Foraging Along the Foreshore

Moving somewhere new, as we did three years ago when we came to Golspie, brings with it the bonus of the excitement of discovering all its wildlife. Some of it may be old friends, like the curlew you might be able to find in this photograph. However, the longer one stays in one place the less likely it is that one will bump into something new - but this did happen yesterday.

We've seen what we were told were bar-tailed godwits at a distance foraging round the edge of Loch Fleet but yesterday's sighting was the closest yet - though sadly it didn't hang around to introduce itself and make friends.

And here's another first from yesterday, a sight that was not uncommon on the west coast but is much less so here: a man collecting what the Scots call 'whelks' amongst the slippery rocks exposed at low tide. In fact this is a little confusing - the shellfish being collected is the English 'winkle'.

It's backbreaking work but a few years ago a full bag - one can be seen on the right of the picture - used to be worth over £100. The price varied with the seasons, rising as we approached Christmas, the main market being Mediterranean countries.