October 15th and it feels like a long time since we last visited. It's getting colder, Winter making a presence felt but we set off on a grey, dreich day which turned into a very nice one as we passed by Newtonmore, as it often does.
I went out for a walk with mum that afternoon, no camera! and we headed into Inverness the following morning so it wasn't until the 16th evening that I got a walk with the cameras.
I drove up to the sports field area as usual and parked there, just a good location to start and end a walk, for me, then out onto the shore.
Ardersier to Fort George panorama
It was a kind of dreich evening but kind of nice light, certainly lots of subtle colour in the sky. Inverness is just about directly below the sun in the panorama shot above.
There was a Black-backed Gull standing on the end of the pipe on the left.
Looked to me like it was checking out its own reflection, I've seen birds do that quite often, then it plopped down into the water and drifted off.
I didn't see a great deal else as I walked towards the fort and down the ramp, a pair of fungi growing side by side did catch my eye though. I'm always on the lookout for fungus :)
Shaggy Ink cap
Fungus can make great photo subjects.
Onwards and round the shore line where I spotted a bird well out into the channel. I thought it was a Diver at first, it was too far to get a good look at in the low light but, when I got some shots, it turned out to be a Guillemot, a Black Guillemot I think, changing colours.
I was still walking, looking and grabbing random shots in the hope of getting a few usable ones.
Of course, it took off and headed away down the firth.
It was still really quiet, not a lot of activity at all but that's fine, I enjoy the walk and the peace anyway.
A small flock of Oystercatchers headed my way so I tried my hand at tracking them and got a few decent shots, got to admit the modern mirrorless cameras make this a lot easier.
I think it was as I was photographing them that I spotted a couple of dolphins cruising just off the shore so I switched my attention out there for a while.
I reckon there were four, a couple looked smaller, maybe youngsters?
Of course, I wasn't quite looking when ...
One quick jump. I'm sure they know when you're not ready :)
They turned back towards the channel, heading out and disappeared.
Sea rocket near the fort
There are all sorts of plants and creatures in these area, this Sea Rocket just caught my eye.
Once I got out onto the point I just stood enjoying the tranquility for a while.
This wee bit of beach is constantly changing and there's often birds dotted around it. If you look closely above, there's a wee bump on the block on the right .....
A wee Rock Pipit exploring in the seaweed for tasty morsels. So easy to miss them as they blend in so well. I started to walk down onto the sand to get closer and noticed there was a couple of them.
The one on the pipes kept foraging there and another, even closer to me was hopping around on the beach.
Either too hungry to be bothered by my presence or I just wasn't a threat all, moving slowly, not looking directly at them...
I left them to it and wandered on around to towards the back of the fort.
I managed to grab a few shots of a Black-backed Gull as it flew by me, quite close for them.
There weren't many on the Chanonry Point shore this evening.
I'd noticed and kept an eye on a young Herring gull standing on the shore.
The Cormorant that photo-bombed didn't like me being so close though and the gull decided it was time to move away too and swam offshore, not far though!
I find the back of the fort so tranquil and quiet, I could sit round there for hours, not tonight though, bit chilly and getting darker.
I spotted a huge flock of Pink-footed geese away towards the yard.
There are lots of them around at the moment. I turned back and started heading for home, slowly., the light was really nice but nothing overly dramatic.
I'd seen one of the dolphin watching boats head out into the firth earlier on and it came back and hung around just off the point.
Again, I just stood on the point and looked and listened.
Remember the Herring gull?
It was till there, just, hanging about. I did wonder if it was ok?
A pair of Cormorants were inbound as I watched, there'd been a few flying by.
There had been a few Oystercatchers around and I looked for a shot of one on its own on the shore..
I was now heading back towards the village, it really is in a fabulous location and I really hope it doesn't get too busy like everywhere else, more houses, more people, more cars, more pollution.
I said before, it was a kind of dull evening but there were lovely colours showing, the sunsets here can be stunning.
I spotted a Grey Heron standing in the shallows along the bay, waiting patiently.
The wavelets in the water looked gorgeous but just didn't come out as well in the photos, c'est la vie. That was it, I walked fairly quickly back to the car, following the road for a change and headed home for something to eat and who knows? Maybe a wee drink? ;)
