Up a hill just to see the view...

A bit of a favourite pastime when we're up here, that. And yesterday was a bit of a favourite hill, too - Rueval, on Benbecula. It doesn't start well this - the directions for the walk when you first read about it start with "Park next to the landfill site"...thankfully this isn't as grim as it sounds, and in any event you soon leave it behind. Once you get to the top and get this view, it's well worth it anyway...

We've walked right out along that track you see there - it ends up at a deserted settlement on the East Coast of the island but we've not made it quite that far yet. There's plenty to see before you start up the hill too...lots of birds for a start...

The RSPB Raptor walks used to be held here - we'd walk out along that track for an hour, stopping every so often to see what was about, and even if we didn't see much in the way of birds of prey (although we've seen everything from Short Eared Owls to Golden Eagles in the past) there were always lots of smaller birds to see - last year there were Stonechats everywhere!

Once up the hill it was the plant life that first caught our eye - with this lovely little Orchid standing out...

...A Heath Spotted Orchid we believe - there is also a Hebridean species, but this doesn't quite look right for that. The amount of wildflowers here at this time of year are just breakthtaking - the machair is covered in a beautiful carpet of daisies, birds foot trefoil and tiny little pansies, while the moors have tormentil, marsh cotton and lousewort and milkwort. Boggier areas are covered in marsh marigolds, and the ditches are full of Iris.  it's amazing, because looking at this view...

...you'd think there was very little colour in the landscape, wouldn't you!

Robyn

Frugal Friday...

No frugality today I'm afraid...instead, have some Thrift...

Sorry! (I'm having a day off!)

Robyn

A changed view, and plants that eat things!

A fairly short post today* as we’re not long in from quite a long day and I want a sit down, a beer, and my bed!  We started the day off heading south – we needed to be on South Uist this evening for the “Bird of Prey” walk so it seemed logical to make a day of it down that way. I mentioned the works being done for the new ferry terminal at Lochboisdale, and one thing we did want to do was climb the hill that overlooks the bay there to get a real overview of how far they’ve got.

All the  bits you see in the shot above between the two islands – one to the left and the other to the right of the frame – are all new, the causeways linking the several islands that will be used to reach the new terminal. It’s certainly going to look very different once the works are all complete!

On the walk we were on yesterday morning Jamie mentioned the three different carnivorous plants that can be found here, and by chance MrEH remembered to look them up in the wildlife book this morning. This had the result that when we spotted this…

…he knew that it was Butterwort. Those slightly odd looking leaves are sticky and will trap any insect foolish enough to venture into them. A little further along we saw this…

…which turns out to be Sundew – another carnivorous plant, albeit one that looks slightly more familiar as such.  Back on more familiar botanical territory, the yellow Flag Iris is gradually coming into bloom now…fingers crossed we’ll see it in its full glory before we have to leave!

Robyn

*Typed Thursday PM but posted later as the “3” signal went down on this Island.

Otters, birds, and boats...

Wow – what a day! More sunshine (sorry) and once again that was NOT what the forecast suggested. Temperatures up into the low 20’s, definitely a “suncream” sort of day!  We started off heading for one of the RSPB’s organised walks – this one was out of Langass Lodge – about a 20 minute drive away – and was with the purpose of seeing otters. Normally lead by our pal Stuart, but today “The Boss” – AKA Jamie – was in charge, and I think someone must have told the wildlife!  We got great views of otters, seals, Red Throated Divers, and a Hen Harrier among other things – all a little too distant to photograph really, but through binoculars – brilliant! What I can show you is one of the lovely views we get on this walk though – this one across to Burrival (Eaval’s little humpy mate – remember?)

After three hours of otter-watching we returned to the starting point and jumped back into the car to head down to the Island Deli on Benbecula for lunch – this had been recommended by friends who were here last week – we’d attempted to eat there last year but had arrived just minutes after a coach party so the place was packed and we gave up. This time our timing was better though and we were able to get straight in, and we were glad we did as the food was excellent! (The cake, in fact, was SO good I forgot to take a photo – sorry!) From there we wandered North again as this afternoon we had our long awaited boat trip booked. Now we’ve been wanting to do this trip for several years – first of all we came up too early in the year, then the first year we were here at the right time the boat was out of the water for maintenance, then last year Nick was away…this year however everything has worked out well and it was in some excitement we headed to Kallin Harbour on Grimsay to find the “Lady Anne”. ..

