After breakfast at the hotel in Inverness,
suitcases were loaded and we were on our way again.
As one heads northwards in the
Highlands, conversion of wind energy into electricity becomes more
common. Off-shore oil rigs have marginal impact upon the people,
except to manage the drilling or to provide ports for the shipping.
Sheep are still very important on the land, but few residents actually
eat meat from local lambs. Numerous fields produce rape seed for
canola oil (mainly for industrial use). Broom and gorse (or furze) are
still common plants. Tourism is a major industry. Single-lane roads
become more frequent, but the European Union is providing funds to
implement change.
The bus trip to Thurso is lengthy, but
shorter than many we've driven by car in Canada. The Moray Firth,
Scotland's largest firth covers most of the north-eastern coast. Part
of this large firth is the Dornoch Firth, the most northerly large
complex estuary in the United Kingdom (with a complete transition from
riverine to marine conditions). There are many scenic views from the
Dornoch Firth to Golspie (and Dunrobin Castle), so the morning went
quickly.
That particular blue
eagle, Fig, has had an interesting history. Wherever this
extraordinary eagle is on the Dunrobin property, that eagle always knows
where the falconer is located. There is a special bond. If you note the
mesh under its left wing, that is part of the painstaking repair job
which was done so that it could fly again. A few years before the turn
of the Millennium, Fig had been found abused and near death, the
feathers on one of his wings shattered and ripped apart. Fig was
delivered to the falconer at Dunrobin Castle. It was only through
attaching the feathers of other birds to Fig's shafts that he was now
able to soar with the other birds, stronger and wiser than before. That
procedure must be repeated yearly.
