Grass of Parnassus

Yesterday I went up Ben Lomond.

This is a view taken from about half way up, looking south down Loch Lomond.

Lower on the hill I found quite a lot of Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris). This is quite a common flower in Scotland, and is one of the most beautiful. It flowers quite late in the year when many flowers are already over.

It has five fertile stamens which open in turn, and five sterile stamens which each branch into a semicircle of tiny glands.

It was a misty day, and this is another view taken just after I had left the summit.

There is a virtual walk up Ben Lomond on our website

Bubbles in the sea

On August 15th I visited Dornie on the west coast of Scotland.

These bubbles were coming from the bottom of a tidal sea loch in many places where the water was quite shallow. They moved from place to place as the tide level changed.

Some of them were just small strings of bubbles, but others were leaping up to around 20cm above the surface of the water.

When I dug into the pebbles around the origin of the bubbles, I was unable to find any source.

Fred has seen similar bubbles at a different location.

I would be interested in any responses as to their possible cause.

Ben Ime

Today I went up Ben Ime, which is a Munro (a hill of over 300ft / 914m). Ben Ime is 1011m high.

It was very clear, and from the summit to the north-west I could see what I thought was the Isle of Rum. It's the jagged peaks on the skyline in the picture below. I checked this on the map afterwards and it is certainly the right direction. Rum is 76 miles (122 km) from Ben Ime.

I also had excellent views of the other nearby hills. To the south I could see the Cobbler (884m).

To the east I could see Loch Lomond, Loch Arklet, Loch Katrine and Ben Ledi beyond.