Nick introduced himself immediately we headed for the boat – he explained that although all 6of those booked were there already he was going to hang on to see if anyone else turned up as the boat easily takes more. The time was well spent as he brought out a well used Ordnance survey map to show us where we’d be heading. As it happened on this occasion we set off bang on time with just the six of us on board, but it’s good to know that we can risk heading round on the spur of the moment if we decide to go again. Things started fairly calmly with some Red Deer…

…and these Cormorants…

…and then hotted up a bit with a Great Northern diver – not massively rare, but unusual enough to be of note, and getting this close to one is fairly unusual too – normally you’re struggling to identify through binoculars!

A little further on though, we saw this…

…and then this…

…which then flew off as it got mobbed by a couple of Ravens!  We then got some of the most astonishing views imaginable – I was extremely glad to have the new camera and lens as frankly, the 40D and the older lenses would have struggled a little.

Astonishing views, and all entirely natural – these are tricky birds to see up close but Nick clearly knows every inch of the waters he takes the boat round and knows exactly where to go to get the best views and the most likely sightings.

We were out on the boat for 2 hours, and for that Nick charges £25 per person – absolutely brilliant value, frankly if we’d not seen anything much we’d still have had a wonderful afternoon out on the water, so much so that we’re considering going again next week, weather permitting! For anyone considering visiting Uist we can’t recommend the trip highly enough. Nick can be contacted via his website www.uistboattrips.com where he also has a “next week”showing what trips are going.

Robyn

(For clarity, Nick has no idea I am writing this post, this is a genuine opinion and is not in any way influenced.)

B is for...

Firstly – an apology. As I understand it *some* of you “down South” may be enjoying less than brilliant weather. If this is something you feel particularly sore about, you may prefer not to read on…only it would appear that currently we have brought the good weather over on the ferry with us! The forecast for today was mostly cloudy…bit of sun…small amount of rain. Instead we’ve had a small amount of cloud (first thing this morning) and then sun, and lovely warm temperatures too – bliss!

We headed off round to Balranald – the RSPB reserve – this morning….and that is why this is part of my “Alphabet Photography Project”series – B is for….Birds! Before we go any further then, shall I make you say “Ahhhh!” ? Ok then - try this…

…Yes, thought that would work – Lapwing Chick, there are masses of them around up here at the moment! A little further along the road we saw this Swallow…

…we’re so used to seeing them flying about but tend to forget the stunning colour of them!  Those were before we even got to the reserve and parked up, too!  Once we had we started out on the walk – one of our favourites this, a circular walk of around 4.5 miles taking in machair, sandy  beaches and rocky shores, it never disappoints – we soon arrived at the first stretch of beach and immediately saw this…

…not quite your standard gull this – much paler and with a larger, dark eye, it looks far prettier than the Herring Gulls which we’re used to seeing when we spot a gull of this size.  It’s a Glaucous Gull – not precisely rare, but not that common either, and unusual enough here that people comment on them.  It flew off not long after I took that shot, but helpfully came right overhead…

We wandered on. Terns, Pipits, A pied Wagtail, Lapwings and Oystercatchers, lots of small waders…everywhere you looked (and listened) there were birds! The nice thing is that a lot of the time the only sound you can hear is the bird calls – no traffic noise here. The first few times we came over it actually took time to get used to that, when you live and have always lived somewhere there is some form of noise around you all the time, total silence is something that your ears struggle to process.

It's not just the birds either - at this time of year the wildflowers are getting properly into full swing and  the bees are taking advantage...we spotted this stunning chap, a Moss Carder Bee, we think... 

You finish the walk on another lovely beach, and in this weather there's really no better place to be!

And there you go, that's all the "B's" I can think of. No link in this post to the rest of the challenge either - getting (and keeping) a signal up here can be hard enough I'm afraid! Tomorrow is going to start with a walk lead by a chum of ours to looks for otters. We may see them, we may not, but either way we'll have a fine old time no doubt. We're following that up with a boat trip too so fingers crossed for more lovely weather, please!

Robyn.

Wall-to-wall sunshine!

We’ve had a glorious day here in the Hebrides – pretty much wall-to-wall sunshine, and pretty warm too – MrEh has had shorts on! (Yes, those of you that know him are aware that this is not so unusual, but up here? Not so often….)

