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ANNAT  BAYWATCH

Fairly quiet still out the bay, slight tinge of plankton but no bloom yet, though jellyfish are showing. Moons and small Lion’s Mane and hundreds of barrel jellyfish – the really big ones that can grow to 45 kg. I haven’t seen this many out there since the early 80s. Really not sure why as yet.
The Sea Eagles continue to confuse us too. We’re getting regular sightings but from a variety of places so still try to figure out what they are up to. Will probably take us to hear a chick to know if any have been successful this year as other behaviour and observations not clear as yet.
Great Northern Divers still about. Lots of male Eider Ducks but very few female. Wondering if this might be due to the females being exposed to bird flu last summer whilst the males were away in Iceland. Still a few dead birds being reported on beaches so sadly probably still here.
Seeing first small fish at the harbour steps – they will get bigger through the summer before heading for deeper waters.
We have had a minke whale out the bay but only once so far. Porpoise are present but need calm days to see them. Dolphin reports from further out but not inside as yet.
Regular mix of harbour seals and greys. The harbour seals are very pregnant so please give them space if out there as could do damage if spooked.
Arctic terns are back after their huge migration here for the summer nesting. Had realised in the past that they do up to 22,000 km to get here but hadn’t realised that as they live up to over 30 years, the can cover over one and a half million kilometres in their lives. Quite bizarre for such a small bird. They and other birds are nesting on beaches so always watch your step whilst out on the coast or remote beaches.
Sea Savers have started summer activities, out kayaking with Will Copestake. They even managed a mini-beach clean whilst out at the bay by the hulks. They have also become finalists for the Surfers Against Sewage Youth Activist award 2023 – selected from 500 nominations which is pretty cool. Sadly we can’t all get down to Bristol for the awards night but a couple of representatives are going along to represent the kids.
Our coffee pod campaign is having a bit of an issue as we are struggling to keep up with the number of pods we get – only because we can’t get enough bags for sending the pods into the podback scheme. Morrisons in Inverness only give one bag per customer so we are trying to get more as have had a great response to the collection point at Tesco. Thanks to everyone who is putting them in there at Tesco toilet entrance.
Orca Watch is happening up Caithness from 27th May to 3rd June. Sadly work means I can’t attend but hope those that do get some Orca sightings as the Icelandic pods return for summer in Scottish waters.
A team from the Scottish Wildlife Trust were out with us assessing and surveying their islands – they own 3 of the Summer Isles and the Stacks. Managed to land on some but a swell meant the smaller ones were too dangerous so they only got to touch them – just to get to claim they had been at them. Means my claim to be the only SWT employee on the Stacks still stands! Think it has set a challenge though!

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Success for local artist
Ullapool’s Mary Kate Thomson has been awarded the Graham Lang Award 2023 for Excellence in Drawing and Painting and she will be graduating from the University of Dundee with a first class honours degree in Fine Art.
MK attended Ullapool High School where she received excellent support and tuition from the art department. Her work is currently on display at the Art & Design Undergraduate Show in Dundee.
Working in oil on a large scale, the current focus of her art is an examination of the physical, animalistic, human body. Her work considers the oil painted body both as a symbol of continued tradition and in consideration of gender representation in contemporary art. As well as creating the paintings, MK constructed the canvases for her work, each measuring 95 x 201cm.
Very well done MK.
The exhibition is open daily until 28 May. www.mkthomsonart.com

