That started quickly

The New Year has got off to quite a start . The BBC news broadcast leading with events in New Orleans and Las Vegas with a story about Elon Musks dislike of  the UK government thrown in for good measure. A serious man tells us that the 119th Congress is sworn in today - if they can elect a Speaker.

Here on the coast the weather is cold but bright. Perfect weather after yesterdays rain sodden greyness. Ten minutes in the fresh air and sunshine and the gloom of the breakfast news bulletin is forgotten. Heading down the track to the shore we pass two bird watchers up and about early in the hope of catching some good photos of the Cormorants. This is proving to be a bumper year for Cormorants who  seem to have recovered from avian flu and the fall in numbers two years ago. Twenty or so sit out on the rocks and pointedly ignore us.  We leave the twitchers taking photos of the Dunnocks flitting in and out of the wild roses that line the stone walls of the potato field. Dunnocks are supposed to be solitary birds but this message doesn't seem to have got through to the large flock noisily welcoming in the new day. In the distance the towers of the old town are just catching the sunrise.

Down by the pier the sea is working itself into quite a state. The waves are strong enough to break over the end of the pier. Work on repairing the last bout of storm damage seems to have come to a halt.

In town things are quiet. The holiday makers are drifting away after their Hogmanay breaks and the first of the students won't make an appearance until the middle part of next week. The large 5 star hotels will soon be 'consolidating' their operations after the New Year boom time. 

Some of the Christmas decorations are coming down but ...

..... many of the houses still have garlands on their front doors.

So starts a quiet Friday morning in a small Scottish town waiting for 10,000 youngsters and a large proportion of the university staff  to reappear.

Roman pets :https://theconversation.com/like-your-pet-more-than-people-so-did-some-of-the-greco-romans-236592

Broken wings :https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/who-takes-care-of-birds-with-broken

Chicken free States :https://www.thetakeout.com/1745215/states-without-chick-fil-a-location/