MSC Magnifica

Another new visitor to Greenock, this time MSC Magnifica stopped off on her Britain & Ireland tour.

She arrived way before her scheduled arrival time of 8am but her departure was spot on at 6pm prompt.

Lochwinnoch bird sanctuary

What better way to spend a few hours on a beautiful spring afternoon than to go to the RSPB sanctuary at Lochwinnoch.

Birds and visitors were both out in numbers to enjoy the sunshine. Needless to say, my focus was on the feathered ones.

Great tit perching on a branch

Coal tit having a refreshing drink

Robins are more often associated with winter

Female chaffinches are less colourful than the males

Goldfinch taking seeds from one of the feeders

Lesser redpoll with its distinctive red forehead

Female mallard walking through the grass

Male mallard looks to be calling out to the female

Great spotted woodpecker on top of a tree stump

Celebrity Infinity

On her first visit to Greenock is Celebrity Cruises' ship, Infinity, on a round Britain trip.

Here she is departing in the early evening sun.

Waverley

PS Waverley, the world's only sea going paddle steamer, prepares for another busy season.

Here she is, fresh from a visit to the drydock, looking very smart.

She stopped at Greenock's Customhouse Quay before heading down river for her pre-season trials.

Quest for Adventure

Having looked back on last year's posts, I found that I already have some images of this cruise ship.

She has had a change of colour on her funnel from yellow to blue, and it looks rather smart on her.

Today's weather was a great improvement on my previous pictures so I'm pleased with this year's pictures.

Queen Mary 2

Talk about starting with a bang. The first of this year's cruise liners only happened to be the Queen Mary 2, the biggest and best of them all.

As was befitting such a visitor, the sun was shining for her arrival and departure.

QM2 arriving in Greenock

QM2 with Kilcreggan in the background

Blue skies welcome the QM2 on her arrival

Cunard liner, QM2 sails gracefully towards the terminal

The familiar Cunard colours of the QM2

QM2 canting before backing towards her berth

Crowds gather on the Esplanade to wave goodbye to the QM2

QM2 towering over the estuary control building

Local tug Anglegarth watches as QM2 sails past

Anglegarth gives QM2 a two cannon water salute as she departs

Haste ye back, queen of the seas

Glen Mallan & Faslane

Well, an early start for a trip to Glen Mallan and Faslane this morning.

First ship to appear was HMS Diamond who paid a visit to the armaments jetty. The weather did us no favours, varying from rain to mist and drizzle.

After leaving Diamond as she approached the jetty, we made a quick trip down to Kilcreggan where we were just on time to catch RFA Diligence leave the Gareloch after a short visit to Faslane sub base.

By the time HMS Montrose arrived in the loch, the mist had descended enough to obscure most of the background.

HMS Diamond escorted by a pair of Serco tugs

HMS Diamond

Berthing is a shared responsibility

A132 RFA Diligence

Diligence heading for Loch Striven

HMS Montrose comes out of the mist

Montrose passing Rhu spit

Montrose making her way to Faslane

Stavros S Niarchos

April seemed mostly to be filled with images of operation Joint Warrior, so it made a pleasant change to see sail training ship, Stavros S Niarchos pay a visit to Greenock at the beginning of May.

A new team joined up for a week's trip to the Western Isles, coming back to Greenock next Tuesday.

A crew member waiting to release the lines

Time to let go

Hauling the ropes in

Stavros pulls away from the quay

Under way

Rope handlers catch up by rib