Christine's walking & birds blog

The sky was blue and the sun was shining this morning, so despite the wind we walked down to Shore Street. There were quite a few other people around, enjoying the blustery conditions. It's difficult to convey strong wind in a still photo unless there are gigantic waves, but the outer pontoon seems to be giving the marina some protection, although the boats closest to us were rocking madly.

Now, back home, it's raining as well as blowing, so nothing will entice me out again. Yesterday, I drove up to the Braes, but I'd only just left the car when I heard a familiar high call and looked up to see two peregrine falcons. I think this is a juvenile, as the breast is quite dark and streaked....

.....while this, with a paler, barred breast, is an adult.

Terrible pics, but these are the first peregrines I've seen for a long time. I then walked out to the viewpoint (the rocky outcrop in the trees to the left of the picture) and immediately spotted some dolphins.

This time, I drove straight back down to the village to get closer to the action and ended up at the camp-site point, where a small crowd had gathered - but as far as pictures go, I think I actually got better ones yesterday from 100 metres above the loch!