Greetings From Scotlands....Our week in a Scottish Highlands Cottage prior to setting sail for the Summer is halfway through and the weather has been extraordinary. We appear to be having some of the best weather in the UK thus far with the temperatures around 20c.
Our cottage looks out over an old graveyard with 'buried pirates' and out across the Cromarty Firth to view the mountains, some of which still have lying snow on them.
Yesterday from our cottage we drove out and visited Loch Ness. No sign of Nessie though! It was like home from home as we also visited The Caladonian Canal which joins Loch Ness with Loch Oich and then out onto the Cromarty Firth. No sign of any narrowboats though!
Although we haven't come to Scotland specifically for the 'birding' we always bring our binoculars, scope and camera. In truth we have actually spent a lot of the holiday though 'keeping our eye in' so to speak. You can imagine my astonishment yesterday evening when walking across to the waters edge after dinner when an aerial commotion revealed an Osprey being buzzed by several rooks! At tree top level this is by far the nearest I've ever been to an Osprey. It was astonishing. I watched in disbelief as the birds, still squabbling, flew out across the Firth. We've probably seen the same bird this morning which appears to hunt over our stretch of the Firth.
So far my birding list comprises of the usual suspects with a special mention for Black Throated Diver seen at Glen Doe Loch and Wheatear in the church yard.
Things got even better later today though when we visited the Moray Firth and RSPB Fairy Glen. We stopped enroute to see if we could spot any dolphins which frequent the Firth and was gifted with our first ever view of a wild Otter fishing just off the waters edge. An incredible sight. Later having walked the RSPB reserve we came across a pair of breeding Dipper's, another first! I managed to get some good images of a Dipper, one of which is above. Amazingly too our Orange Office Card is providing a good internet access where we are located which is another bonus and enables me to complete this post.
Can the holiday get any better?
