Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Two Slavonian grebes were at Ardmair, closer to Isle Martin than to the campsite spit - although later they drifted slowly into Loch Kanaird past the fish farm.
Both features seem to run north-west to south-east. Down on the hydro track, I heard pink-footed geese in the distance and around 130 of them flew over me - also going south-east.
A bird flying past and landing on rocks nearby didn't strike me as a curlew....
.....and if I was in any doubt, the lovely stuttering trill as it flew off again confirmed that this was a whimbrel.
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
🎵 "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" (U2).....
.....and it isn't for want of trying. Several times I've driven out to Achnahaird, been over east, sailed on the ferry - hoping for waders and shearwaters, in places and at times I've seen them before. Result - next to nothing. So when Greger suggested a pelagic for today I immediately agreed (surely shearwater numbers would be building by now?) and off we went.
On the trip out, Greger pointed to a flock of c25 birds flying in the distance which he thought could be Manx shearwaters. I had reservations, but I think maybe he was right. If so, they were the only shearwaters we saw. The best thing about the first leg was a number of whale blows out to the north, where the horizon was shimmering in a sort of heat haze. The blows were terrific, and we're fairly sure that one or two of them were those of fin whales.
At Stornoway, the old faithful flew in and landed on the "rigging" to check the deck below for crumbs.
Just as I was saying to Greger that it was always one bird and presumably the same one - a second hoodie did a flypast right over us. Oops.
On the return trip, an Arctic (pretty sure of this) skua flew alongside the boat.
Last night I cheered up when I went out to look at the supermoon, although I wasn't intending to wait up for the partial eclipse; and as I stood admiring it, there came from over the back wall the lovely sound of a male tawny owl. In the ten years we've lived here, we've heard tawnies from the house on just a few occasions, usually in autumn or towards the end of the year. Then I heard a scratching sort of sound, and fetched a torch. Walking carefully round the bungalow I saw a rounded dark hump that didn't belong there, and went back inside to tell Greger we had a hedgehog which he could see from the bedroom window. This again, is by no means an annual occurrence, so we were quite excited. And as I went to close the back door, the sharp call of a female tawny came from the neighbour's garden. I stood there for a while, hoping to see one of the owls in flight - but had to give up in the end. Finally, I walked into the bathroom to see the first large spider of the autumn on the floor. He fitted neatly into the plastic beaker I keep for the purpose, and with a thin piece of cardboard slid underneath I carried him out to the porch and let him go. I suppose that's three species of wildlife for the evening - although I can't say the third one brought me the same joy as the other two!
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Yesterday: Despite a mixed weather forecast, Greger suggested a pelagic - and in fact we had a fine day at sea, a bit windy but dry throughout and sometimes sunny. The trip out brought goodish numbers of auks and kittiwakes, quite a few fulmars, and several adult and immature gannets. A pair of buzzards circled over Rubha Thuilm (headland of the rounded hillock, I think) as we approached Stornoway harbour - where they still haven't fixed the pedestrian walkway.
Going back Greger spotted both a solitary Manx shearwater.....
.....and a skua as it flew low over the water, converging with the ferry.
Three rubbish pics - but they'll help me remember why this was an Arctic skua. Otherwise - it was a poor trip for wildlife. Greger had a glimpse of dolphins, but neither of us spotted any whale activity, while a small passerine could not be identified (I had the feeling that we shouldn't really look at such birds through our bins, as this might deter them from making a possibly life-saving landing on the ferry). Back in Ullapool harbour, a white winger was heckled briefly by a herring gull. It might have been the usual viking - I was too tired to investigate.
Monday, September 02, 2024
A test to see if all Greger's hard work getting the Applemac updated has been successful:
These were two of seven black-throated divers which flew down into Achnahaird Bay on Friday. As I drove around through Polbain and beyond, my dash-cam picked up a merlin before I saw it....
