Corncrakes and barbeques…

Today started slowly in terms of sunshine but it wasn’t long before both sky and sea were a startling blue.

Walking down to the beach we spotted a Skylark in the grass…

and near the water’s edge was a line-up of Sanderlings, with just one Dunlin!

They soon flew off and we decided to drive down to the jetty to see if they had turned up there.  The sea, by this time, was an astounding turquoise.

Some wag has put a sign up by the jetty:

No sign of the birds so we decided to walk along the beach in the direction of the campsite to see if we might meet the waders on the way.

The sand is so white that, in sunlight, the camera finds it quite difficult and more editing is needed to reduce the brightness – rather like photographing snow.

We didn’t find the Sanderlings but a small flock of Oystercatchers took to the air.

This Black-Headed Gull had a beak full of dried grasses – a bit late for nest building?

A Cormorant stood out against the bright blue sea.

We did a bit of shopping in the Co-op, including some steak for a barbeque.  At 6pm the colours are still extreme as we walked down to the beach to see if anything was around …

Nothing doing so Peter started up the barbeque in case it began to get a bit chilly.  Just as we stepped out of Bessie with our Pimms there was noise, and a Corncrake – one of Scotland’s shyest birds – shot out of some long grass nearby and bolted out of sight.  There was no time to grab the camera – it all happened in a flash.  Every evening we hear the males calling – it’s rather like someone running their fingernail down a comb – but this was the first time we had ever seen one.  Magic.  Oh, and the steak was good too!