Islay has several Celtic crosses, one is the Kilchoman Cross. This is a view of it during a moonlit November night, the cross illuminated by the Moon but many stars still visible in the mostly clear night sky.
Sometimes unexpected pictures turn out very nice. During my recent November holiday I had hoped for a few clear nights for a few star trails above Islay pictures. This didn’t really happen, longer clear spells were far and few between. One day it had been cloudy for most of the day when as I was driving back to the cottage suddenly a few clear parts started to appear. On a hunch I drove down to Machir Bay and made my way down to the beach, armed with a torch in case the clouds closed up again. This picture is one I took that evening, I quite like the bright light of the Moon, the reflections on the beach and the mysterious dark crags in the distance.
Sometimes you just need to be lucky. While I missed out on the Red Breasted Goose during my Islay visit in November 2012 I did get to see an interesting sight from the lounge of the cottage I was staying in at Kilchoman. A Peregrine Falcon and a Raven were engaged in a mid air tussle above the Kilchoman Crags. The whole event lasted about 10-15 minutes and was quite amazing to watch.