The agricultural land in the foreground is called the Dairy Park because it was once grazed by the cows which provided Dunrobin Castle with its milk but for the last couple of years it's been down to oats, a crop which is sufficiently important to the castle's economy that it was prepared to risk a contretemps with some local people who objected to the old north road, which ran the length of the field and is now a popular footpath, being moved closer to the shore.
Despite the soil being exceptionally sandy, the area having been covered by the sea at one time, it seems to produce a reasonable crop, this year's having just been gathered. The trees mask a steep slope which is an ancient cliff-line. Other pasture fields, particularly at Golspie Tower, have also been ploughed up for oats, some say because they are becoming increasingly popular in the manufacture of vegan milk.
As we walked the field in bright sunshine this morning skein after skein of pink-footed geese were on their way north, passing over exceptionally fast as they had a good following wind. One wonders whether, if the field were less frequented by walkers and their dogs, the geese would have landed to feed on the oat grains left from the harvest.
If the geese are now well settled for the winter, other species are just arriving. This is the first sighting of turnstones since earlier this year, which were feeding on the Diary Park beach in the company of oystercatchers, curlews and crows. We await the arrival of the ringed plovers and redshanks which are the other winter residents along this shore.
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