Monday, July 10, 2017
Yesterday: Still a southern birder at heart, I went temporarily into depressed autumn mode at the sight of a lesser redpoll, feeding with twite and a smart male linnet on the machair.
A dunlin in breeding plumage was picking its way through the seaweed.
Close by was a juvenile wheatear; two common terns were fishing; and a singing sedge warbler way out in the reedy pool showed itself for a nanosecond. Where the road climbs high above a loch, two red-throated divers seemed becalmed; they were very distant but I didn't hang around - they could well have a chick hiding in the grass and the fluffy white bog cotton.
Phoning Greger to let him know I was on my way home and had stopped off at the recycling road (where it was fairly windy), I was mystified when I thought he said "Oh, you'll have seen the coots flying, leaving then" which didn't seem to make any sense at all. What coots?! He had to repeat it twice before I twigged that he was actually saying "You'll have seen the cruise liner leaving then."
I hadn't, but travelling down Morefield hill I realised the liner was already behind me, so I turned and drove along the road to Rhue, managing a couple of shots just before the ship disappeared behind the headland.
This looked a nice ship, so it was worth the effort. Some of the cruise liners are just over-big and plain ugly, but there are one or two that call in here that are moderately sized - and one, the name of which I've forgotten, is very elegant.
This was the Boudicca, and it was on a Fred Olson cruise. A few people were standing on the decks watching the scenery slide by - and as I stood watching the ship move gracefully down the loch towards the sea part of me wanted to go with them.
// posted by Christine @ 3:52 AM 
