The Bench

About half a mile along the coast track that joins Golspie to Dunrobin Castle and points further north there's a bench which, in our increasing old age, we use more and more frequently. It overlooks....

....a gap in the jumbled, seaweed-covered rocks that form the lower beach which was once exploited by man when a jetty was built.

As well as the opportunity to take the weight off one's feet, the bench is the perfect place to watch wildlife along the shore, so from it we regularly see waders such as oystercatchers, curlews and redshanks as well as the occasional more exotic bird such as an osprey; a family of otters is also supposed to visit, though we have yet to see it.

Today, despite a stiff breeze and raindrops in the air, we sat and watched a family of shelduck who were close in to the beach where they could easily access the seaweed on the rocks. It consisted of....

....the proud but justifiably very nervous parents - plenty of dogs are walked along the shore - and....

....five youngsters, of which four can be seen here.

Each time walkers passed the parents shepherded their brood out into the safety of deeper water then, as soon as the coast was clear, brought them back to their feeding grounds. Watching them, they seemed to us to be the perfect caring parents.