A new location

The weather's been changeable this week and I've been working, so I've not been out much. On Wednesday I turned right out of the gate instead of left and went to Port a' Chinn, which is a little cove hidden away at the far end of Armadale:



The beach is rocky and an absolute bugger to walk on, but the colours in it are fantastic:



There's a lot of wildlife around here - neighbours have told me that this is where I'm most likely to see an otter if I go in the early morning and the ripped-apart seabird I found (gory ribcage and all - it was a pretty fresh kill) would seem to indicate they're right. But the only thing I saw on Wednesday was a family of Eider ducks crossing the cove:



At the risk of becoming known as the wildlife photographer who only photographs dead wildlife, I also found two dead birds at the foot of the cliff. It was a really blustery day, so I'm guessing they got gusted into the rock and killed instantly. One was a guillemot (and I identified that and the Eider duck by myself, so I'm learning!):



and I don't yet know what this is, but I've asked on the birdwatching section of Caithness.org who were the ones who worked out the ringed plover for me:



I now have a car (hooray!) and Mick starts work next week, so I can beetle off once I'm done with work and chores and go exploring a bit more. I want to go to the Caithness/Sutherland border, where there's supposed to be a stack with puffins nesting on it, and I want to drive down to Brough and see if the seals are still there. Three orca whales were spotted by a fisherman 3 miles out from Thurso last week, but my lens isn't that powerful ;o)

The next expedition though, if the weather holds, will be this afternoon to Poulouriscaig, an abandoned settlement on the coast a mile and a half up a track from Armadale.