Two visits were made to the Scottish Dolphin Centre at Spey Bay, the first, Monday 16th May, was a wet day, too wet to get the camera out and served as a reccie, and a worthwhile visit it was too.
Though wet, and we didn't see dolphins or porpoises, we did see an osprey and a seal, most likely a common seal, among other species as well.
A weblink for those who want to find out more is: https://dolphincentre.whales.org/
A return visit was on the cards, for a drier day at least, and taking into consideration the cafe was closed Tuesday and Wednesday every week, it was to be Thursday 19th, which turned out to be a nice sunny day.
Though a dolphin and porpoise centre, they do have a statue of an osprey with a salmon in tis talons.
The first sighting was this magnificent looking dunnock, watching over the car park.
The bay itself was magnificent, well, in my eyes it was, with or without the sun, and overall my kind of place to wander around, a nice mix of coast, estuary and inland.
and looking up the River Spey,
There were a couple of very sleek looking birds in the sky....
A pair of RAF Typhoons returning to nearby RAF Lossiemouth (affectionately known as RAF Lossie locally)
Back to nature, my guess, a common orchid, but I welcome any corrections
More orchids and some gorse among others..
And for some delicate as well as sleek looking birds, a goldfinch
the house martins and swallows were busy...
A pied wagtail
and on a picnic bench seat, waiting to nip down for some crumbs....
A jackdaw with a dodgy leg, looking splendid against the yellow backdrop of gorse
A rook looking a bit ruffled in the strong breeze
More house martins and swallows....
You can make out the insect about to be taken...
There was a lot of activity, and it was a brilliant day.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
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Regards, Hazel
Cin J
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Unknown said:Another great set of photos Mike and interesting place to be added to the growing list ! Good to see all the martins as well. Wondering if your flower is a wild blue Lupin but will leave it to the experts.
Thank you Hazel. It certainly is a fabulous place and well worth a visit if you get the chance, dolphins or no dolphins.
We have an ID for the plant, and you were very close with lupin. Zo Clark has identified it as a Nootka Lupine.
Germain said:It looks lovely, Mike. I agree with Hazy - Lupin
It is Cin, dolphins or no dolphins.
i love robins said:My first thought was a wild lupin too, one of the local walks I visit has loads of pink and blue wild lupins. Some really nice photos Mike the swallows and house martins were really good. I also liked the dunnock and goldfinch not forgetting the typhoons and the lovely views, everywhere looks so much better when you have blue sky and sunshine, it looks like you had a lovely time.
Thank you ILR, yes, blue sunny skies often do enhance a photo.
Linda257 said:Looks like you had decent weather Mike...certainly no had it in Central belt!!! Well done capturing the swallow and house Martins......a few more years and cameras I too maybe able to get a decent pic of one or two lol
Thank you Linda.
We definitely had the weather, though I was weather watching, expecting the rain to make its way over, but thankfully, you entertained the weather sufficiently to keep over there. You probably recall I have a friend in Milton of Campsie, he reported much the same, it was dismal over that side.
I think you're already there with your camera. It's not the camera its the photographer that makes the photo, the camera just makes it possible.
Wendy S said:[ l0ve that Osprey statue Mike probably the best Osprey one I have seen. We were looking out for Dolphins these past few days off the Yorkshire coast but it seemed too rough even with the wind offshore. We did notice a big increase in the number of Seals since we were last in a position to watch them,great to see and hear
Yes, the statue was nice to put it mildly.
I did wonder if the sea was a little too choppy for dolphins, so I wasn't overly surprised not to see any. But it was a nice place to visit irrespective.
I hope you had a good time on your Yorkshire coast trip?