We’d not really decided exactly what we wanted to do today – just that we were heading south, down to South Uist. We were quite late getting going too, as we accidentally went back to sleep and didn’t get up until nearly 10am – oops! Once we got out though we ambled down through the islands, stopping in a few of our favourite spots to see what birds were about. We spotted a mystery raptor at one stage – we’re still not sure what it is as it doesn’t quite meet the description for ANY of the likely candidates. (Hen Harrier, Buzzard or Marsh Harrier – since you asked). Mostly though today has been about flowers – thanks to the mild winter everything here is quite a long way ahead of where we’ve seen it before – we spotted this beautiful patch of machair yesterday…

…and even the Yellow Flag Iris – which we’ve only ever just seen the start of flowering in the last few days of our visit is already showing its face all over the place. Fingers crossed it will be fully out while we’re here and you’ll get some pictures of that too!

First stop today was down at Lochboisdale where the new ferry terminal development is coming along well – they’ve got all the roads linking the small islands which will be used for access in place, and the services are going in – presumably the next stage will be the groundworks for the actual terminal itself.  Also coming along well is the little community garden we spotted last year – it’s filled out wonderfully and the chives are in full flower…

…Gorgeous, eh?  From there we drove on South to one of our favourite spots – South Glendale. Always good for an interesting bird or two, and although we saw nothing THAT unusual this time (A Goldfinch, mind you, which is our first time seeing one of those over here) there was still a pretty Willow Warbler…

…and this seriously greedy Blackbird!

From there on to Eriskay – the Southernmost island in this part of the chain, and one of 6 linked together by causeway in the middle of the Hebrides – Berneray, North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist and finally Eriskay. It’s a lovely Island, and home to the native Eriskay Pony, although we didn’t see any this time. We did climb a hill though and see this view…

…which is the opposite of the view we saw last year when we climbed the hill in the very background of that picture and looked back across Eriskay to Barra beyond.  We also saw this rather lovely Orchid…

A Heath Spotted orchid we think – although hopefully Fay might be able to confirm or correct! Orchids here are tricky as not only do they get Heath Spotted, and Northern Marsh Orchids quite prolifically, there are also several Hebridean varieties specific to these islands, and then things are complicated still further by the fact that there are hybrids of the various types too! Mosses and lichens are also prolific here and you often get masses of different types in a tiny area – like this...

…to give you an idea, I could span that area with my hand, fingers spread –amazing eh? There is at least 6, and probably more, plant species co-existing quite happily in that tiny area!  Mind you we were quite happy out there at well – the only sounds birdsong and the drone of the ferry as she made her way across the Sound of Barra back to Eriskay, and this view…

…Not so bad, is it?!

Robyn

Ps – I’ve just gone outside to post this – the signal in the cottage is tricky as the walls are 2’ thick – there is no broadband signal in the world that likes that! It’s still not only light enough to easily see what I’m doing, I could easily read a book if I was so minded – and it’s very nearly 10.30pm!

A new beach!

Evening! (or if the temperamental internet connection wasn't playing ball.....Morning! We've had a lovely day today - since we knew we'd be staying on the western side of the island this year we've been promising ourselves that so long as the weather was kind to us, we'd walk to the beach that's just half a mile or so away just as soon as we got the chance - and today was just that chance!  In the past of course we've had the option of nice walks across the moorland and up hills, but we've never actually had the beach within walking distance before.

We woke this morning to glorious weather - sunshine and bright blue skies - and knew pretty much right away that was what we were going to do - it's pretty easy - you come out of the gate (making sure to close the gate behind you, or there's a distinct possibility that you'll end up with a garden full of sheep), then turn left again along the first track you come to...

...then half a mile or so ahead you see the dunes, and just over those there is this...

Pretty good, eh?! Before that though the track itself is interesting enough - the wildflowers are just starting to come out properly, like these gorgeous Marsh Marigolds...

...Stunning eh? Birds too of course, we saw Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Meadow Pipits and Lapwings a-plenty. Several Corn Buntings too - lovely to see those as always - I believe they are still on the RSPB's red list as seriously at risk - up here though they're...if not plentiful, then in good numbers.

Also a rather lovely 1st year Wheatear - as full adults these birds are boldly marked with a streak of slate-grey along the flank, and a bright white rump - the younger birds though are far more softly marked...

