My Scottish Adventure (Part 4)

Kessock Bridge over the Moray Firth

Day 4 of my holiday in Scotland and we travelled east, past Loch Ness and Inverness and over the Moray Firth onto the Black Isle. Another long drive, which has been a bit of a theme of this vacation. We stopped at Chanonry Point for lunch and in the hope of seeing dolphins. Five years ago, during our last visit to Scotland, we were lucky enough to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins travelling along this part of the Moray Firth from the shore. This time, however, we had no luck spotting any dolphins, only a grey seal bobbing it's head above the waves and a jellyfish washed up on the beach.

View from Chanonry Point



Grey Seal

Jellyfish

Udale Bay

Next, we visited the RSPB hide overlooking Udale Bay. When we got there, the pleasant sunshine that we were experiencing had suddenly been replaced by a dark cloud and it started to rain. At least there were plenty to look at while we were inside the hide. This sheltered corner of the bay was teeming with birds. A large flock of gulls, mainly common and herring, covered the water's surface like a blanket of white and grey bodies. On an island at the opposite end of the bay, a sea of black and white filled a large area of it as oystercatchers pack together in a big gathering. A large gaggle of Canada geese were also swimming around in front of the mass of gulls and there were a few lapwings, wigeon and other waders and wildfowl to complete this bird-scape.

An oil rig at Udale Bay

Common Gull

Herring Gull with two Common Gulls

Greylag

Canada Goose

Oystercatchers and gulls

Linnet



Fairy Glen

Leaving the hide, the rain had finally stopped. This was good, but it meant our next stop at Fairy Glen was going to be a muddy hike than expected. It was a challenge to avoid the worst of the mud along this stretch of fast-flowing river, but despite the muddy conditions, we were still lucky enough to see a couple of grey wagtails and a dipper before reaching a couple of wonderful waterfalls. It was a challenging walk, but it was worth the effort in the end.



Dipper

The first set of waterfalls

The second set of waterfalls