Menoturals; Negative Ionicity

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, oh, I do like to be beside the sea...

An oldie but a goody! I'll skip the brass bands and loads of girls (or boys) - or at least take them in small doses. But yes, the seaside is where I like to be. When I'm not in the forests or halfway up a mountain somewhere!

For Nature Friday this week and to complete my little Moray Firth series, I bring you a bit of a mixture.  A few weeks back, you saw the infant seagulls calling for their food in a Saturday Sounds video. Here are two pictures of a family down on the ground. Taken through the door window and at full zoom, so not the best of shots, but I didn't want to scare the parent off and stop the process. The babies give their little piping whistles and knock at the beak of the parent, who takes a while before it regurgitates the daily catch, now suitably 'minced' for easy digestion by the young.

While sitting enjoying my milkshake at the Loch of Soy, I spotted this little fellow...

At the same pond, I found these different reeds... Flowering Rush. Very pretty.

The third place I dropped by was Buckie - a slightly larger town, like Banff, where I topped up on groceries and then drove along the shoreline toward Portgordon. I didn't get as far as that wee toon because I spotted an open piece of land where there were clearly people already parked and camping**. It was all big shingle and views across to the other shore, which would be Invernessshire, Ross-shire, Sutherlandshire. I ended up staying at this place for four nights, for it was glorious. I listened to the tide coming and going, to the Grey Seals singing, to the Oystercatchers, Curlews, various Gulls and Terns... and there was a decent enough signal to watch the Olympics and catch up on YouTube watching!

** Not long after I had parked, there came a knock and a hello. It was Gordon, the Aberdeenshire Council Gypsy Traveller Liason Officer. I had suspected the other vehicles and tents belonged to that community, and he confirmed this. He also advised me that this area was privately owned by a fellow overseas, who paid the council funds to ensure the placement and management of the bins and portaloos I had also observed. It was an acknowledged and permitted campsite for the nomad community. It was accepted that other people, such as myself, would also seek to park there, and it was fine as long as the appropriate respect was paid to the neighbours and the property. Use of the loos and bins was permitted, indeed encouraged. 

Later, I met Ian, the patriarch of the group currently camped. We had a very pleasant chat about his being born nearby at Burghead and living and working here over the years. His is one of those Travelling families that is now in sticks and bricks but meets regularly at this spot to ensure the youth receive education in the culture and traditions of Travellers.