Christine's walking & birds blog

The scaup were on the Cromarty Firth near Invergordon a couple of days ago.


A bit tardy in leaving for the north - or aren't they going to bother? An Eider with a single chick was nearby. But the walk and the search for terns we'd wanted to do proved impossible because of the rain. On our way home, we had two good sightings; a swift over the junction at Garve, and a golden eagle hunting along a distant ridge.

Yesterday, several young stags in velvet were browsing at Knockan Crag. When they show this little fear of us, they lack the wary charm of truly wild animals - but at least you can get close-up pictures. Again, rain stopped play.


Today, a drive out into Coigach remained just a drive - it was too wet to walk and birdwatch. A few juvenile wheatears were seen, and a snipe sitting on a fencepost in the rain caused me to pull in; but the bird flew before I could get a shot, and its next perch on a rock way out in the field was just too far for the Coolpix. At Ardmair, a sea eagle was spotted - but it was miles away, flying down Loch Broom and out over the Summer Isles in what turned out to be a brief dry interval between showers.