Friday, June 18, 2021
Another visit to the bogs among the conifers found the bogs mostly dried out. On one that still contained some water, a territorial four-spotted chaser constantly drove off a male azure hawker each time it approached. I'm now confident of the ID. I'd been planning a walk up Abhainn an Torrain Duibh where I've had two previous sightings, so it was a nice surprise to encounter azure hawkers in Ullapool - and one of those, my first female (second and third pics).
This dragonfly (one authority states the male only) changes from greyish blue in dull weather to brighter blue when the weather becomes warm and sunny.
A walk up the quarry road brought no northern emeralds, so I failed to achieve a daft goal I've set myself - that of seeing these two species of dragonfly on the same day, one each side of Ullapool hill.
Yesterday: Greger suggested a trip to the east coast, so we went first to Chanonry Point. We saw some dolphins and some common terns, and sat on the beach enjoying warm sunshine (19℃ was reached!). We drove across the Black Isle to Cromarty and watched the Nigg ferry arrive. Two cars disembarked and the ferry then took two cyclists on board and set off back across the firth - only to stop abruptly and return to the slipway. A camper-van hesitantly made its way down and onto the boat - and off they went again.
We reflected that we've never yet taken the Nigg ferry, and then Greger pondered on the fact that here in Cromarty you could see the dying of one kind of energy and the birth of another. The oil rig above is only one of many queuing up in the firth to be taken into Invergordon for decommissioning; while below, the blades of wind turbines being shifted across the dock are given scale by the figures of two men, one at each end.
All massive stuff - and fascinating, too. There's something rather moving about both the huge oil rigs standing like sentinels along the Cromarty Firth and the vast smooth structures of the modern turbines, destined for wind-farms out at sea.
// posted by Christine @ 9:53 AM 
