Sunday, November 15, 2020
On an afternoon walk round the village, we were surprised to see that the Arch Inn still had its tables out; and as, during the summer, it had always been crammed with visitors, we decided to stop and have what will probably be our only outside beer of the year (in fact, my only beer of the year and one of the very few pints Greger's had - his willpower in cutting out beer as part of his bid to lose weight has amazed me).
There were eider and shags milling about in groups, and two black guillemots diving a bit closer in.
A few days ago at Achnahaird, a small pool in the dunes that I always scan in hopes of a snipe yielded instead a teal - a bit unusual here, I think. On the same day, several teal were reported in Assynt.
On the sea, two great northern divers were fishing close together. One appears to be an adult fading into winter plumage, the other is probably a juvenile.
One of the divers "wailed" briefly - a rising call with the clear, carrying quality that makes it so haunting. I quickly switched the camera to video mode and waited for some time - but, as is usually the case, the bird didn't call again.
// posted by Christine @ 2:39 PM 
