3/10 for effort . . .

Working in the shop this morning. Fairly busy, with tourists from Lincoln, Perth, Edinburgh, Elgin and Aberdeen. Really enjoy chatting to them, hearing about where they have come from and why, and what they are making of Orkney. Some folk don't give much away, others you get their life history and then some!

When Ollie and I were on the beach this afternoon I came across this oystercatcher's nest. Nest is a loose description - pathetic and hardly worth the bother is more apt! Can you call a strand of seaweed coiled into a scrape in the shingle a nest? It is on the track at the bottom of the cliff, used by several dog walkers so I don't give a lot for its chances. No sign of the parents either - hopefully they went back to it once we'd gone past. We'll give it a wide berth for a while and keep our fingers crossed.