Christine's walking & birds blog

From the pot-holed lay-by at First Coast I spotted a little group of dark ducks, but couldn't tell what they were through the bins - they were a very long way away! However the camera, taking the place of a telescope, revealed them to be common scoter.

Scanning the sea, I picked out several great northern divers and two black guillemots (still very white) and when I looked for the scoters again, they had vanished. I thought they might have gone round the headland towards Gruinard, so we drove on and Greger pulled in at the high lay-by. After much scanning I could see a larger flock of scoter, way below us and far out in the middle of the bay. One of my other pics shows sixteen individuals - but I think there were more. 

The scoter had probably come into the bay for shelter; it was certainly a horribly windy day, and the sudden rise in temperature after the cold spell didn't count for much against a pretty savage windchill. A few miles further on, Greger was able to pull into a handy lay-by as a white-tailed sea eagle drifted over.

These were new birds for the year so I don't care how bad the pics are. If people can fill the internet with poor writing (there's far too much atrocious English, when you consider that we all spend at least ten years at school studying our own language) - then I can fill it with poor pictures.

When we arrived back in Ullapool, the ferry was still in the harbour - I don't think it sailed today. I'm toying with the idea of driving back down the coast tomorrow, hoping to see the scoter again; but the A832 (the Destitution Road) is in a shocking state, with loads of pot holes on both sides. It's not too difficult to see why, with the freezing weather we've had and now the thawing, and with showers of rain to make it even worse; and on a high parking viewpoint above Little Loch Boom, road-resurfacing machinery was standing ready for the men to continue or even start work - presumably on Monday. It will take more than a day to repair that lot; and meanwhile, I don't want to wreck my suspension for the fourth time since we came to live here. In any case, the scoter will probably have gone!

Yesterday, we headed up the Dirrie Mor for a walk at the dam, but that particular lay-by hadn't been cleared for some reason; not only that, but ploughing as well as salting has taken place, with the snow pushed into brownish ramparts at the side of the road. There was no way Greger was getting in there with the Tesla - in fact he said he would have thought twice if we'd been in the Toyota. So we drove on and down to the Black Water car park again, and from the old bridge Greger pointed out an otter, bounding through the snow and then slipping into the churning water. It kept close to the bank and eventually disappeared into the trees downstream.  While scanning for crossbills I got onto a bullfinch, a handful of redpolls, and a great spotted woodpecker  - all firsts for the year. They were as distant as the crossbill had been a few days ago, so today I decided to return there while Greger drove to Inverness for some shopping.

I stopped at a different lay-by (one which has an awkward turnout) just uphill from the dam; this entailed a short stretch on the road and then a crunchy walk along the dam in snow that had a frozen crust. The tracks left by the hydro vehicles were solid ice and too slippery to walk on. The hills looked beautiful and there was a film of ice on the surface of the loch. I stood admiring the views until my feet got too cold for comfort and then trudged back to the car. No birds were seen.

I drove on to the Black Water and walked a short way along the river path, hoping for the birds we'd seen yesterday. A blackbird in the car park seemed a good start. A little way along where the path splits, all the footsteps followed close to the river - so I took the right fork (which I often do anyway, as the conifers are smaller here and mixed with birch, making it easier to spot birds) and walked through virgin snow.

I enjoyed the walk, but the only bird encountered was a great tit - and that was heard only! Back at the car park Greger pulled in on his way home to have a coffee and use the loo; he said his car had shown temperatures of minus 6 and 7 degrees on the drive out.

I headed home - and as I turned into the drive, there in the garden was a redpoll.....

.....which is one of the birds I'd gone all that way hoping to see!  

After a nearly birdless walk (one raven as we returned to the car) along Loch Glascarnoch we drove down to the car park by the Black Water. The dam is still releasing water, so the river was very dramatic. I went out onto the old bridge and scanned the tops of distant conifers in what is usually a vain search for crossbills - but today there was one! Got to have a pic, as it was first of the year.

Although not red, it could be a male; lower in the tree a grey/green female was feeding, so he might have been keeping watch.

Heading back towards home, Greger spotted the gritting truck ahead and decided to pull into the wind-farm road for a while so he wouldn't have to drive close behind it. He started to read the newspaper while I half-heartedly birdwatched from the car, but the sporadic sleety showers suddenly turned into real snow - and it was settling, fast. I suggested we get going. We made our way across the high moors - unable to see the surrounding hills covered in snow, which had been so pretty on the drive out. Just past Braemore Junction the road steepens and continues to descend for some time. The long ascent - in reverse.

There was a nice display of immature gull plumages on the quayside this grey afternoon, not least that of a white winger. 

Ardmair was busy this afternoon, with whole families going in for a swim; and far beyond them, towards the point at Rhue, a very small bird was diving. I thought it looked grebe-like, and this distant, much-cropped shot shows (I think) that it was a Slavonian grebe.

I had only driven to Ardmair as an afterthought following a morning walk from home round the village, during which the best birds were razorbills and a great northern diver on the loch.