Category: Nature

Words failed me this morning when I took a wee stroll down the Whaligoe Steps. I saw what looked like a shiny, wet smooth boulder peaking through the surface of the water within the inlet of this immediate coastline. But something in the back of my mind was telling me that no such smooth item existed in that specific bit of sea.

On closer inspection this smooth object was something else and to my utter glee, my internal self reacted by leaping around with ecstatic abandonment and the endorphins were having a party! I was looking at a member of the sea world which was not an oystercatcher, herring gull or a cormorant, but was in fact a seal.

The clip shows the seal having a tired yawn and being quite at peace with the environment. I stood as still as I could on what is known as the bink (the flat base at the bottom of the Whaligoe Steps). The whole experience was special and highly cathartic.

On occasion we talk about the ‘wild’ life, and what it was like walking amongst the ‘wild’ and that sort of thing. When in reality during times like this one, it was anything but ‘wild’ – It was a calm and serene, gradual awakening to a brand new day.

Thanks as always for dropping by and sharing your time watching this seal with me. According to the experts, in this region of the United Kingdom the common seal sightings are of grey seals, but their counterpart is known as the harbour seal – They are rare. I am no expert, but I think this is a grey seal.

Take care and be safe.

I will admit that over the last eleven years especially, each and every day I find myself on a steep learning curve. Whether this is applicable to food, health, people or animals and plants.

For some reason it had sneaked in to my subconscious that a ‘Shag’ was some sort of nickname for a Cormorant. So after hanging out this morning with what I thought was a ‘Shag’ watching the overcast grey skies and feeling the gentle tingle of light drizzle on my face, I filmed it for posterity capturing this special moment.

Once I was back in the dry, I reached out for my trusty British bird handbook and flicked over the pages to find that a Cormorant is a separately recognised bird. They both possess different latin names for example: Cormorant – phalacrocorax carbo, Shag – phalacrocorax Aristotelis.

I think the fellow that was happy to sit on the ledge to my left was indeed a Cormorant. I shared a tweet on Twitter which said it was a Shag, but now I am thinking I was wrong. Do you recognise this bird?

Before I go, this morning reminded me how slippery underfoot the Whaligoe Steps can get. Two photographs below show how slippery and wet it can get – Please tread carefully if you visit here during or after rainfall.

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Beautiful sunrise this Saturday morning as I took a stroll down the Whaligoe Steps. All was calm but there was plenty to reflect on. I want to say thank you to David Scott (NOSN) for the recent articles which appeared in the Northern Times and the John O’Groat Journal. If you are interested, I will share the links with you.

Ulbster resident talks of ‘nightmare’ parking problems at Whaligoe Steps on NC500 route (johnogroat-journal.co.uk)

Ulbster resident talks of ‘nightmare’ parking problems at Whaligoe Steps on NC500 route (northern-times.co.uk)

…And now for something completely different! I named a herring gull I keep witnessing down the Whaligoe Steps “Henry”, and at long last I captured some footage of an oystercatcher. So in the naming tradition of a herring gull, I have used very little imagination and named this oystercatcher “Ollie”. Say hello to Ollie.

As I learn about blogging and shamelessly confess to be completely new to this, I stumbled recently across Gail Anthea Brown who is an experienced local and respected blogger. Check out her link below if you have some time.

Wellies on the School Run · From Caithness Author Gail Anthea Brown

The reason I am sharing the link is that Gail shared an excellent observation in a recent blog post about a side to tourism which is easily forgotten.

Poo, Potholes and Park-Ups – Why Highlanders Are Tired of Scotland’s North Coast 500 Route · Wellies on the School Run

Thank you as always for your time, take care and be safe.

Here are the six sets of steps which make up the zig-zag formation of the Whaligoe Steps, with each section of the ascendency clearly shown – 23rd of August, 2021.

This morning I stood and pondered as I looked out across the North Sea. The pebble shore I was standing on was slippery underfoot, and I thought about the sign which you can see before the descent down the Whaligoe Steps.

My thoughts were that despite such beauty here, there are aspects which still need to be considered. If you decide to visit here for the first time or repeat a prior experience, simply be careful and mindful of risks.

Who doesn’t love a shameless clip of calm and nature? That’s a rhetorical question and one that leads me in to sharing some wee clips from my early morning stroll.

This morning during the sunrise I took the opportunity as the tide was low enough, to make my way to the pebble shore which is precarious to navigate. My idea was to look through my camera lens and see what I could find.

As a result, this post is nothing more shameless than to share an angle of the Whaligoe Steps not often witnessed, and to my surprise I felt like the images could have been taken on another planet.

I was looking up the name for washed up items which are left littering the shorelines of the coast when I stumbled across what is observed to be a proper marine term. ‘Wrack line’ or a ‘wrack zone’ came to my attention.

There is a quaint pebble beach which is tricky to reach down at the base of the Whaligoe Steps. It is a challenge to negotiate due to not only the slippery ground beneath foot, but also due to debris which periodically drops down from the overhanging cliff face.

On a daily basis you can see an item left to rest until the tide rolls in again to manoeuvre it to a new location. This morning I thought I would share my findings.

I went for a stroll down the Whaligoe Steps this fine morning and captured the amazing sunrise photograph you can see on this post. I will share with you some other visual delights too if you can spare a moment to browse.

I think these might well be a couple of herring gulls. They are simply contemplating life this morning in their habitat. Footage filmed 22nd of August.

Isn’t nature a wonderful aspect of life?

With sightings of sea-life and bird-life around the Whaligoe Steps being rife, I really hope to capture some stunning photographs/footage to share with you in future posts. Keep your fingers crossed.