Wednesday, September 22, 2021
A wet morning was useful as it forced me to do a few domestic chores - but the rain stopped in the afternoon and I went down to the golf course to see what I could see. The tide was way out - it's harvest moon at the moment - and there were very few gulls on the distant point. I walked along the edge of the golf course towards Rhue, and scanned a few gulls dip-feeding out on the loch. And there among them was the Sabine's, which I thought had gone! It was moving too fast for me to snap and a couple of record shots were all I could manage.
Meanwhile, an attractive clamour from above heralded the approach of my first returning pink-foots of the autumn, flying south-east along Loch Broom.
The Sabine's gull flew off towards Ullapool, not to be seen again; but fair exchange was a bunch of Brent geese, sailing about in an awkward spot at the mouth of the river.
I counted nine; if I'd gone round to the river spit I would have seen them better, but they would still have been distant and in any case, I was too tired.
Yesterday, a visit to Achnahaird was notable chiefly for very strong winds blowing the sand into my eyes (they still feel gritty) and two sightings - one of three golden plover on the salt-marsh, and the other of three great skuas flying into the wind with some non-aggressive interaction between them. Perhaps a family group.
// posted by Christine @ 12:32 PM 
