Christine's walking & birds blog

My first frogspawn of the year (with two frogs still on site) was in a ditch by a forestry road. At least three newts were present, gliding around the mass of jelly as though they were its protectors - which, in a way, they are, as they will eventually eat the tadpoles.

I looked up from the slimy water in time to see a merlin flying across the valley.


Driving home, I was surprised to see a black-throated diver in a small bay of a roadside loch, just yards from the bank. There was no passing-place close by so I just stopped the car and clicked off some shots through the window. Unfortunately my car badly needs a wash so the glass is less than crystal-clear.


It was quite enthralling to be so close to it. I drove on to the next passing-place, stopped again, and looked back; it was still there in the bay. South of Ledmore Junction I spotted a white-tailed sea eagle flying west. At Ardmair, a family down by the water's edge were taking photos - but didn't seem to have noticed the red-throated diver just feet away.

I grabbed my camera and walked down towards them, but the diver was already making its way, fairly rapidly, along the beach. At the far end was another family, with the children throwing stones in the water. I gave up and watched as the diver sailed right past them - again, I think, unnoticed.


I trudged back to the car as the first drops of rain began to fall. Two groups of people had had the chance of eye-boggling views of a red-throated diver, and I, probably the only birder on the beach, couldn't get near it! Typical.