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MOREFIELD HISTORY
150 years ago, the Inverness Advertiser described celebrations at Morefield marking the 21st birthday of Francis, a younger son of the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, who owned the Coigach Estate.
Morefield was then part of Coigach, along with Ardmair, Keanchulish, and Rhidorroch.
Young Francis was to inherit these lands from his mother, who was the Countess of Cromartie in her own right.
So 5th August 1873 was a big day – a rare chance for locals to enjoy a treat. The newspaper reported:
“The inhabitants residing to the south of Craig-mhor (i.e. Ben Mòr Coigach) selected Morefield as their rallying centre, and erected a large bonfire of peats, fir, and tar barrels on Cnoc-na-Moine.
“Her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland provided Kenneth Mackenzie, her local agent, with a handsome sum of money for prizes. The people of the district, led by piper John Mackenzie, assembled in a field near Morefield Cottage and engaged in Highland games. The competitors were not as numerous as they would have been at another season of the year – most of our ablest young men being at the herring fishing on the east coast.
“So determined were old and young to show their honour and respect for the Cromartie family that, without exception, all who could crawl were astir during the day.
“In the gloaming, the bagpipes summoned the clans to the top of Cnoc-na-Moine. As soon as the bonfire was lit, all around it were served with whisky, bread, and cheese. Mr Duncan Matheson, ground officer, proposed the health of the Viscount Tarbat. The cheers were loud and long.
“In the evening, a ball was held in the township of Morefield, which was numerously attended. There was no lack of good things for the body, and the stirring strains of John Mackenzie’s pipes supplied life and mettle for the heels. The fun continued fast and furious till five o’clock in the morning.”
Meantime, other tenants and various high heid yins had gathered at the Royal Hotel, to enjoy a “sumptuous supper”. The Lochbroom minister, Mr Cameron, gave a toast to young Francis and referred to the old days “when the families of Sutherland and Cromartie were engaged in almost perpetual feuds”. Now a young man descended from both families was coming of age.
Every school pupil on the Coigach Estate received one shilling that August.
Celebrations also took place in the main part of Coigach. Three bonfires were lit.
Even at the head of Loch Broom, where the Sutherlands were not the lairds, the minister arranged for a bonfire “on the Lion’s Head at the top of Craig Loisgte on the glebe lands. It was kindled at 9pm and blazed brightly till after daylight next morning.”
Francis became the Earl of Cromartie in 1888 but died in 1893. His daughter Sibell then became Countess of Cromartie.
She began to sell off her Coigach lands in the early 20th century. In 1920, Morefield Estate was bought by her farm tenant, George Morrison, while Rhidorroch was bought by the Rose family of Suffolk.
George Morrison was from Kinlochbervie. The son of a shepherd, he had settled in Ullapool at the turn of the century, tenanting Morefield Cottage farm and running the Caledonian Hotel. He did well, and in 1916 bought Kinlochbervie from the Duke of Sutherland, though he later sold it again. He lived at Morefield till his death in 1926.
In due course, Morefield Estate was acquired by Commander and Lady Vyner, who converted Morefield Cottage to the Morefield Hotel. It opened in July 1936.
In 1948 they sold the hotel to the well regarded Captain and Mrs Lorimer. He died in 1963 and the hotel was bought by the Easson family, who converted its outbuildings into a motel in the late 1960s, complete with a bowling alley at that time.
A new owner, Mr Jordan, then put both the hotel and the motel on the market in 1974. The hotel was bought by Ross & Cromarty District Council, as an intended school hostel, but the plan fell through. The old building languished until 1983 before burning down. And that was the end of the original Morefield Cottage.

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TO MAKE YOU SMILE…!
Sent in by a reader
Having a Bad Day? Maybe it’s Sod’s Law.
This month it’s been suggested that I write about something a bit different. I’m a firm believer in Sod’s Law, in fact I have such a firm conviction in that if something could go wrong and you have not covered the possibility of it happening, then it will go wrong. Like the day you need to be at work early but you drop the milk bottle on the floor and then you’re part of the way to work and you realise you’ve left something important behind and then to finish things off all the traffic lights are red. But there is a story behind Sod’s Law, like all popular sayings there’s more to it than just a couple of words. This morning Sally Simpson and I were affected by Sod’s Law; so here, at Sally’s request, is its story.
In this case Sod is not a swear word nor has anything to do with soil, it is, in fact a surname. Girolamo Di Sod was a Florentine philosopher who lived around the end of the 15 century. He was a contemporary of Machiavelli and it appears the two corresponded a lot. Di Sod was both brilliant and eccentric. He studied with the Franciscan Luca Pacioli who had, a decade earlier, written the first printed work about probability. However, Di Sod quickly overtook his teacher in his efforts to quantify and control the element of chance. One of Di Sod’s most distinctive views related to the conservation of personal fortune—episodes of fortune must be balanced by episodes of misfortune and he developed a pathological fear of gambling. Di Sod’s behaviour became progressively more extreme, including the imposition of severe dietary restrictions (he ate only plain bread) and insistence on wearing weatherproof clothing in the height of summer. In his last few years he wore a metal helmet while riding his horse in case of falls. The irony is that his early death, in his late 20s, may have been due to a lightning strike. If this is correct, his head covering may have contributed to his demise—a striking confirmation of his famous law.
Di Sod was determined that his writings should survive beyond his death. So he had them stored in a fire proof box in a locked safe in the centre of his house. Two years after his death, in 1529, his house was demolished during the siege of Florence. The keys for the strong box could not be found in time before the house was destroyed. So none of his writings survive and what we know of his famous law comes from secondary sources. These are the letters that were written by people who had seen the law or discussed it with Di Sod.
The common interpretation of Sod’s Law is that if we prepare for the worst, the worst will be less likely to happen, and if it does, we will be less psychologically affected by it. This is certainly my view and this was also the view of the Italian guild of umbrella makers who, in the 18th century, marketed their leather umbrellas to farmers citing Di Sod and claiming that the purchase and use of an umbrella would ensure long periods of sunshine.
The other irony for Di Sod is that he has virtually been written out of history. It is only in Britain, Australasia, and a few other places that his famous law is known by his name. Even in his native Italy it is named after the American engineer, Murphy, who lived four hundred years later. And according to my source (https://www.bmj.com/content/339/ bmj.b5299.full) Murphy’s law lacks the depth of insight and knowledge that would have been required to have developed Di Sod’s law.
So the next time you have a bad day, remember that it’s to balance out the good and the balance will change back again in time. But be thankful that you haven’t been struck by lightning nor had your house demolished!

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