RSPB Udale Bay
An excellent birding site which is best viewed a few hours either side of high tide from the hide. Around low tide, Newhall Point offers better viewing.
The bay's at its best from August-April and is the best site locally to see Ruff and Spotted Redshank in autumn.
Greenshank and Black-tailed Godwit can be regular, along with summer-plumage Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and the scarcer Grey Plover. Commoner ducks build up from early September, when 5,000 Wigeon can be present at the months end. It's a good site for gulls and terns, especially Sandwich Tern, and Ospreys regularly feed in the bay during the summer.
Up to 400 Scaup and 30 Slavonian Grebes are not unusual from the car park east of Jemimaville at this time (safe parking between there and Cromarty is very limited). Peregrines are recorded regularly, whilst other species to look out for include Dipper and Twite. Good numbers of Pink-footed Geese can be present in spring.
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