This morning I trudged up the long, dusty dirt road to Loch Lunndaidh under a bright blue sky and with a light wind at my back, to find....
....the water several inches down from the levels I saw last time I was up there.
A small flock of about six swallows were drinking as they flew low across its surface, and then landing on one of the fences to preen themselves. I was pleased to see them as I think we have worryingly fewer swallows and martins this year than in previous years.
Downstream from the weir the local water board is allowing just enough of the precious liquid through to keep the Culmailly burn flowing. I spent some time standing on the footbridge watching the ripples where small brown trout were rising when a flash of blue....
....caught my eye. The kingfisher - and it took some moments for me to believe my eyes - even landed a few yards downstream to give me just enough time to take its photograph before it dashed off downstream.
This is the first kingfisher we've seen in over twenty-five years in Scotland, and any distribution map will show that they are not generally found in Sutherland, so I was absolutely thrilled to see it, but....
....seeing it raised so many questions. Has the dry weather driven kingfishers to move out of their main areas? Now it's here, what are the chances of it staying? Or, has it been here all the time and I just didn't notice it?
All I hope now is that this beautiful bird stays here.
Amazing
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