Haar at Littleferry

It was supposed to be a gloriously sunny morning today but our visit to Littleferry, timed to coincide with the incoming of a very low tide, was marred by the haar - a sea mist - rolling in across the beach. Not that there was much to see on or off the wide expanse of sand, just a few rafts of eider offshore, some gulls, and a cormorant and six oystercatchers in the entrance to Loch Fleet.

When the sky cleared it was empty of swallows and martins, many of which have already departed on their long migration south, though a few swallows appeared later catching insects low across the water.

So the few things of any interest were on the calcerous soils of the links. We've seen this wildflower before but never identified it. It's perennial sow-thistle, Sonchus arvensis, which seems to grow most happily in the dunes close to the beach.

The white autumn gentians have made another attempt to flower but, as last year, they don't look at all happy - picture shows one of the few specimens which wasn't tinged with brown - and we didn't find any of the purple-flowered variety.

There were few birds to be seen on the links, a pair of stonechats being a cheerful exception, and the only butterflies were a couple of red admirals which, along with the bees, were enjoying the ling.

We do enjoy the walking at Littleferry, this area being part of the Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve but, to be honest, there's currently more in the way of wildlife variety to be seen on the walk we do along the coast from our house towards Dunrobin Castle.