Loch Fleet

 

We walked the north shore of Loch Fleet this morning, through Balblair woods, finding the mudflats largely deserted of wildfowl with the exception of a small flock of pink-footed geese: half a dozen shelduck, a few remaining eider, a curlew or two.

I can't understand this. Judging by the worm burrows this must be a very rich environment for ducks and waders. Where are they all?

The only thing we found of interest along the shore were a few oyster shells, all very old and degraded but suggesting there are, or were, oyster beds out in the loch.

The woods were much more cheerful, full of the sound of willow warblers - though still no chiffchaffs - chaffinches, wrens, robins and other small song birds, but the highlight was an unusually close encounter with a tree creeper.

These small, unassuming birds start at the base of a treetrunk and work their way upwards, using their tail to help leverage as they probe for insects in the cracks in the bark. When they reach the top of a tree, they fly down to the bottom of the next. They're usually quite shy but this one ignored us.

Despite the deteriorating weather we walked to the usual little gravel point with its view down the loch towards the sea. The gravel supports a small meadow which is a wealth of wildflowers in summer but it's also the place where we first saw ospreys - and....

....two flew over again today. That this happened so soon after we emerged into the open, as it did last July - see post here - almost suggests that they came over to check on us before flying off to the north.