Christine's walking & birds blog

The weather forecast was pretty dire, but I walked down to the ferry terminal anyway - and the rain obligingly held off until I'd bought my return ticket to Stornoway. I sat by the side windows in the front observation lounge until well past the Summer Isles, then braved the light showers up on deck. It made no difference - there was still nothing to see!

In the harbour at Stornoway there was at least MV Glen Sannox to provide some interest. 

This new ferry generally sails a route much further south, between Troon and the Isle of Arran, but is here in Stornoway to fill in for MV Loch Seaforth on Saturday while "essential maintenance" is carried out on the latter vessel. If you travel out from Ullapool at 10.30 am for a there-and-back you'll be on the Loch Seaforth as usual - but you'll travel back on the Glen Sannox. I wished then that I'd left my trip until Saturday - but looking closely at the outdoor seating areas on the Glen Sannox, I suspect that this ferry wasn't designed with birdwatchers in mind!

There is still work going on at the new Deep Water Terminal for cruise ships. Love this company name.

Back to sea - and things cheered up a little. The rain had stopped, but there was now a coldish wind from the south. I was standing at the north-facing rail on the upper deck when I turned to look across the ship - only to see a dark bird flying parallel with us on that side. I rushed across and grabbed a few shots of my first Arctic skua of the year; this was the only usable picture, and I'm surprised I managed that when I could hardly hold the camera still.