A test to see if all Greger's hard work getting the Applemac updated has been successful:
These were two of seven black-throated divers which flew down into Achnahaird Bay on Friday. As I drove around through Polbain and beyond, my dash-cam picked up a merlin before I saw it....
It then swept down the slope evidently, because I spotted it as it crossed the road and went jinking out above the moorland, chasing a probable meadow pipit. I braked and had a good naked-eye view of the merlin, which was brown - so probably a juvenile. I lost both birds but then a meadow pipit landed on the ground near my car, looking rather nervous! I might have cost the merlin its meal, but it could have been worse. What struck me was the speed of the chase, and how close to the ground the merlin was flying, crossing the ditch really low and just skimming the surface of the road - thank goodness I didn't hit it.
