Hi Everyone,

After last weeks lovely spell of calm sunny weather we have returned to the winter blizzards of snow, sleet and hail. Thankfully the seafront at North Kessock doesn't look like this anymore....


© WDCS/Charlie Phillips

There is nothing I can do in these sort of conditions but sit it out and wait for the weather to clear - which, thankfully it has. A lot of the snow in Inverness has gone but outlying areas are still pretty bad with some places having had well over 30cm of snow in one night. Great for snowball fights though....

Best Wishes,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

We have really thick snow today around the Inverness area - what a change from Sunday afternoon where I enjoyed lovely sunshine, mirror calm water and....loads of dolphins, including our very own Sundance and - second from the left in the photo - Mischief, being very well behaved for a change !


© WDCS/Charlie Phillips

He wedged himself in between Squat Fin, Zephyr and wee Breeze as they travelled out past the Point watched by loads of people. The dolphins had been spread out over a large area and were very relaxed even although some very silly people in a boat were getting way too close and zooming their boat around.

Best Wishes,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

It was quite funny watching people running down the beach today at full speed as a group of dolphins that I had been watching near the car park headed round the Point at Chanonry and travelled over to Rosemarkie.


© WDCS/Charlie Phillips

I had been up and down the beach umpteen times as the dolphins led me a merry dance so I wasn't going any further. I stayed where I was and took this photo from the car park. You can see the dorsal fin of Zephyr in the sea to the right of the man in the black coat who, a few steps later tripped over his wee dog!

No Adoption dolphins today - better luck tomorrow.

Best Wishes,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

I had a visit from young Jo Russell (10) and her family who are up from Newton Mearns, near Glasgow on a half term break. They came into the Studio at North Kessock (where I work during the winter) wanting to know about seeing dolphins so we had a great chat - even better as Jo is a Rainbow adopter and I was able to show her photos of Rainbow that I took only a few days ago. Jo is a great artist and has painted two lovely seascapes for WDCS - one with Orcas powering their way through big seas and this other one below which is of dolphins whooshing through the waves in moonlight - absolutely lovely !


© Jo Russell

Sadly the dolphins were playing hide and seek and Jo and her family spent ages looking but will need to come back up again nearer the summer to hopefully see Rainbow and her friends out where they belong.

Best Wishes to you and your family Jo - It was great to meet you.

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

I had two very equally balanced groups of dolphins near Chanonry early this afternoon with six dolphins in each group. They were nearly all females too - maybe taking a well deserved break from the noisier guys and doing a quiet bit of stealthy fishing as well as having a bit of "quiet time". At one point they all went very quiet and still almost as though they were "cat napping" which is the way that dolphins rest.


© WDCS/Charlie Phillips

Rainbow was with this group that included wee Breeze, Charlie, Kesslet, Zephyr and Squat Fin - Rainbow is furthest from the camera. There were dolphins in at North Kessock yesterday morning too - I just saw them as they were leaving - Mischief was there amongst some of the regulars.

Best Wishes,

Charlie.