Mussels, birds and Fife

We were walking in Musselburgh beach at high tide, in weather that threatened to be atrocious but never quite was, when the tide started to recede; and when that happens the mussel beds are uncovered with startling speed, and the oystercatchers start to gather for the feast.

The dark land in the distance is Fife, on the far side of the Firth of Forth.