Christine's walking & birds blog

With strong winds and rain forecast we called off our "pelagic" on the Stornoway ferry, and I drove instead to Achnahaird. The car park was almost empty, and I walked out across the cliffs in quite pleasant weather. It was about an hour after high tide and the sands were wet and shining. A couple of turnstone scurried past me, and stopped to investigate a heap of seaweed. I would see at least six today - my highest count for turnstone in the Coigach area.

The calls of curlew were on the air, and I glimpsed two birds in the grassy area below the dunes; but I could see waders on the salt-marsh over by the river, and I headed towards them. A knot came flying unhurriedly past towards the sea. There were at least 25 sanderling (mostly if not all probably juvenile) and six knot - I think all six knot are in the picture.


Then the birds did that inexplicable thing they often do - they took off in a body (with me cursing myself for disturbing them although I thought I was keeping my distance), flew round in an arc - and landed closer to me; so it can't have been me disturbing them.


It didn't help the quality of my pics though, as it was now spitting with rain and the wind had become so strong that I could hardly hold the camera still. However, the photos are better than the ones I got four years ago at this site of seven or eight adult knot.

I gave up and turned, finding it hard to make my way down the beach, as the northwesterly wind was coming straight off the sea and trying to blow me back again. The only other birds seen were a couple of bonxies, a small flock of twite, a family of eider, and a shag.