Sunday, March 15, 2015
This is the third bright sunny day we've had, but the nights have been clear and cold and there was a sharp frost this morning. A greenshank on the beach at Badentarbat was a nice surprise.
Black-throated divers were calling, a pair of mergansers sailed by, and ringed plovers were displaying and posturing on the grass above the shore.
I almost missed the white-tailed eagle going over towards Ben Mor Coigach; despite appearances the tail was white, so this was an adult.
I was watching a distant pair of goldeneye diving in a lochan when I heard a "weet" sound. I traced it to a male stonechat. I've heard their "weet-chack" loads of times but without the "chack" part I was flummoxed until I saw it.
Other bird movements: on the short-turfed cliff-tops at Achnahaird there were at least 20 skylarks; and far out on the salt marsh four golden plover. Lapwings were also in evidence in the area. So things are shaping up.
As I set off on the drive home, a gull splashing about in the middle of Loch Vatachan appeared to be a white-winger.
Frustratingly, I couldn't get close and the picture is cropped million-fold; and having finished its wash the gull flew off away from me towards the sea. (Later: a glaucous gull was apparently on the nearby Loch of Reiff on Saturday, so this might be the same bird.)
// posted by Christine @ 12:37 PM 
