a castle on the beach in Scotland before dawn, from Saddell Castle’s windows. Ailsa Craig with a low bank of cloud behind orange mauve and pink as the sun begins to show an orange eye pink reflected on snowy beach and icy burn until a ragged cloud edge blots out all but a shining pale dawn sliver. across Kilbrannan Sound, Arran, covered in snow, and the pale blue sky of early morning reflected in limpid sea. yesterday driving up from Glasgow in sunshine and freezing temperatures the snow was dazzling, trees all covered in hoar frost, and even here on this narrow peninsula with its damp Atlantic climate every tree was outlined in white, but this morning it’s just beginning to soften and melt. a tower house, built in 1508, burnt down by Sussex during his Irish campaign in the 1580’s, civilised in the 1770’s, neo-gothicked in the 1890’s and renovated by Landmark Trust 1975-77. Scotland, as the rest of the UK, has been in the grip of severe frosts for a week or two, and these stone walls are silvered with ice granules despite the melt. all these pretty crenelated walls are from the Georgian phase when domestic buildings, cowsheds and stables were added. Kintyre is full of stands of tall oak trees (sessile oak) and the woods surrounding Saddell have beech trees in addition, all covered in lichen and moss. parts of it remind me of Devon – the climate here is very wet and mild. thick lichen on an alder tree in the little floodplain. the burn is partially covered in ice, and from the bridge we saw an otter scuttle across the ice and into open water …. then later out with the camera by myself on the bridge I heard cracking sounds on the seaward side, and an otter popped up in what might be an entrance to a holt in the bank. it (maybe she, not a big otter) stayed here for a minute or two, long enough to get a few photos. here is my clue in the ice. trees close to the shore frame more views of the point at the end of the bay, and Arran rock pipits scavenge for insects on the shoreline, flying up at too close an approach with their “zeet” alarm calls clear calm water at high tide it has been tough for small birds for the last two weeks. we found a dead robin in the wood as we collected pine branches and cones for Christmas decorations. this one seems quite lively, no doubt looking for insects in the algae. Post navigation say goodbye to our holm oaks (eventually)beachcombing on the mull of kintyre 4 Comments Great shots. Must have been a great way spend the holidays! Reply What a beautiful place to spend Christmas!Loved the otter pics………we have otters down the road from us on the Bure,they had young this year.Dusk was the best time to see them. Reply Hi Jane, You have some lovely pictures. THe castle looks amazing. I found your blog when searching for otter pictures but I think that your otter is a mink :-S Quite similar looking but with a much smaller face, also quite common after many were released into the wild when no longer of use for the fur trade. A fantastic location to spend Christmas! Reply hmm, looked like an otter to me, it was quite big! Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
What a beautiful place to spend Christmas!Loved the otter pics………we have otters down the road from us on the Bure,they had young this year.Dusk was the best time to see them. Reply
Hi Jane, You have some lovely pictures. THe castle looks amazing. I found your blog when searching for otter pictures but I think that your otter is a mink :-S Quite similar looking but with a much smaller face, also quite common after many were released into the wild when no longer of use for the fur trade. A fantastic location to spend Christmas! Reply