Christine's walking & birds blog

There was a light fall of snow overnight. Greger, driving earlyish to Inverness, was surprised to find that the road hadn't been cleared. He met a gritter coming the other way which would no doubt turn and go back - but it was a bit late for those commuting from Ullapool. Coming home, he saw a 4x4 that had slid off the road - but not badly - near Black Bridge. He's invested in a set of winter tyres for the Toyota, which make quite a difference - unless of course there's sheer ice on the road.

I ventured out for a walk at midday but saw nothing of note. A wind-borne flurry of hail coming off the sea made me miss out the spit and turn through the village. There was a bit of a fuss going on near the rookery, and I just caught sight of a brown raptor flying upwards from the road and heading off towards the harbour. Probable buzzard, I thought. Later on at home, I glanced out of a window at the back to see a sea eagle being harassed by a smaller bird. I grabbed the camera, ran outside, and got a record shot as it circled fairly low down.

 
This was at 3 o'clock; and thanks to the black clouds bringing yet more hail and sleet, it was almost dark. Again, I couldn't be sure but thought the bird was a juvenile. It must have been desperate to hunt so late and so low over the village. Wonder what it had spotted - no-one's pet dog or cat, we hope?