Christine's walking & birds blog

Trying to get to sleep early this morning, I was enticed out of bed by the calling of a tawny owl. I opened the back door to find a sky full of bright stars and a half moon, spreading its glow low in the west. The owl was very close - probably in the grounds of the nursing home - but I couldn't see it. A meteor streaked earthwards and I waited a few minutes in case there were any more; but it was too cold, so I closed the door and went back to bed.

A walrus first seen on Orkney has since moved to the north coast of Scotland; and the plan was to drive up there today and look for it. But I didn't feel well, so we went out onto the Coigach peninsula instead.

The Lapland bunting or longspur was still at Achnahaird on the same patch of wet ground, although it flew up onto the rabbit-warrened dunes as we walked past. A rock pipit was again present close by.


At Badentarbat we thought that a dark duck diving far out was a common scoter, but what with the strong wind, choppiness of the water, and looking into the sun, we weren't sure.


Old Dornie could only offer a curlew and a pair of shelduck; and driving back across the moorland, I could see no frog- or toad-spawn in any of the road-side pools.