, and tomorrow's forecast is for more windy weather.

December's Weather

There seems general agreement in the community that last month saw the worst spell of prolonged bad weather that anyone can remember.  It started with the gales of the 13th/14th, and continued to the end of the month. In that time we recorded eight days on which there were gales.  On two occasions, the 23rd/24th and the 26th/27th, the barometric pressure fell off the bottom of our barometer - on the latter occasion Dominic Cooper recorded a reading of 945mbar.

The highest wind speeds were recorded on the 19th, with Dominic reporting a gust of 95mph that day and 91mph the previous day - hence, probably, the combed-out effect of this bracken near Kilmory.  The highest rainfall was 27mm on the 26th, and the month's total was 316mm - compare this with 208mm in December 2012.

We maintain a fairly crude graphical record of the type of cloud cover each day, from heavy overcast to clear with bright sunshine.  On only two occasions, the 26th and the 29th, did we see enough sun to put a mark in the 'watery sunshine' column.  Earlier in the month, before the storms started, we had some heavy hail showers, along with thunder and lightning.  As a result of the month's weather, we lost our power supply on four occasions, the longest breaks being on the 5th when it was off for 8.5 hours and the 19th when it was off for 7 hours.

January started quietly, but this morning we had a near-gale after some 20mm of rain overnight.  The winds might not have had serious effects had they not coincided with a 'supermoon', a new or full moon which happens to be at the moon's perigee, the point on its orbit when it's closest to the Earth.  This results in unusually high tides, 5.1m at 7.00am at Tobermory this morning before they were pushed even higher by the winds.

With the sky now clearing we have some chance of seeing the annual Quadrantid meteor shower, and AuroraWatch is reporting geomagnetic activity which might, just might give us an aurora.

The First Walk of 2014

The new year started with a grey but strangely calm day, which we had the privilege of spending at the centre of the universe, Portuairk, with friends who have a house with a magnificent view across Sanna Bay to the Small Isles.  In the picture the distinctive tilted outline of Eigg is to the right, in the distance to its left, with snow on their peaks, are the Cuillins of Skye, Rhum is at centre with Muck lying low in front of it, and Canna is just visible in the left distance.

The air was unusually clear, so clear that we could see the sands of Sanna busy with people making the most of the break in the weather.  This didn't last: by the time darkness fell it was raining again.

This morning, as soon as we could, we were out into the hills, climbing Druim na Gearr Leacainn, the ridge behind our house, and pausing to watch a rain shower move inexorably across the bay towards Kilchoan.  The ground was sodden underfoot but the burns, despite the recent rain, had already gone down.

We crossed the ridge and dropped down into the valley between Druim na Gearr Leacainn (on the right) and Beinn na Seilg, and then turned westwards to follow the burn that drains the twin lochans.  It rained, on and off, for much of the walk, but that made little difference to our enjoyment.  It was wonderful to be out walking again after too much time spent indoors at Christmas and the New Year, and to be walking in country which is so wild and lonely.

We left the valley and climbed this hill, Dubh Chreag, the black crag.  It would have been better called the windy crag: although a brisk wind was blowing throughout the walk, at the top of this hill it was almost impossible to stay on our feet.

From its summit we could see three huge cumulonimbus clouds moving majestically across the Minches, of which this is one.  The dark island is Muck, and Canna can be seen on the horizon on the left.

Soon after we arrived home one of Shiel Buses' luxury coaches came by having spent some time up at the viewpoint at the end of the road.  Coaches are a rare sight along the Ormsaigbeg road so we wondered what sort of tour had brought people out this way on what is, in Scotland, the second day of the new year holiday.

2013 - A Picture Review

It seems appropriate that it was January, at the start of the year, which produced some of the most spectacular sunrises.  Of the pictures taken on the same day as this one, January 15th, several could have been used to open this review of the year, and one was on the Diary's desktop until about a month ago.

