Corncrake song

Sat with my back against a dune

White sands stretched out in front

Rolling down to cerulean sea

Islands floating in the distance

Splash of the waves

Breaking against the rock

And behind me

In the machair

A corn crake calls.

 

Final rest

She lies at rest. All work is over, many years ago. Watches the seabirds soar and swoop. Listens to the sound of the tide. Dreams of the past, when once she sailed through life. Here is her harbour, this quiet place on the shore. Here she returns to the elements.

NB up in the Hebrides on the island of Mull for a fortnight, so some different scenery for you to enjoy 🙂

Furbelows and fancies

The forest has been uprooted. The trees of the sea lie along the tide line.  A sprawling mass of glossy green brown, fronds spread out, intertwined. Kelp, wrack, furbelows. A solitary kelp languishes halfway up the beach. Clinging firmly on to the rock, it lies hopefully. Waiting for the next tide to sweep it away and replant it.

Reunion

Driven by the wind, the waves rush into shore. Fingers of water stretching out over the sand. Searching. The night’s storm has birthed numerous small streams, running down the beach. Tiny rivulets heading across the shale. Homeward bound. Reunited with the incoming tide.

Sea flowers

In shadowed valleys and hidden nooks, winter still lingers on. Reluctant to bid farewell. Yet down on the shore, spring is arriving. The rock-pools are resuming their busy lives after the long rest.  Sea flowers spread open in their beauty before my eyes today, drifting gently to and fro on the undercurrent.

Seaside nursery

The rocks lie in the splash zone. Rarely completely covered at high tide. Dampened by the spray and the sea breeze. Hiding there, among the secret crevices and cracks, is the nursery. Hundreds of tiny sea snails, waiting for the right moment to leave their secure home and venture out into the wide ocean.

 

NB the finger is my little finger – for an idea of scale, it is less than 8mm wide! Yes, I have little hands.

The water’s edge

Shingle strand, stones tumbled

Pebbles shine in low light

Seaweed tossed carelessly aside

Abandoned by ebbing tide

Washed sand gleams

Rinsed by the waves.

The water’s edge

Where land meets sea.

 

 

Winter’s bow

Sunshine days with cold wind. Frosty mornings and clear sunsets. In the shelter of the hedge, a white blanket lies. Snow crisp from a fortnight’s freeze crunches underfoot. Spring waits in the wings while winter takes its final bow.

Otter weather

Golden sun sets in blue skies, amber path lighting a way across the sea. Frosty weather means clear heavens – already the first stars are starting to blink into life above. The ocean ripples into land, silken waves gently rolling over the rocks.. Among the troughs of water, clumps of seaweed bob up and down. Somewhere out there the otter is hunting his dinner. No sign of him this evening. But this is perfect otter weather. Time to sit, and watch and be.

Sparrow watching

Mesembryanthemums grew in the front yard last year. A long name for a small and colourful flower. They bloomed vigorously into November, then died back, leaving a mass of sprawling stalks behind. Now the sparrows are preparing for the nesting season. Busy little creatures, constantly flying too and fro. The remains of the ‘mums’ are providing bedding for them. In the clear light, the birds are revealed in all their glory. Russet head. Tawny back, with plumage shading from deepest chestnut to pale amber. Soft, downy chest feathers. Such beautiful birds.

NB photo taken in New Zealand a few years ago – our sparrows wouldn’t stay still long enough!