Christine's walking & birds blog

Yesterday at Achnahaird, the godwit and the knot of the previous day couldn't be found. A handful of sanderling came close to me on the machair, most of them with the creamy/buff tints of juveniles.


One bird was particularly eye-catching, having a more black-and-white appearance.


Before driving away I stopped at the top of the hill and looked down at four redshanks on the river. Some dunlin then arrived, but almost immediately all the waders flew off alarm-calling, and a blue-grey shape cruising along the bank below landed on a rock long enough for me to fetch my camera.


It always feels strange to see a sparrowhawk in these vast open spaces, far from hedgerows and copses; but as an American lady remarked to me years ago on the Stornoway ferry: "Honey, birds are where you find 'em."