Monday 24 May 2010

Goodbye Iona


Over the Sea....


Looking over the sea to Labrador!

Willow Den


Leaves sprouting on the den built this spring!

Sunday 23 May 2010

A Taste of Summer


Even warmer than yesterday!

Saturday 22 May 2010

Fog Rolls In


The warmest day yet this year on Iona brought a rolling blanket of fog over the sea.

Friday 21 May 2010

Abbey Ruins

Before the Abbey was rebuilt the chuch was open to the sky.

Thursday 20 May 2010

Morning Mist


Some days begin shrouded in mist and end the same way.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

The Second Corncrake


There's a corncrake in there somewhere!
Hide and Seek for corncrakes! I can hear it, but have never seen it....
until yesterday I saw my first corncrake (rare brown bird) outside the village hall and then today I saw my second in the garden of the Columba Hotel!

Tuesday 18 May 2010

North Beach


What a beautiful sight!

Sunday 16 May 2010

IKWIG


I Know Where I am Going...an old film with great scenes around Mull!

Cruising


Two cruise ships visiting Iona this morning!
The smaller ship is off to St. Kilda tomorrow...I am envious!

The Bridge

Bright sunshine moments before a Sunday afternoon shower.

Saturday 15 May 2010

Bird's-Foot Trefoil


Lotus corniculatus
Also called butter and eggs, this flower forms seed pods that resemble the foot of a bird.
The caterpillar of the common blue butterfly eats this plant.

Hermit's Cell


Perhaps this was the place St. Columba went to get away from the monastery?

Cuckoo Flower


Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock (cardamine pratensis)
This plant flowers in April and May when the cuckoo begins to sing.
Today I found plenty of these flowers with delicate lilac veins in the wet areas.
I also heard the cuckoo bird today! (I was out in the hills by the Hermit's cell.)

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Early Purple Orchid

The first orchids blooming this year were found growing near the marble quarry on Iona and by the waterfall at Carsaig on Mull.

Scent of Coconut


Gorse in full bloom on Mull. Air filled with the tropical scent of coconut on a sunny spring day in Scotland!

Ammonites!


Amazing fossils in the shale at Carsaig on the south coast of Mull. The ammonites are larger than dinner plates!

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Spring leaves


One of the few trees on Iona is finally showing leaves! Hailstones yesterday though so it's not feeling much like spring despite the sunshine.

Monday 10 May 2010

You've Got Mail

The Iona Post Office on the beach!

Saturday 8 May 2010

White Doves on the Bell Tower




A New Day Begins


Entering into a new day full of promise.
Looking through the ruined arch over to the blue hills of Mull.

Rock Pool Reflections



Morning sun warms up tide pools high on the rocks.

Monday 3 May 2010

The Nunnery Ruins


Under the arches in the late afternoon sun... Looking to the sky for a different perspective.
Thousands of tiny purple flowers of ivy leaved toad-flax bloom between the stones.

Saturday 1 May 2010

Clouds




Yesterday at the north end. A cloud collector's delight.