Saturday, April 28, 2018
The tide was low at Achnahaird, giving me a vast expanse of sand to walk across on a lovely day only marginally spoiled by a persistent cold wind.
Into the bay came flying a large loose flock of mixed gulls - but mostly kittiwake. They settled on the sea in long lines, but too distant for passable pictures. Twite have been missing for some time so it was good to see a flock of at least twenty on the machair, foraging among shells with three or four linnets.
A lone sand martin was spotted, careering off into the distance; and a cuckoo, heard calling from the house at Badentarbat, suddenly materialised and flew alongside the car as I drove up onto the moors, crossing the road in front of me and vanishing behind a hill.
The wide open spaces made a nice contrast to our recent day in the beechwoods of the south - although here in Dorney Wood, Bucks we also had the place to ourselves, except for a man with two small dogs at the beginning of the path and a couple crossing from the Beeches at the end.
It was lovely to be there again, although I was shocked by the absence of the stand of conifers in the north-east corner. I wonder why they took them away?
// posted by Christine @ 3:24 PM 