Once on the beach there were more birds -mostly waders, from the larger Oystercatchers to the tiny sanderling - just coming into their summer (breeding) plumage and so pretty! Mostly you end up "herding" them along the beach as you walk - they run along ahead of you, normally just too far away to get decent photos! This one was more intent on taking a rest though...

Shells too - we wander along as a rule keeping our eyes open for pretty or unusual shells -this is why the front cup-holders on my car are full of such things of course. This time MrEH came back with about 7 of these...

...You can't really see there but they're quite big - a good 5cm from end to end - those will NOT be returning south with us, we'll leave them here at the house where we're staying for the next people to enjoy. Before you say it too there were still plenty left on the beach for others to enjoy!


Some of the patterns left in the sand here are amazing - you'd think that this...

...was actually a piece of seaweed on the sand, but no, it's just the patterning left behind as the tide has gone out and the water seeps out of the sand.

Tomorrow I think we're heading south - down to South Uist and possibly a favourite walk or two down there - there may even be a hill involved - we'll see!

Robyn

We're here!

In fact, right now, we're here...

That's our home for the next fortnight - a traditional croft house on the western side of North Uist. Weather will be no concern to us once we're tucked up in here - those sturdy looking walls area good 2' thick!

The journey up went nicely to plan for the most part - some torrential rain on the way up the A1, and then an unexpected set of roadworks closing the road (thanks Highways Agency for NOT telling us about that one!) a little further meant we arrived at our overnight stop 30 minutes later than planned. The weather for the drive through yesterday was good though - the crossing from Mallaig to Armadale on Skye was windy but gloriously sunny, and once there we explored a little more of Skye, called at the Isle of Skye Brewery shop as planned to collect some beer...

...and were waiting at the ferry terminal at Uig in plenty of time for our crossing to Lochmaddy...which was when we found out that MV Hebrides was running rather late and in fact wasn't even expected to arrive at Uig until 15 minutes after we were supposed to have left! In fact she eventually set off very nearly an hour late which was a little frustrating! Unusually for us we spent the crossing inside too - it was raining, not hard but a persistent sort of drizzle, and quite choppy, so we grabbed a prime spot in the Observation Lounge and just relaxed in the warm and dry!

Our first night accommodation was at the campsite at Carinish again - we'd booked a room in the bunkhouse this year and what a good choice that was - the facilities are fantastic and we'd be delighted to stay there again ourselves and indeed recommend to others - Moorcroft Holidays is the name of the site should anyone be looking for somewhere low-cost but well appointed for a short break on Uist. There was one other chap also staying - and in the spirit of bizarre coincidences we discovered after a while of chatting that in fact he used to run a hire company on the Island of Barra, and around 12 years ago we hired one of his cars!

After a lazy start this morning we trundled round to find the house, unpacked the car, then whizzed out again to our very favourite cafe for lunch - the Claddach Kirkibost centre. Not only for lunch though - we'd arranged to meet Twitter friends Jo & Stu before they headed off to get their ferry home - they've just enjoyed a week staying up here and have already expressed a definite wish to return - it was absolutely lovely to meet them especially as we'd thought until the very last minute that it wouldn't be possible. As I type this they're on M.V.Hebrides returning to Uig - also running 30 minutes late!

OK - time now to relax for a bit. Now I know there is a signal here blogging will be easier this year - even if I do have to come upstairs to get a signal strong enough!

Robyn

Frugal Friday...

As you've probably gathered from the Hebrides Countdown posts, we'll fairly shortly be heading off North for this year's trip to our favourite fantastic islands - and we can't wait! It's such a fabulously relaxing place to spend time - and of course it's great to see our Hebrides friends again too - they seem to grow in numbers each and every year! Of course, one of the reasons why the holiday is so relaxing is that we know we're not going to come home to the position of having to spend the next few months paying off what we've spent - our advance budgeting and saving makes sure of that.

