Scotland 2016 Pictures Day 5

After leaving Fornighty we got back onto the A939, heading South to Ferness. Then we took the B9007 Southwards up into the moors. On some high ground we stopped to look at an amazing panoramic view. The vast expanse of open heather was gorgeous in the sunshine, as was the view of the Cairngorms to the South. I think it was Ben McDui we could see. I managed to climb up onto a bank above the road to get a better view point. Then we carried on down the road to a turn off which took us to the Southwest corner of Lochindorb.

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Heading South on the B9007 towards the moors.	Foxgloves on the moors.	Views of the road snaking ahead towards the Cairngorms.		Distant Cairngorms, including Ben McDui.

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180 degree panorama from the bank above the road, looking Westwards.	Carrying on Southwards towards Carn nan Clach Garbha where the turnoff is.	After the turnoff, approaching Lochindorb from the West.	Another view of the Cairngorms.

We drove on to a nice spot immediately Southeast of Lochindorb Castle (which was on an island in the Loch) and stopped at 9:50AM for more pictures.

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Lochindorb Castle from the Southeast.	360 degree panorama from the shore of Lochindorb Southeast of the castle.	Looking out across the clear water of Lochindorb.	Jack taking pictures of Lochindorb.

After a short while we carried on to the Northeastern end of the Loch, stopping at 10AM. It was another nice view here. A local man who was already present said there was an Osprey nearby just a few minutes ago. Alas we had just missed it. After some time spent chatting as it clouded over rapidly we decided to go for a walk, heading North along a track along the Eastern edge of the Loch, probably about two thirds of the way to the bridge over Dorback Burn.

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Lochindorb and the Castle from the Northeast.		A passing gull. TODO: Which one?	The heather here is gorgeous.

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Looking across the heather to the Northeast corner of Lochindorb.	A small beach.	TODO: Which species of flower?	A panorama from the beach.	A distant view of a passing Buzzard.

We returned to the car at 11:10AM. A group of birders were now present and had been watching a couple of Red Throated Divers. We couldn't see them. Alas it wasn't our day bird-wise. All I had seen was the odd gull. Now it was cloudy, windy and cold. The warm front appeared to be incoming quicker than forecast. It was time to move on by 11:20AM. We put the roof partially up to protect us from the elements.

We resumed our Eastward track to the A939. The plan had been to go Southward to Grantown but we decided not to go as the weather was deteriorating faster than expected. So we went North up the A940 to Glenernie then off to the East under a big viaduct and to a bridge over River Divie which was a potential good Dipper spot. We got there at 11:45AM but we couldn't see any Dippers. I went for a short walk along the road. Despite the cool grey conditions I did find a Ringlet butterfly. However I was starting to feel a bit rough too. I rendezvoused with Jack and we left just after midday.

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The high viaduct passing over the road and the River Divie just East of the A940.		The bridge of Bantrach.	Looking up and downstream the River Divie from the Bridge of Bantrach. Alas no dippers spotted.

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Ringlet.	Passing back under the viaduct.	A nice cottage on the junction where we turn back onto the A940.

We headed to the Forres Tesco where we were between 12:25PM and 1255PM. Now with a phone signal, I could see on the rain radar heavy rain incoming from the West, already reaching Inverness. But it stayed dry for a while longer. Jack showed me a small village called Conicavel on the way back, before we arrived home at 1:20PM.

It had started to rain as Jack finished parking. What good timing! Back inside I made some lunch and retrieved my GoPro from the garden then rested as the rain got heavier. The timelapse wasn't bad. With one frame every 10 seconds it did a good job of showing the incoming warm front and showing different wind at different heights and cloud layers. It died at 11:51, pretty close to when I expected it to. I was tired and rested on the bed. I actually fell asleep for just over half an hour from about 2:40PM until 3:15PM. As usual with me, that was lethal. I couldn't wake up again. I had a tea and went with Jack's idea of setting up a timelapse of feeding birds. I put in a fresh battery, set the timelapse interval to 2 frames a second (the highest rate I can manage) and Jack put out some seed. The clamp mount and waterproof case on a heavy flower pot provided a platform. Some heavy rain showers went through during the time lapse so good job the case was waterproof. After a quiet start it turned out well, especially after Jack added some stale bread to the table which the Sparrows in particular enjoyed. It was mainly Sparrows, Chaffinches and the odd Robin and Great Tit. I stopped the timelapse at around 6:30PM after a couple of hours.

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The GoPro timelapse in action before the birds arrived.	Late afternoon wavey looking clouds.

I was tired so I didn't do a lot through the evening. I swapped more stories with Jack and played iPhone games. We also set up the moth trap at 7:30PM. I updated my diary as Jack and Stella went to sleep at 8PM. Thunderstorms hit during the evening too. I didn't know how the heavy rain would have affected the moth trap. I guess we'd find out in the morning. One strike was very close and briefly knocked out the power. But it all settled down again later in the evening. Then I retired for the night by 11PM.

Tomorrow was expected to be very windy. I had the GoPro ready to timelapse from the lounge window as wave was to be expected. It should make an interesting and different timelapse anyway.