Stop, Look, Listen

Today we went with friends to Littleferry and were disappointed - and not a little concerned - at the lack of bird life along the shore: a few oystercatchers, gulls, crows, cormorants and, singing lustily high above the links, skylarks. So we walked and talked and, as we were standing around the car readying ourselves to leave I was still apologising for the lack of birds when....

....one of our companions spotted three large birds high above us. One was quickly identified as a buzzard but, after some hesitation, we realised that the other two were ospreys, one of which....

....was almost certainly carrying something in its talons.

As we stood, looking up, watching the ospreys move away, we saw a swift. I didn't have time for a picture but spotting it was very exciting: it's the first swift we've seen since we've been in Golspie.

Then, a couple of minutes later as we stopped on our way home to enjoy the view, a skein of Canada geese flew by, dropping down to land on Loch Fleet. We haven't seen Canada geese in ages.

All of which goes to prove that, if one wants to see wildlife, one needs to stop, look around, stop talking, and listen.