We sit down when we get home each year and work out where our budget for that year has worked, where it's proved a bit tight, and where - if anywhere - we've over-budgeted. This allows us to adjust figures where required, and then work out what we need to set aside each month for the following year's trip. This year for example the Diesel budget has increased a bit as last year we came in at about £30 over the figure we'd allowed. Having said that, changing our base for the fortnight to the western side of the island should mean there is a saving to be made there as where we've stayed before, we've been 5 miles from the nearest "main" road - meaning essentially 10 miles at least each day of "dead mileage" just getting back onto the beaten track, as it were. Our base this year is just 3.5 miles from the pub, and about the same to the RSPB reserve, and bearing in mind we spend a fair amount of time at both, that's a lot of mileage saved! It'll be interesting to see how our mileage figures for this year compare. In case you're wondering, we set the mileage counter to zero as we set off from home, and then note how many miles we've travelled, the average Miles Per Gallon, average speed and gallons of fuel used once we get home - we're not wasting valuable time while we're there working our all these figures! As we generally cover about 2,500 miles over the fortnight, and use around 40 gallons of fuel, knowing how much we need to budget for this is pretty important.

We spend mostly cash while we're there - with a few exceptions - diesel gets put on the cashback card, and grocery shopping, as both of these have their own budgets and they money will be sitting in the Holiday account waiting for the bill to arrive. Meals out, tea & cake, and the occasions we just pop into the shop for a few odds and ends come from our spending money, which we withdraw £100 at a time in cash. By avoiding putting £20 here and £10 there on the card, it's easy to keep track of what we're spending, and to know that everything is covered. Usually the balance payable for the cottage will have come out of the account by now - this years is to paid at the end of the fortnight though so we'll need to transfer that over as and when it's required.  We're taking the bags of change from MrEH's road-kill findings and our change pig with us - Elisabeth at the pub will change those into notes for us, and that will cover our first few days spending without even having to visit the cashpoint, and I shall be continuing to save any £2 coins I get while we're there, so those will return with me!

The other issue we do have around taking a long holiday like this is the fact that, with me being self-employed, when I'm not working, I'm not earning. This year both my May and June invoicing will be affected by this - with both coming in substantially short of the "standard" figure for a month. Again though, a bit of thinking ahead can help to cope with this - I set aside sufficient for tax & NI through the year that I know for these two months I can get away with not putting anything aside - I know there's enough money in the tax account already to cover what I will have to pay in July, so no need to stress about that. In addition one of my clients said that they were happy to let me work extra hours for them beforehand - and I managed to accrue extra to the tune of 2 full days that way. OK, it's still some way off a "normal" month, but it certainly helps! I'll scan my invoice and set it to email through to the clients in my absence, so payment shouldn't be an issue either - again, a bit of forward planning goes a long way!

There are other ways you can help the cost of a holiday along too just by way of a bit of planning - thinking about using up all the food you have in your fridge before you leave, for example, so plan your meals carefully for the last few weeks and be scrupulously careful with your shopping list to only buy what you need, rather than shopping from habit and then finding you've got stuff left over which needs throwing away. Think carefully about freezers too - if the worst should happen and it defrosts itself while you're away, do you really want to have left it packed full with expensive food? Ours will be run down to basics - and what is left in there will be packed as tightly as possible into the smallest possible area - if we have empty drawers we'll put plastic bottles filled with water in there, and scrunched up- newspaper, as this way the freezer will run more efficiently while we're gone. Electrical items - if they can be turned off, TURN THEM OFF! Don't stop at just flicking the switch either - things like computers, monitors, printers and TV's can use power even when they're officially "off" - so switch off at the wall and pull the plugs. Just taking a few minutes to wander round each room in the house before you set off can pay dividends - the less electrical items with plugs in the wall when your home is empty, the safer it is, in any event, and of course the more you're reducing the "base running cost" of your home.

We refuse point-blank to spend our precious fortnight scrutinising every penny, and planning in advance means we don't have to. We still don't throw cash around or spend for the sake of it while we're there - that's just not what we do and that habit doesn't change just because we're on holiday. We enjoy cooking, and we enjoy cooking together, so we're happy to cook a fair proportion of our main meals while we're away - I think we'd both get very bored, rather quickly, with eating out the whole time! If we want to stop for tea and cake though, or have a "posh picnic" with good bread and some of the delicious locally smoked salmon, for our lunch, we do so, and if we fancy a meal out, we do that too. Thankfully, we don't then have to spend several months counting the cost!

Robyn

A is For...

