Saturday, November 01, 2014
Despite a forecast for rain we drove to Achnahaird, as Greger felt I needed a birding fix. On the west side of the beach there is usually a small stream running down from the fields between the dunes; but it looked a bit different today. There must have been a very high tide which enlarged the channel, cutting a distinct swathe through the sand. I took several snaps of Greger, of which this is the most sensible.
As we walked back to the car a couple came towards us with two dogs. One of them - a large black thing - raced towards us, barking and growling. Its hackles were raised, which signals aggression (not sure how many dog owners these days even know what hackles are) and it circled us, still barking. It raced back to the couple and the woman made a fuss of it as if it had done something clever. Greger returned their greeting as they passed us - I think I said "F*** off!" I'm ashamed of myself sometimes, but I get so angry with people like that. And there was no apology for the way their animal had behaved.
Never mind. Birds. From the car park I scanned the bay and got onto three male long-tailed ducks. They were quite stunning. Greger also liked them, and we walked along the cliffs in the other direction to a headland, where I tried some highly optimistic "photography". They were about a third of a kilometre away, so the snaps fail to convey what super views we had of them through the scope.
Two common scoters had left the bay (the drakes raised their tails as the scoters flew over them) but they soon returned, landing on the water a little closer to me than the ducks.
Back at the car park, a juvenile gannet came close in and a stonechat was alarm-calling from a rock down by the sea. It only began to rain as we drove home, so we were lucky. A lazy but nice afternoon.
// posted by Christine @ 11:34 AM 
