Friday, April 28, 2023

It was sunny but windy on the Coigach peninsula, where a pair of common scoter gave slightly closer views than those I saw earlier in the year.


I spotted my first great skua of 2023 having a bathe in its customary place from the car; bonxies were hard hit by avian flu last year, so every one I see will be a bonus. On our few trips out here during the winter, I noticed great black-backed gulls bathing here in Loch Vatachan rather than in the loch where I'm used to seeing them. Today, the skua had its bathing quarters to itself - but as I drove past Loch Camas an Fheidh I was amused to see a number of great black-backs spiralling down to land on the water where they usually congregate. Not like them to give way!

At Old Dornie two common sandpipers were new for the year, and I watched a croaking raven repeatedly dive-bombing a buzzard on a high rocky ledge; the buzzard raised its wings and mewed in protest at each attack until the raven desisted and landed a short distance away, when both birds fell silent. I'm with the buzzards on this one; I've always seen them here, but these are the first ravens I've noticed on these particular crags.

A black-throated diver was an unexpected sighting on a smallish loch.


The first flowers of bogbean were emerging on the roadside pool where I first saw them.


Bogbean flowers (I read somewhere - can't remember where) come in two forms - pin and thrum. It depends on which is longer - the stamens or the style. Oh blimey, I thought - stamens, styles, stigmas - I vaguely knew these were all parts of a flower but didn't know which was which. I'm a bit more clued-up now - which means I'm a bit less ignorant than before! I keep getting the names mixed up and having to learn them all over again; but I'm fairly confident that the flower above is the pin form. 

// posted by Christine @ 1:26 PM
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