Iridescent Lungwort

Iridescent Clouds, Newburgh

As the kids wanted to see St Andrews during the half term break we found ourselves trundling along the A913 through Newburgh.  It was here that we saw these slightly iridescent clouds off to the southeast.  They look like cirrus clouds to me, framed by stratocumulus.  Occurring close to the sun, cloud iridescence is caused by small water droplets or ice crystals scattering light and is normally seen in thin, transparent newly formed clouds.  However, you can see some iridescence in slightly thicker cloud in the lower left hand corner of the picture.  Not the best example, but it's the first time I've seen it, and I was the only person to stop and observe.

I'm glad I did.  Often, when driving, I see interesting 'stuff' happening in the natural world, but I rarely stop and always regret it.  Interesting, as it's basically my job to get others to stop and sense what is around them.

"Stop..............! back a bit, keep going, bit more, ok".  And she was out the door clambering up the lower slopes of Strath Gartney, along the shore of Loch Katrine.  She stopped by what looked to be a small - maybe 17 metre - Oak with Tree Lungwortl (Lobaria Pulmonaria) growing on the west-southwest side, about 1.5 metres above the ground.  This was a pretty good directional indicator as it likes a wet climate, but this sample was dessicated by the prevailing southwest winds and the tree trunk on that side was a beautiful, uniform pale grey, shining in the sunlight.  Yes, there was moss all around the base of the tree, but while there were just a few centimetres on the southwest side, the northeast trunk had much more coverage.  Promise I'll go back and take a photo soon.