Tuesday, February 08, 2022
I headed south to look for snow buntings, and hopes were raised when a flock of small birds took off from the grassy verge as I drove past. But after much searching, they turned out to be goldfinches; and a shower of rain cut my walk short. Returning to the village, I was cheered by the sight of a mob of gulls above the "wee jetty" and as I drove along Shore Street one flying just ahead looked good for Iceland. But a search of the harbour area brought nothing but the faithful old Viking. Driving round to West Terrace, I walked out to the river spit - and there was an Iceland Gull, standing on its own a little apart from the crowd.
Another bunch of clouds threatening rain was racing across the sky towards me so I left, pausing to snap the gull in profile.
The oddest thing I saw today was this crab, in a lay-by on the shores of Loch Glascarnoch.
Its other claw lay in the grass nearby. A gull couldn't carry a crab this large and anyway gulls aren't often seen here. An eagle probably could - but I can't see an eagle carting it all the way from the coast to dine on it right next to a main road. This has to have arrived here by human agency, though goodness knows why.
