Christine's walking & birds blog

Two days ago, it was fairly sunny on the east coast. We went to Inverness for eye tests and, for me, new specs. They put drops into your eyes before inspecting them, as this opens the pupils. Driving out to Alturlie afterwards we found we couldn't stand the glare and so headed home - after watching a big flock of pink-footed geese come in to land on the beach. They looked high, wild, and wonderful - for the short time we could bear looking up at them!


Yesterday, we had to go back to Inverness for a couple of things, and called in at North Kessock on the way home. Our eyes were back to normal, but still viewing conditions were difficult with a bright sun on choppy dark blue water; however once we got used to the brightness we could see that the Beauly Firth was just buzzing with guillemots.


There were also loads of shags and cormorants but guillemot numbers must have been in the hundreds. Presumably they're all healthy and thriving - so far. However, we couldn't watch them for long this time either - because, despite the sunshine, the wind was bitterly cold.