Sea Watch

Before I talk about the sea watch today, a little update on the Caper.  It's still roaming around the gardens of East Nairn, eating pine needles and fruit.  It nearly came a cropper on the A96 by Sainsbury's, but thanks to a caring driver an an observant bus driver it manged to walk across un-hurt!

Here it is on a garden wall!!

The Brent Geese are back!  Now, I know lots of you have already seen them - but I haven't, until today.  Friends have told me they have seen around 30 of them foraging along the rocky beach by the golf course (their usual haunt), but I still haven't seen them there.  I was over at Whitness and saw them feeding among a large flock of Oyster Catchers on the inlet next to the flooded waters.  I suspect they have been much scarcer this year due to a shortage in their main food source.

Here they were last year down by the golf course.

With the high tide this lunch-time I was able to get great views of a flock of Long-Tailed Ducks, as well as well as the ever-present Eiders; all a bit too far to get a respectable photo, but below is a pic of an Eider at Burghead Harbour that I took a few weeks ago (I know it's cheating a little - but the quality is much better when they are this close!).

The Goldeneye have been here all winter, and today I saw 14 Shellduck; these are very elegant ducks.  Not great quality photos, but you get the picture!

Cheers