Goshawk

When it came shooting across the small field which separates Dunrobin Castle from the sea we thought it was an impossibly fast, low-flying gull, but the minute it landed on one of the large rocks which form the sea defences we realised it was an exceptionally beautiful raptor.

It sat for some time, occasionally looking rather haughtily at us and at another couple who were also busy taking pictures before....

....its handler arrived to collect it, which he succeeded in doing by swinging a lure to attract it. He coaxed it onto his wrist, placed a hood over its head and, without looking at us, walked away.

We think its a goshawk, one of the birds that does displays for tourists when they visit the castle, but, if it is a goshawk, it's a remarkably pale-coloured one.

I felt for it. The bird had obviously enjoyed its few minutes of glorious freedom but its training had prevented it from making good its escape and flying far, far away. Watching it being returned to a state of captivity, a return to a circus-like existence and hours of effective blindness, was sad.