The Great Sea Loch

The weather was wild and unpredictable, and Algy had flown inland to escape the worst of the coming storm. As he approached the great sea loch he was caught by a sudden gust of wind and swept across the water to the further side. Landing on a slippery pebble beach strewn with seaweed, he perched uncomfortably on the damp stones and gazed at the moody water and the threatening sky. The great loch was behaving as though it were the ocean, with waves crashing on its shores, and he wondered how much more violent the breakers might be on his own beach, which faced the open sea…

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When the gales moved away to visit Algy’s friend @funnyful in Sweden, the wind started to swing round and the weather began to change. Before long the world was full of colour again, and as Algy relaxed on the hard, storm-hammered sand, he could detect fresh new autumn scents and tastes in the air, mingled with the usual sea salt…

Algy sat on the damp sand, and gazed far out to sea. Some days the ocean seemed very wide indeed, and he reflected that it was undoubtedly much better to be perching safely on the shore, watching the breakers roll in, than to be adrift somewhere in the middle of that vast expanse of water. He wondered how long it would be before the waves washed over his toes…

Algy woke up with a start, and realised why he had been dreaming of a soft sea foam blanket covering his legs…

Algy slept on through the moonlit night, and now he dreamed that he was sitting in the surf as the waves rolled in from the ocean, watching the breakers dance on the shore in an endless procession as they gently covered his legs with a soft, white blanket of salty sea foam…

Before long, the repetitive sound of the waves pounding on the shore and the rustling of the wet sand being sucked back into the sea put Algy to sleep. And as he slept, the full moon rose up from behind the ridge and bathed the whole world in a cold blue light – and Algy dreamed that the waves grew brighter and brighter, and splashed higher and higher, until they started to wash right over him…

The days grew shorter and cooler, and the wind swung round to the south-west, bringing moist, salt-laden air straight from the ocean to blow into Algy’s face. The sea was no longer in a bright, summery mood, but petulant and erratic, churning and splashing against the rocks with considerable force. Algy perched just above the splash line, and watched the waves roll in one after another. He could hear the crash of the breakers on the beach and the gravelly, slurping sound as the sea sucked the sand back under the water each time a wave retreated. It was a fine show, but it was undoubtedly autumn now, and it would be a long, long time until summer came again…

The season had definitely changed. When Algy woke up in the morning he felt a new but only-too-familiar chill in the air, and he found that the wind had developed extra teeth. It was undoubtedly autumn… but despite a very wet morning, the sun came out in the afternoon, so Algy hurried down to the beach, to watch the sea in its autumnal mood and to listen to the new sounds of the changing season as the strong south-westerly whistled through his feathers, blowing all the warmth of summer far away.

This is a wee bit closer to Algy’s experience on the headland rocks yesterday, although it doesn’t quite convey what it’s actually like to be there. In reality, the noise of the sea was much louder, crashing and booming on the rocks all around, and the noise of the wind was relatively insignificant (except to a built-in camera mic!).

Posted especially for all Algy’s friends who love the sea but don’t get to visit it very often 🙂

[Hand-held video recording with camera shake and plenty of wind noise to add authenticity 🙂 Algy’s assistants couldn’t manage to get the tripod to this remote location, which requires a steep descent (and subsequent ascent) at a remote spot on the headland – unless of course you are a fluffy bird and can fly there…]

p.s. Anyone know how to provide an adequate wind shield for a built-in mic on a still image digital camera?

After a very wet start, Sunday turned into a beautiful early autumn
day, at least for a while. So Algy flew out to the end of the headland,
and spent a very happy afternoon watching the breakers surge in over the
rocks on an unusually high tide.

Algy hopes that you have all been enjoying a happy Sunday afternoon too xoxo