Seven Weasels

We must walk along the coast path north towards John o' Groats several times each week but it's a rare occasion to see something as elusive as a weasel - which we did today, at the gate across the track at the far end of Dunrobin Castle's grounds - if only a fleeting sighting. What one does not expect is to see more weasels, which we did as we walked back, in the long grass to the right of this picture when....

....a loud squeaking, very like the noise made by young birds in a nest, drew our attention to another adult weasel, just visible above the dandelion in this snatched shot, running away from us. However, when the squeaking continued we poked around to find....

....a small face watching us, one of five young in a rough nest....

....in the long grass. 

They looked very like kittens, squirming together to find the most comfortable spot, and not too worried by our interest until....

....two of them became sufficiently concerned to find a hole, perhaps their original nest, in which to disappear.

It's interesting that both weasel adults were seen in the grass at  the back of the beach, and that the adult parent was setting off, presumably to hunt, in the direction of the shore. It's not surprising therefore that we haven't seen either oystercatchers or ringed plovers nesting along the beach this spring.