Saturday, March 18, 2023
I drove to Ardmair and for a change, pulled into the lay-by at the nearest end, by the houses. Glancing over to the fields, I could see something pale down near the sheep trough (which was sort of behind me) and realised this rather muddied bird was an Iceland gull.
I can't count the times I've sat in my car in the rain at Ardmair, trying to snap something on the sea with the window open and getting myself, the car interior, and the optics soaking wet. This would be expected with prevailing westerlies; but now there was an interesting bird on the other side of the road - and blow me down if the rain wasn't coming from that direction! There was much swearing and wiping of lenses, but such an encounter on a dull day, I reflected, wasn't to be sneezed at. The gull was evidently worming, as one picture caught it with something longish and snaky in its bill.
Yesterday: We drove south down the coast to Aultbea. Once again there were loads of black-throated divers on Loch Ewe, with more individuals showing advanced breeding plumage than last time.
Closer in, a great northern diver surfaced with a frighteningly large crab (well, it would frighten me if I had just caught that in my mouth!).
To put the hugely cropped picture into context, this is the view from the lay-by unzoomed - and the scoters were about half-way between us and Gruinard Island.
