Bad Hair Day

I was rather surprised by all the stars and hearts for yesterday's blip of Loch Rentil. I had thought it was an OK landscape, but no more than that. It was only when I read some of the comments that I realised I am starting to take for granted the natural beauty of the West of Scotland. Had I spent the week stuck in an office in London or Glasgow before arriving at the Rest, I am sure I would have been really struck by the areas rugged beauty. So thanks to everyone for the stars, hearts and comments, from which I have taken a lesson not to take for granted the natural wonders that surround me.

Anyway, it was back down the road today with yet another car load of belongings from our old house. With a bit of luck, we should manage to empty it with two more runs before we go off on holiday!

There was little inspiration for a blip on the journey, so when we got to Tarbert I pulled in and had a look about. Harbours are great places for a blip even, like today, when the weather isn't great. Anyway, this Red Breasted Merganser was swimming about not far from the harbour wall. It was in the process of dipping its beak into the sea and flicking droplets of water onto its head and back. Haven't a clue why it was doing this, but it was fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, with the light being poor and full x35 zoom required to blip Mr Merganser, the shot is a bit grainy and not as sharp as I would have liked. However, I cropped the shot to take in the ripples on the left, which I thought kind of mirrored the ruffled feathers on the back of its head that look like a really bad hair cut! Probably better viewed in LARGE.