This is a favourite photograph from February because, as a good picture should, it captures a memory.  We were walking up the boundary fence of the forestry on Ardnamurchan Estate land beyond the big sheds at Caim when we topped a rise and saw this stag with his younger companion.  He must have seen us yet he didn't immediately flee: on the contrary, he posed, almost as if he wanted to give us a moment to admire him.  Minutes later we saw a fox, and he too lingered long enough to give us a picture.

Many will know Ian Ramon from his work at the top of Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse, where he has welcomed and engaged with hundreds of visitors to the most westerly point on the British mainland.  Ian used to be one of the keepers in the days when the Northern Lighthouse Board still employed men to tend its lights, so the experiences he describes are first-hand.  Ian is one of the many people whose warmth makes West Ardnamurchan such a welcoming place in which to stay.

2013 saw the establishment of Ardnamurchan Community Archaeology, a group of both locals and visitors dedicated to recording the rich history of the area.  April's picture shows Plocaig, one of the deserted villages which are scattered across the peninsula and whose walls stand as memorials to the people who have passed.  At present the group is attempting a survey of all historical sites, and has already found a number of hitherto unrecorded sites, including a splendid Neolithic kerb cairn.

Among the thousands of visitors to West Ardnamurchan in 2013 was a pair of little egrets, Egretta garzetta, which stayed for all too short a time in May.  Their arrival may be another sign of the changing climate, yet the bird was once common in Britain.

The local bird life, small and large, has been a source of great enjoyment for us - and, sometimes, of excitement, for example when, in December, we watched a sea eagle being prevented from stealing an otter's lunch by a mob of gulls.

Every year the Diary has to apologise to its readers when it becomes over-excited by the annual show of wild orchids.  This year was remarkable in that the orchids flowered earlier and were, if anything, even more spectacular than in previous years.  Identifying them remains a problem: this one, pictured in June, is recorded in our photo library as being 'unknown'.

It's always a pleasure to watch an otter going about his business along the water's edge, but this one provided several minutes' entertainment to some of the people working on Mingary Castle during July.  2013 will go down in local history as the year this great castle was saved from falling into the sea, and the long task begun of refurbishing it into a habitable building which will earn its keep into the foreseeable future.

By August the swimming and kayaking season was at its height, but it coincided with the arrival of the largest number of lion's mane jellyfish that we can remember.  Lion's manes have an unpleasant sting so, while the family swam in the chill waters off Ormsaigbeg, the Diary was detailed off in a kayak to locate any of these really very beautiful animals and call a warning.

September's picture, taken from the summit of Creag an Airgid, shows the Sanna road as it meanders its way across the peninsula.  It is included to remind those who are absent from this place of the many peculiarities that make staying here such fun.  For example, this may bring back memories of the enjoyable aspects of driving a single-track road, such as the ability to stop at a passing point and chat with the occupants of an oncoming vehicle, as well as the less enjoyable, such as having to back a hundred metres because it is obvious that the driver of the oncoming car has yet to discover reverse gear.

If readers enjoy reading the Diary, then it is on no small part down to the many local people who contribute by sending in pictures and stories, by inviting this blogger to spend time with them at their work, by being very tolerant when the Diary writes about them, and by permitting us to wander across the land which is theirs.  This picture comes from an October visit to Marine Harvest's salmon farm at Camas Glas, one of the most important employers in the area.  To all of you, local residents and visitors, who have helped with the Diary, in any and in however small a way - thank you.

November's picture is a reminder of one of the great privileges of living in this place, the ability to leave the beaten track and strike out across wild country towards its high points, from where one can look out across views which are breathtaking in their magnificence.  This picture was taken from the western slopes of Ben Hiant, and looks southwestwards, with the Sound of Mull on the left and the Ardnamurchan peninsula at right.

We'll remember December 2013 for its unprecedented sequence of gales but, earlier in the month, there were times of mist and calm.  This is the lonely beach to the east of Mingary Castle, a place of otters and eagles.  It is a reminder that taking some time to be alone, quiet, and at peace is one of the great refreshments of life.

To all readers of the Kilchoan Diary, a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.