Scotland 2019 part 4: oils well that ends well...

Most times we go up to Scotland we pay a visit to the Black Isle. This is about 45 minutes drive north of Inverness when you leave from Aviemore. One of the main reasons to go is to see the dolphins at Chanonry Point. A couple of hours after low tide the pod of dolphins will, hopefully, follow the fish into the estuary. At times they can come in very close to the shoreline allowing for spectacular views. It can be a bit hit and miss. The last time we went we spent a few hours on a VERY cold beach in sleety rain watching not a lot! As I said, it is very tide dependent so before we decided when to go we checked the tide times. The best opportunity seemed to be the day we were going to Speyside from Applecross. The problem was that meant getting to Chanonry Point by about 8 in the morning! So, in the dark we left Applecross well before dawn. The roads were very dark and deserted  and as I came round a corner it was filled with red deer! I'm not sure who was more surprised but thankfully the deer belted off at high speed away from at the same time I tested the ABS on my car to its limits!!!!

As we got closer to the East coast dawn started to break showing the misty lochs. We got to the car park at Chanonry in good time but there were still half a dozen people already on the beach. A quick coffee and bun and we walked out down the shingle to join them.

For the next hour as the tide rapidly filled the estuary there were a few things to keep us occupied - seals, gannets, a pomarine skua - but no dolphins. We got into conversation with a German tourist who had seen some the day before so we kept hoping. I kept scanning the water and finally a grey shape appeared.

From there being nothing around suddenly the water was alive with dolphins. Within the space of 15 minutes I guess 30 passed between us and Fort George, a mile away on the far side of the estuary.

They didn't seem to be stopping though. You got the usual views of beaks and dorsal fins but mostly it was the classic "over there!" as they appeared then as rapidly disappeared again. They must have been following a school of fish into the bay because the pod stopped in the middle of the bay and started fishing. Lots of them suddenly breached out of the water in a small area where they stayed for 30 minutes or so. Unfortunately it was a long way away but still great to see.

We finally left them as they moved even further away. The next stop was further up the peninsula (its not an island at all!!). Rather bizarrely the main attraction is the large number of oil rigs anchored up in the inlet. They repair them here.

More interestingly though was a small raft of eider ducks just off the car park who were reasonably obliging.

By now we had been up many hours so we found a very nice restaurant and had lunch before heading off to Speyside for the rest of our holiday.