A Gathering of Circa 60 Male Red-breasted Mergansers

Pic taken from beach at St Cyrus. Visited NNR St Cyrus on 17.08. 2020 on an overcast and breezy afternoon. It is a very interesting area for a number of reasons, including a micro-climate feature, geology, various wildlife, butterflies and insects in particular, and botany. With limited time, I confined myself to walking the trail to the beach through the narrow strip of rough grassland which lies between ancient, mainly volcanic volcanic sea-cliffs to the west and dunes bordering the beach to the east. The resulting shelter here allows some plant species to reach their northernmost limits in the UK. After a very blowy and chilly stroll on the beach this shelter was particularly noticeable on the day I visited, immediately after descending into the lee of the dunes. Lots of other sections and interesting features to explore at this site, which is probably best visited spring/summer.