Snow on Ben Cruachan beyond Loch Etive

We awoke to find a clear blue sky over Loch Etive outside the house. I hadn't stayed up partying into the early hours so felt reasonably fresh. The tide was out so I walked out through the gate in the garden wall onto the beach and strolled across the stones and seaweed as I had done yesterday. Then I had talked to a fisherman who had arrived at dawn from Glasgow as the shelf off the beach where the burn flowed into the loch was noted for the size of its dogfish!

I then walked along the beach trying to stalk a heron, but couldn't get near. With my new camera and its fixed lens I need to find a different approach to filming any wildlife. It was wonderful to walk in the still air and look out over the calm waters of the loch across to the distant hilltops of the Isle of Mull. Mist began to rise and then float slowly over the water. A curlew called and then I spotted it as it flew along the water's edge before landing close to the mouth of the burn.  

A bit later after lunch, Helena went to join her and sisters, brother and their families for a walk up Ben Lora, a mountain close to the main sea loch near Benderloch. I thought I might have difficulty climbing so I went for a short drive from the house further along the shore of Loch Etive a little way beyond Ardchattean Priory. I thought I would try to get a view of Ben Cruachan and the covering of snow on its summit. 

I found this spot looking east towards Ben Cruachan and you can see the   boat which has loaded up with stone from Bonawe quarry. The loch bears around to the left of this picture in the distance, betwen the headland at Bonawe and Ben Cruachan on the far side, and then carries on for many miles. The loch is tidal and the boat only has a short period at the high tide in which it can get through the narrow gorge under Connel Bridge where it flows over the Falls of Lora.

I love this loch and feel so lucky to be able to stay right beside the beach and watch nature, the light, the sea and the weather all meet up in its many glorious forms.

A couple of hours after taking this picture we were driving off to Glasgow airport to fly back to Bristol. Before I left the house I went into the garden and took a photo of the sunset looking in the opposite direction towards the mouth of the loch and the hills of Mull in the far distance.  I have added it as an 'Extra photo' below.
I've  also added a picture of a jay flying away from the bird table outside the kitchen window.


Here are some other images of the trip including more from Loch Etive.