It's still overcast when we get up this morning and surprisingly cold. Last night was a socks on in bed night, thought we'd had the last of them. It will mean digging the winter jim-jams out again if it gets any colder!
An exposed coastal site and a wind picking up in strength coming straight off the sea doesn't help. Anyway a quiet morning in the van, keeping warm, but by lunchtime the dull, dismal cloud has lifted, there's some sunshine, not particularly strong but definitely sunshine. So stick a jumper and a wind-proof top on and go for a walk time.
We are on the RSPB site here but it is really farmland and coastal machair managed for birds, particularly the rare Corncrake. And there is a 4 mile, sort of marked walk to follow, straight from the campsite.
Machair is an environment unique to the Atlantic costs of N Scotland and Ireland. It looks like gently undulating sand dunes stretching inland from the shore, but it's not sand under the grass, it's finely powered sea shells. And it forms a great habitat for plants including some very rare ones, including rare wild orchids. And when in bloom it's is a sight to behold.
It's still a bit early yet (shame, a frog orchid would be a nice find), but here by the campsite the daisies are in abundance
But look closer it's not just daisies, in places there are colonies of the yellow wild pansies and the pink of common storks-bill
This picture of a pansy was an experiment, it was blowing a hooley, and plants were moving too much for decent photos, so I experimented with using night vision mode on my phone where I hoped its AI would sort out the image amidst the motion. I think it did a good job!
Remember a couple of days ago I posted a picture of an almost empty beach which I entitled "Two people and their dog" - well today's picture is entitled "Two people without their dog"!
Like all the pictures it has been dramatically reduced in size, bit hopefully the two people are just about visible.
On round along the top of the machair with good views of the shoreline. Flocks of dunlin turned and wheeled whilst behind them at sea were several large eider. I think, the odd ringed plover was hiding amidst a flock of turnstone. I wish I was better at gull and shore bird identification.
Oystercatchers piped everywhere, an unmistakable sound but sadly inland no unmistakable 'kreks' of the Corncrake.
A raven's next was a rare treat though
Right next to this beautiful outcrop of sea pink
On last picture from today, as we returned
Remember that night vision shot of a pansy. Well, I thought of it because I was playing with night vision last night. At around 11pm the aurora watch was yellow meaning it might just be possible to see on a photo. I hadn't got time to sort out the main camera so I tried the phone with night vision. I didn't think the cloud had lifted but worth a try. I was impressed with the result across the extremely dark campsite
By 12 the flux levels had dropped a little, so I went to sleep, missing the red alerts at 01am and 02am! Don't it always go!!
No been millage today just a 4 miles or so walk
