Today we went to see the Tollie Red Kite RSPB facility near Keithtown northwest of Inverness.
It was a drive of about 20 minutes from our hotel but when we got there we found that they only have someone there at feeding time which in the summer is 2.30pm. The centre had some very nice photos of kites and other information boards around the building but no other facilities like the Loch of the Lowes centre. There were some bird feeders at which a variety of wild birds were feeding though.
We decided to drive to Dingwell which is just a small village nearby. There we found a huge Tesco supermarket with a Tesco petrol station next to it and stocked up on few things we needed. Lyn noticed that they sold beautiful large orchids which at £12 she reckoned that they were very cheap.
We then drove northeast alongside the Cromarty Firth to Invergordon where there was a large passenger ship called the Nautilus moored. People were going to and fro on a 100m long pier which went out to the ship. We couldn't work out why a ship that size would dock there as there was nothing much in the small town and otherwise it was close to nothing.
At about 1.30pm we drove back to the Tollie Red Kite centre to check out the feeding display and an RSPB person arrived to feed them at about 2.30pm.
We had a chat to her before she went out to a table about 100m from the building and hides and put some meat strips on it. This attracted dozens of seagulls which had been waiting nearby who ate most of the food.
About 4 red kites and a couple of buzzards did show up but spent some time intimidating each other whilst the seagulls got on with the business of eating.
Eventually a couple of the kites did swoop down to grab some of the remaining food which made the seagulls scatter but when they soared away the seagulls were back to finish what was left. We were a bit disappointed but with wildlife, nothing can be predicted.
Cromarty Firth on a windy day
The Kessock bridge over the Moray Firth 
Carvings in the Red Kite Centre
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