I confess, I usually run like the plague from those themed blog things - it's not that I don't want to join in, it's that I know I'll get so far with it, and then forget, and the it'll all be spoilt and everyone will hate me. Well no, not really. It's really that I'll get so far with it and then forget, and then I'll feel like I've failed.  Well you know what - who cares? A good friend of mine has just got to grips with embarking on something she's been thinking about for ages. Years pretty much. And she finally confronted her demons over that whole "expectations" thing - what will other people think, what will people say if....you know the ones. So this, on a smaller scale, is ME confronting MINE.

So - the idea - it's called the Alphabet Photography Project and has been started by Podcast - you'll find their "A" on that link. Which scuppered me for a moment, as my first thought was an "abandoned" picture too. I'm sure there's no rules against me choosing the same, but no, I wanted mine to be something different to any others I'd seen - it would have felt like cheating otherwise. I also wondered if it's possible to so far as possible make my posts on this theme about things that for whatever reason make me happy. That sort of links in with #100DaysHappy - another thing I've not joined in with.

So.....A - is for Aquilegia.

Beautiful, delicate flowers, coming in all manner of colours - I love them and when I see one for sale, in full bloom, I can rarely resist  buying it. As a result, our little strip of flower garden is full of the things - which, at this time of year, makes me smile each and every time I go out there. Now that's GOT to be a good thing, hasn't it!

Robyn

Hebrides Countdown...

Not long now until we will be on the boat above, passing through just those same waters - this is Calmac ferry MV Hebrides approaching Lochmaddy. In fact she's not the only ferry in this picture either - look carefully in the sea in the top right quarter of the pic and you'll see a small white and black dot - that is MV Loch Portain - the boat that links Berneray (and, via Causeway, North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist) with Harris and Lewis.

Before getting to the point above there is a long drive - 634 miles, to be exact, broken overnight in Carlisle, then on up to Mallaig where we catch our first ferry of the holiday - MV Coruisk, to Armadale on Skye. If all goes to plan we'll have enough time for a little potter about on Skye on the way through, then on to Uig - which is the boarding point for the boat this post started with! Our first night on Uist will be spent in the bunkhouse at the Carinish campsite, before we take our temporary ownership of this year's Hebridean home the following afternoon.  We're looking forward to so much about the trip - and hopefully if the internet connections play ball I'll be able to blog about it as usual. Cross your fingers for good weather for us if you will - we do enjoy a nice first day beach and paddle, as you know!

Robyn

Orkney Wild (and not so Wild) Life...

I promised another post with pics from Orkney didn't I? well as I was going through some more of them tonight I thought I'd make the next one wildlife themed. To kick us off here's a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly - these were absolutely everywhere while we were there - far more common than at home - and this particular one was at Kirkwall, fluttering alongside us as we walked...

The symmetry of colour and pattern on butterflies always fascinates me - they're like those inkblot things where you get patterns duplicated exactly - only nature does it so much better!

Staying in Kirkwall for a bit, we found this juvenile Herring Gull sitting atop a lamp-post on the harbourside - I suspect he was casing the joint for returning fishing boats!

A little further along this Pied Wagtail was sitting waiting to be photographed - car-park birds, we call them, as that seems to be their usual habitat, darting around seeing what they can find to eat, with that characteristic jerky, dashing walk, and the ever bobbing tail that gives them their name.

I can't do a wildlife related post without including the Long Tailed Ducks, can I now? Yes, still just as odd-looking as you can see - particularly "Mr" who looks like he's gone a little overboard with his stage makeup.  You can clearly see the "long tails" there though...

Now, the next day and a walk on the beach with Fay and the dogs. Our attention was caught by this little bird - one of a group on the rocks at the top of the beach...

...we puzzled over it for a while - it certainly wasn't any of the things we normally expect to see on a beach - Pipits, small waders, wagtails....yet it was familar, MrEH and I were sure we recognised it. I finally managed to get close enough to get a couple of clear shots we were able to zoom into for a better look...

...and yes, it came to us in a flash - Snow Bunting! A lovely unexpected bird for our list - we last saw one of these on the Island of Lewis a few years ago I think.

We weren't disappointed on the wader front either - lots of Oystercatchers...

...plus Turnstones,  Ringed Plover, and a few others that we couldn't get close enough to identify for certain.

However, birds weren't the only "wildlife" on this beach....look...

Yep - that's a Haggis, looking for mischief! And where there's a Haggis, the birds tend not to stand still for long...

Off go the Oystercatchers - but that's all the better for getting nice pics of them in flight, I guess. Ummm....thanks Haggis?!

Robyn