Sunday, December 14, 2025


A whale was lunge-feeding on the far side of Loch Broom at midday today - once again seen from West Terrace.



As clouds threatening rain built up from the south-west I prepared to leave - and then caught sight of a white-tailed eagle above the ridge on the other side of the loch. The tail stood out well against the grey sky.

  

Yesterday, a tight knot of seabirds in a feeding frenzy near a whale suddenly rose into the air, and I saw among them the large dark shape of an eagle. It was distant, but I think it was a different individual from today's bird - and possibly immature.

// posted by Christine @ 9:35 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 12, 2025

Greger clicked on Ullapool Craic's Facebook on his iPad and announced "A humpback whale in Loch Broom"! Trouble was, we were in Edinburgh, visiting the Christmas market, the National Museum of Scotland, and Ikea. We arrived home as the storm began on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday the weather was impossible. On Thursday I didn't get out until midday, but I did manage to see the whale from West Terrace. It was far out near a fishing boat, and impossible to photograph. But through the bins I could see the long, slow roll forwards; it seemed to go on forever - must be huge! 

At least one kittiwake was seen among the throng of gulls, and just before I gave up for the day a white-winger came flying steadily up the loch in worsening light and a shower of rain.


I drove round to the harbour but I couldn't find the gull - which appears to have immature plumage, so it's not the usual viking.

Today: A humpback whale (I've since learnt that there are probably two around, plus a minke) was much closer, and seen fairly well from West Terrace.


The extreme arching of the back as the whale dives again intrigues me; I always think it looks impossible for such a large animal to scrunch itself up. I suppose it doesn't - but just pushes its back up beneath the dorsal fin. Or something. I'll look it up.


The boat, being dark and stationary, was useful to focus on before panning sideways in hopes of catching the whale; the whale helped by surfacing very close to the boat!


Expert whale-watchers were aboard, and some excellent photos were taken.

// posted by Christine @ 2:35 PM 0 comments

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