Some live wildlife for a change!

We woke up to glorious sunshine this morning, so I decided to get out with the camera while the sun shone and worry about work this afternoon. Good decision, as it turned out, because the sun went in around 11 and it rained on and off for the rest of the day. Still, I went down to Port a' Chinn again and this was the view from the top:



The rabbits were out and about (the lines across the picture are sheep netting):





and I don't know who was more surprise, me or this rock pipit when it landed on a tractor tyre about 10 feet in front of me:



I climbed back up from Port a Chinn and went down to Armadale bay to check on the ringed plover family. Thanks to the wind over the past few days, the nest had been covered over with sand and I found one dead chick. But both adults were still around and getting very agitated when I went towards one area of the beach, so I'm hopeful that the other three chicks are live and kicking, although I didn't find them. I got some better shots of the parents this time:





I also saw this bird - wasn't too sure what it was and thought it might be a juvenile oystercatcher, but turns out it's actually a sandpiper:

Poulouriscaig

Poulouriscaig is a Clearances village. It was a tiny hamlet of 7 houses, built some time in the 1800s and abandoned around about 1934. This is the most intact house left of the 7:



And just to show you how different the weather can be within 100 yards of one spot, this is the same house from the reverse angle about 5 minutes later - clock that sky!



There are sheep grazing out there, but I'm not sure how much human contact they have. These were curious until I got closer than 20 feet away and then they bolted.



The walk out there is tough (for a townie!) - it took me about an hour each way even though it's only 1.5 miles away. But with skylarks singing at me all the way and views like this, which is back towards Armadale from the highest point on the track, you don't really notice the aching legs.



Now all I need to do is go up to that point at dawn with a tripod for the golden hour...

Googling Poulouriscaig to find out about it has tipped me off about a hidden waterfall through one of the caves in Port a' Chinn. Looking at the map, there appears to be a pretty big loch hidden in the hills as well, but I'm not fit enough for that walk yet.

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.

It's there, I know it's there...

Firstly, I'm proud to reveal the owner of those eggs:



- a ringed plover. It's a pretty rotten shot, but they're not very big and they can run like the clappers!

This is where I think the otter lives:



If you look at the bank, you can make out paw prints. I've spoken to some more of our neighbours now and they say they think there is one there, but there's certainly one at the other beach at the end of the road. I haven't been down there yet, so that's next on the list of places to explore. The downside is that for the best chance of seeing one, you need to go down there around 5am or earlier, and I'm not the best mornings person in the world...

I was looking at natural patterns last night. It was about half past nine when I got to the beach and the sun had lowered over the headland. So we got stripes:



and we got waves in the sand:

Missed opportunity

Another note to self: when going to the beach, even if it's only to stretch your legs and the light is no good for landscape, take the blooming camera!! I didn't today and wouldn't you know it, spotted two porpoises in the waves at the far end of the beach.

OK, so I didn't know whether they were dolphins or porpoises at first, but found this handy link, which explains the differences quite nicely.

Also seen on the beach today: the skeleton of something that might have been Daffy Duck (duck's bill, lots of black feathers still on the skull and collarbone), a couple of dark blue crab shells, part of an oyster shell, lots of gulls and whatever it is that's sitting on those eggs I took a photo of - it's NOT an oyster catcher. I still don't know what it is, but I'm trying to find out.

I'm now 95% certain that we have an otter in the burn. There's a stretch of bank with paw marks on it right next to a dug-out hole under some overhanging bushes. I'll have to get up really, really early one morning and check it out.

Today's botany lesson

If you sit on a stinging nettle with thick cord trousers on, it can still sting you.

Ow.

Sunshine on the beach

With weather like this, who needs the Caribbean?



We've been here three days now; the first day was foggy, yesterday it rained, but today has been glorious - as you can see:



We went down onto the beach and walked to the far end and back this afternoon. Although we didn't see any oystercatchers, we did see what I think are some oystercatcher eggs:



and, sadly, a sheep that had wandered off the cliff:



And I got to practise my tracking shots on the gulls again so that when I run into a buzzard, I stand a decent chance of getting a good shot!