Loch Fleet is a shallow sea loch about four miles north of Dornoch. Its 630-hectare tidal basin of sand and mud flats is almost closed off from the sea by shingle and dunes. It's a national nature reserve of more than 1,000 hectares, including the pinewoods of Balbair and Ferry Wood. More than 100 bird species have been recorded, with the biggest numbers during the spring and autumn migrations.
Seals are the easiest wildlife to see. Harbour seals haul out on the sandbanks and can be watched from the road at Skelbo all year, and grey seals join them in winter. The minor road out to Littleferry, at the mouth of the loch, makes a good short walk among the pines and dunes.