Ross's Goose & other bits

Quick off the heals from the recent Snow Goose close to home, yesterday afternoon a Ross's Goose was found only 15 minutes away, probably around the same time Emily and I were watching a Humpback Whale off Ullapool. 

Anyway, this morning I headed out, failed to find any goose flocks, so instead walked down towards the firth from Muir of Ord, and a high-flying flock of seven Pink-footed Geese miraculously contained the Ross's. They then descended sharply to join a large flock that I had missed where the birds were present yesterday. Eventually, I re-positioned and enjoyed scope views of this dinky goose. 

Ross's Goose with Pink-footed Geese

Humpback Whale and Common Dolphins off Ullapool

 

Dornoch Beach 20/12/2025

Dornoch is currently the place to be in Highland with a stunning array of duck species currently feeding off here. Most notable and the only one I failed to see on both Friday and Saturday was the Black Scoter, but despite this disappointment, Emily and I were able to enjoy the other delights here:

King Eider - 1 1w drk
Surf Scoter - 2 
Velvet Scoter - 4
Scaup - 10
Long-tailed Duck - 50
Eider - 12
Slavonian Grebe - 5
Twite - 5
Snow Bunting - 2

It's been relatively quiet elsewhere, although we did have a Waxwing over central Inverness on 15th November.

1w drk King Eider off Dornoch