Lapwings

This morning we walked the length of the long ribbon of woodland at the centre of which stands Dunrobin Castle. At one time there must have been extensive planting of a variety of trees - along this short section we identified sweet and horse chestnut, oak, sycamore and lime - so anyone with a better knowledge of trees would much enjoy this walk.

However, we found plenty to interest us, including....

....this, the only bee at work on a rather cool, overcast and breezy morning. I have no idea what it is but its buzzyness, small size and bright orange colour made it a pleasure to watch.

We also revisited this spectacular fungus which is now getting on for twice the size it was when we first found it at the end of May - see post here. It's dryad's saddle, seemingly the only fungus that's growing - and thriving - in the woods at the moment.

The northern marsh orchid that Mrs MW found on the same walk is a now a beauty but the thirty or so other orchids that should be flowering around it have yet to appear, so one wonders why this one felt the urge to flower so much earlier.

At the end of the woodland the path drops down a steep bank - once the old cliff line - to pasture fields beside one of which is an old shipping container. From it we were heckled by this oystercatcher which, very sensibly, must be nesting close by. I say 'sensibly' because it seems to us that the oystercatchers nesting along local beaches suffer constant disturbance from humans, crows and dogs while this one's nest amongst the tangle of grasses and shrubs would be nigh impossible to find.

However, our amusement at being so scolded by this bird led us to hear the call of another, the very characteristic call of....

....a lapwing, also called a peewit or green plover.

We've seen lapwings around Loch Farlary but this is the first we've found near Golspie. Better still, there was a pair and, from the way they joined the oystercatcher in a - much more genteel - scolding of us, they have a nest nearby. We wish them every success - the UK conservation status of lapwings is red!