Friday, June 05, 2015
On the northern shore of the Cromarty Firth, oil rigs in for repair provide a dramatic backdrop to a tidal lagoon where about 100 Canada geese are grazing on a grassy spit.
We had parked in a lay-by on the busy A9, climbed a dilapidated stile and walked across this fascinating area known as Alness Point, seeing mergansers, oystercatchers, ringed plover, Eider, and shelduck. The shingle spit on the right of the picture below holds nesting Arctic and common terns.
A small brown bird foraging on the path turned out to be a tree sparrow. It came as a bit of a surprise; I had vaguely known that you could see tree sparrows on the east coast - I just hadn't remembered that it was here. Googling later at home, I learnt that nest-boxes have been provided for a small breeding colony. A yellowhammer was also noteworthy. This was two days ago; yesterday I didn't even bother to go out, the weather was so awful. Although today the wind has died down it's still raining; and while not as cold as it has been, it cannot be said to be warm. It feels as if summer is once again slipping away without having really begun.
// posted by Christine @ 3:12 AM 
