One of the ongoing interests in moving to a place which we don't know at all well is seeing how the seasons develop. Certainly, our first May in Golspie didn't bring the stunning weather which can, sometimes, grace the normally very damp west coast, but June here, so far, has seemed almost like a return to a warm sort of winter, with haar rolling in off the North Sea, occasional spells of miserably wetting drizzle, and temperatures which struggle to rise into the mid-teens.
We've spent some time walking in the woodland below Beinn Bhraggie, looking out towards the beach which stretches southwest from Golspie towards Loch Fleet, not only wreathed in mist but also limited in access by high tides in the morning.
From the number of times we see them we're becoming aware of how many roe deer inhabit these woodlands and of how disdainful they are of human contact, even though most humans seem to be accompanied by a dog or two. This young stag hardly bothered to amble out of sight when he spotted us, and we've been watching two deer which come in the evenings into the grassy area by our house, often at a time when people are giving their dogs their last walk before bed.
We've also been walking instead north along the coast, along the beach below Dunrobin Castle where lines of slowly rotting posts and....
....beautifully dressed blocks of the local sandstone bear witness to structures which have steadily been eaten by the sea. We've been aware of, without actually locating the nests of both ringed plovers and oystercatchers along this beach but yesterday....
....we had the pleasure of seeing the first product of these nesting efforts: half a dozen or so young plovers running around the beach. We're amazed, as the area is crawling with crows, so the parents have done a commendable job in keeping their youngsters safe.
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