Christine's walking & birds blog

A little group of dark dots on the loch far across the moorland made me pull into a passing-place and glue my bins to my eyes - at which the dots resolved themselves into eight black-throated divers, indulging in one of those adults-only get-togethers they seem to enjoy when the breeding season is over.



At Badentarbat, I was sitting on a wooden seat having lunch when I realised that two juvenile dunlins were foraging close by. Several times they came within 15 ft of me - but then would pause, assess me, and work their way back the other way before approaching again. It must have been good feeding - some kind of insect larva I think, as the items seemed too short and fat to be worms.



On the other side of the headland, about twenty dunlin and ten sanderling were with ringed plover on the sandy beach of the Allt Loch Raa. I walked down to have a look in the tidal pools, and the waders ignored me. A woman cycled across the machair with two or three dogs and went really close to them, but they just flew across to my side of the river and then went back when the little cavalcade had passed.


I clicked off tons of shots, really thinking I was getting some good pics - but I've trashed most of them. Part of the problem was not being able to freeze movement because I haven't yet learned about shutter priority and exposing correctly etc.

A merlin and a greenshank were the only other birds of note, but I enjoyed my day - even if I did try once again to make a golden eagle out of a buzzard!