When even the birds seek shelter from the restless waves

Burghead, Highlands Normally herring gulls hover over the eiders' feeding area, waiting for any fragments of food the ducks might leave. The wind had put paid to all that. Despite the weather two of the drake eiders were displaying to the drab-looking females

Last week the seas off our vantage point under a low cliff were the roughest we have ever seen from this peninsula. The strong wind was from the west, where, in the far distance, we could see the snow-capped tops of the hills. Much of the sea to our left was so dominated by the white foam that no water could be seen.

With the tide ebbing, the rock pools on one side were exposed and here various waders were seeking not only food but shelter. Perhaps the weather had affected their behaviour - oystercatchers, purple sandpipers, redshank and turnstone were all mixed up in their search for food. Usually, along this stretch of coastline, these four waders keep together in small, loose groups whether feeding or roosting. The beaks of the different species vary in length, so that when they are probing for food they tend to find different food at varying levels.