Goatfell, the highest peak on Arran
Sunrise at 5 am from our front room
window, looking across Brodick Bay
Brodick bay is used as a safe harbour by small ships, even small tankers. There was a great variety of craft stopping over for one to three nights.
A three mast ship in Brodick Bay,
taken from out window again
Safe harbour Brodick Bay
Brodick castle from across the bay
Herring gull, the red spot on it's bill
is a target area for the young gulls.
They tap it with their beaks and
the parent feeds them.
Herring gull bathing. Note the
water running down it's back
This sad photo was taken only a few
hundred yards from the harbour
The Waverley coming into harbour.
It's the last paddle steamer in the world.
The Caledonian Island, the bigger of the
two ferries, in the background.
It docked in at Arran on my birthday,
what a treat it was for me.
A Moon Jellyfish found at Whiting Bay
Sea Carrot - Daucus carota subsp.
Gummifer. Whiting Bay
From Lamlash looking to Holy Island
on the left. It is now owned by Buddhist
monks. The island is open to visitors
Now I'll show a few of the tropical palms in Brodick castle gardens. one of it's past owners collected plants from all over the world. Palm trees grow well on Arran, as it's on the Gulf Stream, and therefore has a mild climate. Palms were growing in every part of Arran we visited.
A crow in Brodick castle
Hoverfly unknown type,
on a tropical flower in
Brodick castle grounds
Scots Pine - castle grounds
Now for the Salmonberry - Rubus spectabilis, it's also known as the Arran Raspberry. It is cultivated in the Western Isles for its ornamental pink flowers. The plant has escaped and widely colonised the castle grounds in Stornoway. It is becoming a pest. It came from North America and the The North American Indians eat the fruit if they have eaten too much salmon. Apparently, it doesn't have a lot of flavour.
This is not a great photo but I needed to show it. I took several shots, it was in a difficult place to get to. The plant was near the roadside by Arran Aromatics.
A salmonberry - Rubus spectabilis
Finally, I have prepared a slideshow of Arran photos, one or two are shown above. I'm sorry about that but slideshow was prepared a while ago. The video runs for about 4 minutes and 40 seconds. I hope you enjoy it. Turn your monitor speakers on. I've added some Baroque music, it is Charpentier's - Marche de Triomphe. One or two photos in it are shown above too.
A short look at Arran.
I hope some of you are inspired to visit Arran. We loved it and will be going back.
My next post, hopefully soon, will be on some of my recent artwork.
Have fun,
Gordon.