Day 5

Monday April 29

Destination Portsoy. Well, via Tesco again, my new mouse arrived and it needed AAA batteries - I'd only brought AA as that is all I knew we needed.

There were big warnings of road closures at Fochabers but it didn't affect us as that is where we take the coast road to our first stop, Spey Bay.  The Scottish Dolphin Centre here attracts many visitors, we go for a different reason. It's possible to park so that I can scope the fairly distant waters of the Spey river estuary with its many shingle and vegetation islands. We were not disappointed. I counted at least 18 Goosanders either loafing on the shingle or making sorties onto the water. It was silly to try a photograph, when did that ever stop me.

 


Portsoy has a very attractive harbour area - harbours really. The "old harbour" dates to the 17th century and is the oldest on the Moray Firth. The "new harbour" was built in 1825 for the growing herring fishery, which at its peak reached 57 boats. Nowadays, it's just a sleepy reminder of its busy past.

Pam parked near the sea wall so that I could scope over the top. The first bird I saw was a Rock Pipit on top of the wall.

 

 The second was a Great Northern Diver in summer plumage. As I lifted my scope for a better look, it disappeared never to be seen again. Very little else to be seen on a calm sea in a temperature of 11C. There was a catamaran holding eight passengers cruising further out, looking for the White-billed Divers? There haven't been any recent reports, we gave up and drove back to Cullen for another seawatch. 

Via an old fashioned icecream shop Pam spotted earlier. It only sold a dozen flavours of icecream and old fashioned sweets. I had a chocolate cone, Pam her usual honeycomb. After eating it, we parked way out in a desolate area from which we could view the sea well. More emptiness. Careful scanning and patience brought views of another Great Northern Diver, Guillemots, two  Black Guillemots, Long-tailed Ducks, Shag and Cormorant. A flight of Kittiwakes passed by out to sea, two Common Terns hastened through.

We couldn't resist another visit to Burghead, going directly to the western end. More Long-tailed Ducks and Guillemots with Gannets passing by throughout our stay.  Then, the highlight of the day, several Bottle-nosed Dolphins showed out to sea. Fins and bodies showed occasionally as they passed. 



After they'd passed us, there were several breeches with whole animals showing as they leapt into the air. Chasing herring a local said. Magical. And so unexpected.

We made the short drive home to find that my USB extension socket for my new mouse had arrived. That will make work a lot simpler.Apart from one short shower it's been dry all day.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 12

Image
 Monday May 6 Most of the morning was occupied getting in touch with the car insurance people and then Autoglass - then waiting for Autoglass to get back to us.  A  stone chipped our windscreen on the way through Skye, since then its become a one foot plus horizontal crack on Pam's side. End result. We take the car to Lewis or Skye or wait until we get home. The garage here 'doesn't have the equipment to deal with the sensor in the front screen'. Ian, Heather's husband, says he does them all the time! Ah well, live with it.  Almost the first bird we saw as we drove north was a lovely male Hen Harrier. It was distant but I had to try, one of these days I'll get a decent photo. Original photo before editing, taken with 500mm lens    Edited     As we drove down to Loch Paible, a flock of fifteen Whimbrel dropped in to the near corner.We needed to turn the car, by which time the birds had gone, this Wheatear posed nicely for me.    A short d...
Read more

Moth Migration

Image
 Wednesday October 9 Like birds, moths migrate when the season and weather conditions are right. Recently, we have had easterly winds with a mouth watering fall of birds which we have been unable to walk and see. Many Yellow-browed Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warbler in Shetland, a possible Amur Stonechat and an Asian Desert Warbler in Norfolk. Our moth traps have had a reasonable sprinkling of the migrant moths - although some could be breeding here by now. Palpita Vitrialis Scarce Bordered Straw Delicate   and Rusty Dot Pearl
Read more

Day 19

Image
  Monday May 13   The day started slowly and ended at a gallop. A morning spent doing chores meant an even later start than usual, well past mid-day. Loch Druidibeg was the intended destination but we missed the turning and ended up at Loch Eynort. Both are in South Uist, but Druidibeg is not signposted on the northern approach. We even found a parking space in the small six car parking area, where we sat looking at a pretty empty sea. Eventually, Red-breasted Merganser, Shags, a Great Northern Diver and an Otter on the sea and Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Cuckoo, and a Lesser Redpoll from the small wood alongside. AS we reversed away, Pam noticed the reg plate on the car beside us. It was WOC, Ian and Sue's car. We left them a note and drove on in the rain. We found Druidibeg this time. RSPB Scotland Loch Druidibeg, a community nature reserve formed in partnership with local crofters and the community estate. It is a Special Protection Area and Site...
Read more