Short Night, Long Day = Shattered

Wednesday May 4

The heading says it all. We set off at 6.30 - after 3 hours sleep for me - for one of our very favourite days, north to Dunnett Head in Sutherland. Rush hour hadn't started in Inverness, we were across the Kessock Bridge and on our way to Embo and Dornoch Firth in good time. Dornoch town has an early morning shop selling papers and hot drinks. Very useful and welcome. That particular USA practice has my approval, many shops selling hot drinks that is.

One Eider from Embo pier, off our agenda for next year unless the weather is rough. To-day was low grey overcast all day until we returned via Inverness, with 20 minutes rain as we left the Flow Country. A high of 11C though.

Dornoch Firth always has Grey Seals, a small group making very peculiar shapes to-day, and the chance of waders. Bar-tailed Godwits, a Redshank, Lapwings and Oystercatchers only seen.

Breakfast of muesli at the Mound, as usual, over the Dornoch Bridge. A small parking area overlooking a lochan.

High tide meant that the river mouth at Helmsdale was salty. Normally it's full of washing gulls and Kittiwakes. A hotspot for interesting gulls. A few Shags, Cormorants and Herring Gulls loitered on a pier wall, we left for the road inland to the Flow Country. RSPB Forsinard has an 'office' in the railway station at the top, in the middle of wilderness. The road starts very attractively with the Helmsdale salmon river tumbling through a wooded valley below bright, butter yellow gorse-clad hills. The stunted trees were still bare of leaf, craggy branches festooned with grey lichen. Most attractive. Higher up, the sheep and their lambs become a hazard because they will walk along the single track road. No lambs around to-day, not born yet? 
As the moorland and Flow approached, we found a small herd of Red Deer hinds riverside. They stood and stared at us. We didn't get out of the car so that they didn't run.

The bird life was abnormally scarce. It got down to counting Wheatears - 8 - before giving up. One Buzzard and our first Cuckoo before Forsinard, Pam has never driven it so quickly. Where are the Stonechats and Whinchats? 

Past the station, the road begins to fall downhill, a small pasture on the right held a dozen Golden Plover. The usually lush clumps of Marsh Marigold at a rustic bridge had a few flowers if we looked carefully. Spring is late here.

Now for Dunnett Bay. There's a car park at the western inland corner which we tried first - must be school holidays, children enjoying themselves. Teachers are the worst at resenting school holidays once retired ! Swallows, Sand Martins and two House Martins hawked for insects on a shore which was greatly exposed by a rapidly dropping tide.

We then drove on to old Castletown harbour where we can pull off onto the sea bank and scope the bay. Almost as soon as we stopped - and before I had my camera ready, a close Great Northern Diver surfaced and a Bonxie flew quickly by, very close, never to be seen again. Pam did count 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Common Scoter flying out to sea, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, Sandwich and Common Terns. The skua was probably chasing the terns in, they settled around the headland out of view. I then heard Arctic Terns, their call still raucous but quieter and more refined than the other two. Superb to see so many bouncing past, their tail streamers taken by the wind. Lovely. 

We followed them inland, hoping for a better view. We found a space on the grass in front of a garage perched near the shore and there they were. Arctic Terns, 30+, 6 Great Ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlin on a wet, rough rock slab exposed by the tide. I couldn't resist taking a few distant shots and enlarged this one. Count the terns ?

Time to drive to Dunnet Head itself, a large headland jutting out north, overlooking the Orkneys. We started calling at St John's loch several years ago, on Gordon Hamlett's recommendation. He then included it in the excellent second edition of his Where to Watch in the Highlands book. Then it had a rudimentary hide and the man made islnds in a small lochan were teeming with Arctic Terns, beaks full of sand eels, flying over my head and nesting on the islands. Now? Black-headed Gull City and no Arctics. A few Sandwich Terns stick it out still.

And are intent on perpetuating their genes.

Careful scanning produced 40 + Tufted Duck at the back, 1 Moorhen, 1 Shoveller, 2 male Teal, a pair of Gadwall and an Oystercatcher on its nest.

Time to drive on to the windswept Head. A short walk down a gravel track from the car park to a small area on the cliff edge, is not for those suffering from vertigo. It's fenced and walled with a map de-lineating the view of the Orkneys.  Gazing down a vertical cliff onto the sea in search of Auks, Pam called Skua. We were mesmerised by the sight of four adult birds, which kept appearing from around the headland where the auks breed. Two Bonxies, 1 Arctic and the best views ever - including Uist last year  - of an adult summer plumaged Pomarine Skua, its spoons clearly visible as it rose over our heads.
When they disappeared, scanning the sea below, which was much emptier than usual,  added Guillemots, Razorbills, Puffins, 1 Gannet, Kittiwakes, pure Rock Doves and Fulmars.  Two Hooded Crows joined the easy pickings gang, a Raven flew briefly behind the lighthouse and a man asked for a 'How do you tell Guillemots from Razorbills in flight lesson'. 
Very happy with this, we drove home via the coast road with a welcome stop for refreshments in Brora.