Christine's walking & birds blog

In my walk through the village, the sun made the mountains beautiful but I remained in shadow throughout.

I could have walked on along the beach and round to the golf course, which was bathed in sunshine; but I'd parked my car in Shore Street for a quick walk, and in any case, two far-off common scoters seen from the campsite point proved too distracting. So I remained in the shade of the high ground beyond the loch.

There were also Eider and shag, two extremely distant great northern divers, at least two black guillemots, and an auk that I just caught diving and which might have been a little auk - but was probably a guillemot.

I scanned the water until my arms ached but I didn't see it again. A redwing was foraging on the campsite, and a curlew called from the river spit. I left the beach and started off back round the point, but turned when a sudden racket sprang up from a bunch of gulls - and was just in time to see them land on and around a seal, which had emerged with something in its mouth. I couldn't make out what it was, and the gulls' attentions made the seal dive again. 

Visitors to the feeders today included a blackcap....