Sunday, May 29, 2011
A stormy week in Scotland
Back to one of the three white bird-named houses, this time to "Corncrake". A willow warbler was singing when we arrived and a shag was the first bird seen on the water. Great skuas and gannets frequently came into the bay, and wheatears foraged in the gardens.
I snapped the oystercatchers through the window - they generally kept to the other end of the beach, near the campsite, where a spit of higher ground runs out into the sea. The campsite was also good for twite.
Greger photographed the scalloped pattern the waves made as the water was sucked back down the shore.
Our first trip was to Achnahaird Bay. A huge flock of waders was out on the sands but I couldn't make them out from the road. I got the scope out but the wind was terrific and I gave up, swearing. We went on round to the car park as usual and walked down to the beach, seeing red-throated divers on the way.
A pale-looking wader standing at the edge of the waves with its bill tucked in turned out to be a bar-tailed godwit. Possibly the same bird turned up on our beach a day or two later, in the company of oystercatchers.
The huge flock of waders seemed to be mostly ringed plovers and dunlins, but they were flighty and it was difficult to scan them in the strong winds. Two Eiders were close in to the shore.
// posted by Christine @ 9:14 AM 
