Fish Skull

Found the top half of a fish skull on the beach in Lower Largo. It is 8 cm. long and 3 cm. at the widest part. I think it comes from a fish from the family gadidae. This include cod, haddock, whiting and pollock.

 Side view of the skull.

Several years ago I found the skull of a bird on the same beach. It was eventually identified as a guillemot skull. Photographed them together here. They are similar in size but can see that they are quite different. The slender beak in the bird skull identifies it as a diving sea bird.

Saltire in the Sky

Beautiful sunny day yesterday with a bright blue sky. Doing a bit of tidying in the garden, I looked up to the sky and there was a diagonal cross directly above me. It reminded me of the St Andrews Cross. Not sure if  it was caused by aircraft trails or natural cloud or a bit of both.

An Unusual Stone

Picked up this stone on the beach at Lower Largo. It is about 7 centimetres long and heavily pittted. It has a nice pattern, maybe evidence of plant material, but I have very little knowledge of fossils, so not sure whether it's from algae, plant root or fern fronds or even whether the pattern has been hand-carved into the stone. Fife does have locations where fossils from the carboniferous period may be found. East Wemyss a little further along the coast towards Kirkcaldy (about 7miles) is one of the best locations for plant remains.

The stone has some deep holes at one end, perhaps from a rock-boring sea creature.

The Hermitage

The view of the falls from the bridge, just before Ossian's Hall on the circular walk from the car park at the Hermitage.

The Hermitage  is a Scottish National Trust visitor site near Dunkeld in Perthshire. The car park can be reached from the A9 and the site sits on the banks of the River Braan  in Craigvinean Forest. It is home to Ossian's Hall  and Ossian's Cave, follies built by the Dukes of Atholl, in the 18th century to honour the blind bard Ossian. Hewn out of the rock the Hermit's Cave was built around 1760 for the third Earl of Breadalbane, who advertised for a hermit to live there without success.

Ossian's Hall showing the viewing platform at the front.


Ossian’s Hall overlooks the waterfall on the River Braan. It was built in 1757.

 The falls from the viewing platform. The noise s thunderous.

Visited the hermitage many years ago. These two photos show some of the detail of the decoration at that time. Think it must have been raining that day, because there seem to have been raindrops on the lens or perhaps it was spray from the falls. The trust refurbished the hall in 2007 with glass doors to the viewing platform and mirrored panels. Whilst the new décor is dramatic, I quite liked the classical design that was there, when I first visited. Glad that I have seen them both.

The money tree.

 The view of the river through the trees.

 The side and front entrances to the hermit's cell.

The path through the trees.

Sculpture in the woodland

Perthshire Autumn Colour

Autumn colour in the woodland surrounding Loch Faskally.
Spent a few days in Pitlochry enjoying the spectacular colours in the woodland walks in the surrounding area.

 Reflections in Loch Dunmore.

 Looking through the trees to Loch Faskally.

 The water's edge at Loch Faskally.

 Woodland walk at the Hermitage, Dunkeld.

Leaves cover this woodland above Pitlochry. It was dusk and there are two roe deer in the centre of this photo. Unfortunately, couldn't get close enough to get a better picture.