Christine's walking & birds blog

I got out to Achnahaird fairly early, but the tide had already receded well down the beach. There was a sad sight on the saltmarsh beyond the dunes - a stranded guillemot.

I thought of my futile attempts to refloat the moribund guillemot in a fairly calm sea at Badentarbat last Sunday, and decided there was nothing I could do. The sea was quite a way away and was also rough. This bird, however, didn't look emaciated or weak - it was alert, and moving its head about. Even worse, I thought - I didn't want to injure a healthy bird by handling it wrongly, and I made a wide detour round it, wondering if it could hold out until the next high tide. I noted two golden plovers and an indeterminate goose and returned to the beach, walking down to the edge of the sea as dark rain clouds bunched over the horizon. Three oystercatchers were pecking about in the shallow waves. 

Something black and white flew down the beach and I couldn't believe it when I realised it was a guillemot! It flew low over sand and water and I just managed to grab an unzoomed shot as it crash-landed among the breakers. 

Was this the same bird? The rain began as I climbed the low cliffs from the beach and scanned the water. At first I could see only two razorbills - a bit too close to shore for my liking (we've seen a dead razorbill here before).

And then a shag surfaced and, just beyond it, a guillemot; I hoped it was "mine", and as the rain poured down even harder I covered up my optics and headed for the car. Along the road I pulled into a passing place and scanned the saltmarsh; to my relief, I couldn't see a guillemot. It must have taken off from the ground - unless it had a helping hand.  I don't think so though - there were very few people there and no-one else went that far up the beach.