One swallow doth not a summer make

Ben Cruachan across the Sound of Mull

A trip to Mull, Iona and Staffa seemed like a good idea especially if there was a chance of seeing sea eagles or even a sea eagle

Iona Abbey

Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. The bitter Arctic wind made exploring the islands into a test of stamina and meant that prolonged standing about of the kind required for sea eagle spotting was only for the most determined. We did see two golden eagles and a good number of ravens, some goldeneye and grey herons but nary an erne.

We didn't managed a sea trip to Staffa as the swell was too great for the boat to cope so no puffins or dolphins either.

On Iona, we noted a house in the lea of a small hill called Dunsmeorach, literally "the hill of thrush" in Gaelic, though no thrushes not even a storm cock, were singing in that wind.

No sea eagles then, but I did spot a swallow come winging in against the gale. All the way from Africa to such a poor welcome. You have to admire their sheer perseverance, fighting their way north against the freezing winds with not a midgie for sustenance.

Back home, I saw one of the same hunched on the telephone wire above the snow covered street.

 

I can put out meal worms for the thrushes to help them through the lean times but I can't conjure up flies for the swallow. What weather is this for May!

Art and the sea

As is my wont when let loose in Edinburgh, I was wandering around giving serendipity a chance to make my day. Crossing the North Bridge, I glanced over the parapet and noticed an exhibition at the City Art Centre "The Artist and the Sea". 

http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2015/09/at-the-city-art-centre-seascape-exhibition/ 

 

Well, as I live by the sea and I know quite a few artists, I just had to go and take a look. A quick diversion down The Scotsman steps past the erstwhile home of that august newspaper and I was in Market Street and the gallery.

Happenstance worked again. I had an enjoyable hour or more with a couple of hundred years of art with themes from Trafalgar to trawlers and from McTaggart's St Columba to Bellany's fish gutters.

Marvellous stuff.

In such company it seems presumptuous to choose a highlight but it was. for me, Elizabeth Ogilvie's triptych Sea Journals.

Three panels - the centre one, a boat and a weathered, faded journal of a trip to the home of her people on St Kilda. with the anticipation, then the elation as Hirta appears on the horizon. The side panels contain the most delicate drawings of fronds of kelp growing and waving in the deep water.

 

Hirta and Boreray on the horizon

It brought back memories of an unforgettable trip to St Kilda some years ago.

 I have only a few camera shots to convey the impressions of that day. Sea Journals captures the essence of St Kilda more than pictures or words can.
 I suppose that's what art does.