How to be in the right place at the right time

 Watching wildlife is all about being in the right place at the right time, having an eye out, and most importantly being open to the unexpected. At least that is my approach. Let me share two recent amazing wildlife experiences:

On our recent River Spey descent by canoe - a 5 day, 100km journey from Loch Insh to Spey Bay - we saw lots of wildlife. Ospreys patrolled the river for fish directly above the canoes. Kingfishers abounded in the dense willow on the bank, flashing azure light as they zipped from one bush to another. But the stand out moments for me were the sand martins which seem to have learned that the canoes lift flies from the surface of the river. Diving from their nests on the steep sandy banks, the martins would repeatedly duck and dive across the bows of the boats, hawking on the wing for their prey. This gave us a front seat view of the amazing agility of these wonderful birds. See https://www.theexpeditionclub.org/?PREVIOUS_TRIPS for more pictures from last year's trip on the river.


Earlier this month I visited Orkney. While walking along the cliff tops on the remote western side of Orkney Mainland, a solitary black dorsal fin broke the surface of the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Over the course of the next 20 minutes  the curving back and fin of this cetacean re-emerged and then disappeared for several minutes, before emerging again, as it tracked southwards close to the steep rocky shoreline. From the vantage of the cliff tops, this was a fairly brief but clear view of a minke whale. I was walking on the cliffs that day for 3 hours, so that means I wasn't watching any whales for 2 hours and 40 minutes, but patience and alertness, and being in the right place, were eventually rewarded.





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