If you go down to the beach today....

....it will be raining. However, if you went last Wednesday, you'd have found myself, the ever charismatic Tom and the local Steiner school. It wasn't the best weather, and the kids wanted to spend more time getting water over their wellies than hunting for beasties, but who can blame them. We wandered from the station to Millport and back and I, of course, snapped along the way.

When I met the kids they were drawing the results of a trawl, one of my particular favourites was the Squat Lobster, apparently called Nippy

And then it was time for the beach walk, ten kids and only four wranglers on a very rock shore

Some days I can walk to work and not hear a car, that really reflects in the air quality, and then we get the most beautiful lichens.

Keep your eyes on the strandline, there are always new finds to be had. Bones, worn glass and ceramics, even the occasional antler. This is the former.

Hordes of (supposedly) Edible Periwinkle patrol the intertidal. I've never had the heart (or stomach) to try one.

My favourite coastal finds, the ever beautiful Beadlet Anemone, I scour the rock pools for open individuals...

And occasionally I find one, clinging to a Common Mussel shell amongst the Grey Topshells and Common Barnacles. 

Cumbrae Beach Clean!

So I'm studying marine plastic pollution and I live on an island. So to avoid being a hypocrite I hauled my hungover self out of bed last Saturday, rang Rachel and her sister and headed off to Millport pier. We were handed bin liners, grabbers, gloves and tabbards and released onto the beaches of Cumbrae. Here's some of what we found.

Our fashionable tabbards, aren't they gorgeous!?

It's hard to pick up cotton-bud sticks with giant tweezers (morning after the night before vision aside)!

Definitely not rubbish and certainly not for touching, a lovely Lions Main Jellyfish!

Both Rach and I were impressed with the masses of rope!

Next time you get a chance to do a litter pick or a beach clean, please do. We loved the look of our wonderful clean beach. Think how much nicer your park or reserve would look too!

Bunking off on a Tuesday

After a day without power and the terrible winds of the day before I decided that my lunchtime should be taken up with checking the beaches for interesting plastic debris for my thesis and a LOOOOOOONG walk. So, sun out camera charged, I headed for the hills. The trig point to be more exact.

Of course the rain hit instantly, followed by hail.... followed by glorious sun. Sometimes I forget I've moved to Scotland.

I only saw three people in three hours. Bliss.

This is the damage caused by the salt and high winds on Monday 

Thankfully by the time I hit the trig it was sunny again.

The Pipits sang all through my lunch at the trig.

I don't know quite how I did this, I'd be impressed with myself but for the entirely accidental nature of the shot.

A slightly more focused OyC

The Great Power Cut

No animal photo's for you so far today, just some of yesterday's fantastic weather. No ferries and the power went out for our end of the island.....

But do we panic? Hell, no, Rachel and I go out for a run in the spray, then I settle down for stove top omelette and hot chocolate before being invaded by cold, hungry MSc students.

Look what happened to my lovely, quiet Farland Point.

However, inside was quickly returned to domestic bliss (which was good, because I was spray soaked).

Nothing a Whittard's hot chocolate, and omelette and some blues can't cure.....

Bird Rich, Battery Poor

Sunday and I've just arrived at the office, streaming Britain's Secret Seas: The Wild North, via BBC iPlayer, whilst I sort some references. They're checking out the Gannet colony at Bass Rock. So I thought I'd share two photo's from this morning's walk two wonderful birds that had flown up the Clyde Sea from Aisla Craig. Terrible weather today unfortunately, and the camera battery was dead before I was a third of the way around the island. The birds were showing well however and I ended up with great views of Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Goosander, Turnstone, Bullfinch, Swift, Swallow Sand and House Martins as well as the regular waders and gulls. Starting out at 8 before the first ferry gave me a jump on the tourists too!

 

Fluffy Eider-down!

Once again folks I'm sat in the office on a weekend, but that's okay, as I get to upload these lovely images I snapped out on Farland Point yesterday. Yes, I will be editing out the black blob that somehow made friends with my lens. However the large amount of rum punch I drank yesterday at Rachel's birthday bash means I'm far too tired to think about that now!

So here they are, my first eider chicks of the year. Brown, fluffy, none de-script.... and adorable, you should have seen them bouncing around in the surf! Hasn't stopped the males displaying though, personally I think they sound like Kenneth Williams. :) 

It funny what you find when you look.

Today for part of my literature review I have been searching for early records of plastic pollution and I stumbled across this wonderful and useful resource. WRECK SITE, a catalogue of global wreck and their info complete with images, and GPS co-ordinates. The advanced search lets you target in quite finely, so have a look what's in you backyard.