The males were all still in eclipse plumage ...
... some displaying ...
... The Wig was a different story with the wind whipping up the waves and the birds taking shelter ... a group of Eiders was on the end of the point ...
... where a first-winter Mediterranean Gull had just taken off ... a Sandwich Tern battled against the wind and a small group of Dunlin and Turnstones and a single Sanderling fed on the shore ...
... most of the Dunlin were showing mixed-generation scapulars as they acquired winter plumage by degrees ...
... on the more sheltered south side of Wig Bay a solitary Slavonian Grebe showed intermittently between the crests along with another ten Red-breasted Mergansers ...
... still in breeding plumage ...
... Meanwhile in Wigtown the early stages of the Book Festival were taking shape ... this event really takes over the town and the whole place is buzzing ... they do it really well and the bookshop/cafes serve up excellent food and good coffee ...
... the sheer number of books is quite phenominal, mainly second-hand but with a few new books ... I was tempted by a set of Witherby's Handbook for £30 before discovering that this is the going rate ... when I checked the price just a few years ago it was £100 ...
... I did come away with this however ...
... which I've just dipped into, but it looks promising ...
Patrick Barkham spoke with unpretentious eloquence and showed his formidable intellect in answering a tricky question around the relative merits of Brexit and small islands ( complicated stuff ) ...
And the Craft Tent had a few tempting goodies ...
... but why Canada Geese ? I wondered ...
Back along the coast near the Isle of Withorn, this time in sunshine, and groups of Shags loafed on the rocks ...
... along with the occasional Cormorant ...
... while some very flighty Wheatears perched always just a little distantly ...
