Coast, finishing with a week on the Outer Hebrides.
I arrived in my campervan early evening on the 22nd and got off to a poor start
by missing Slavonian Grebe at three different sites. A late evening walk around
Loch Garten produced a Crossbill sp', 23 roosting Red-Breasted Merganser,
1 Goosander, Osprey, 2 pair of Goldenye, several Common Sandpipers and
Wigeon.
this Wigeon gave very close views as it fed on the
shore at Loch Garten.
of a lekking male Capercallie. A Caper' was visible but at long range and only briefly.
I left after ten minutes as the hide was full of birders all scrambling for a view and tried for
for Black Grouse at a nearby and well known lek.
Their bubbling calls could be heard as soon as i stepped out of the van and at least three
males were at the lek. A cuckoo was calling on the moor also. With two target birds in
the bag it was time for a walk around the forest. I scored with 3 Crested Tit at the woods
around Loch Mallachie and again a Crossbill sp' flew over calling but no views perched.
Next up, i tried again for Slavonian Grebe at a nearby breeding site and a single
bird sat out, mid-water. After lunch i decided to try for Ptarmigan at Cairngorm but
the weather had began to worsen with rain and heavy cloud over the peaks. Two
summer plumaged Red-Throated Divers at Loch Morlich kept me occupied but the rain
kept falling!
"Caper watch"
Black Grouse viewing screen
Loch Mallachie
Crested Tit
Black Grouse
Slavonian Grebe
With Cairngorm off limits due to the weather i wasted no time and headed for
the Moray Coast, stopping off at a well known Black-Throated Diver site
along the way. Two birds gave close views but in grey, wet weather i watched
from the comfort of the van parked besides the loch.
male Red Grouse
Black-Throated Divers
Rock Pipit
White Wagtail
Redshank
Moray coastline
With news of a White-Billed Diver off Burghead i could not resist and found the bird
about a kilometere off-shore with it's huge "bananna bill" pointing skywards, it was
fairly obvious even at that range.
Many other good birds were around including: 200 Long-Tailed Duck, 30 Common
Scoter, Velvet Scoter, 20 Sandwich Tern, Purple Sandpipers, Whimbrel, Eider and
various Auks it was a great way to end the day.
I spent the night on a campsite (the only one of the trip) and next morning birded
Lossiemouth, Spey Bay east river and Findhorn Bay. Reasonable numbers of sea duck
were present at all sites with perhaps Findhorn the quietest, highlights being: 20 Sandwich
and 3 Little Tern, Velvet Scoter 20, Red-Throated Diver 15+, Great-Northern Diver 4
and more Long-Tailed Ducks.
Later that afternoon i made my way westwards and spent the night at the car park
in the mountains near Applecross. Stopping along the way for more Black-Throated
Divers and Red Kite.
Common and Little Terns
Singing Skylark
Yellowhammer
Black-Throated Diver
Barn Swallow
on route to Applecross
Red Deer
From the road to the summit
Home for the night!
I awoke early next morning to search for Ptarmigan, having missed the chance to bird
Cairngorm due to the weather. Only Golden Plover and Wheatear were on the tops and i
felt a little dissapointed to have missed them. At 7am i set off for Uig on Skye to catch
the ferry to Lochmaddy, North Uist.
During the crossing of ninety minutes to Lochmaddy, i saw a familiar cast of seabirds.
Gannet, Manx Shearwater, four Auk species, and Fulmar, etc.
The weather was warm and sunny and once out of the port, i headed for Balranald.
Lapland Buntings had been reported by the visitor centre at Balranald and i was pleased
to find them without effort, feeding by a haystack.
A Corncrake was calling nearby as were stacks of breeding commoner waders.
Redshank, Snipe, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Dunlin all breed on the
island's Machair in healthy numbers.
I spent the rest of the day photographing migrant waders in one of the white sandy bays.
Lapland Bunting
Manx Shearwater
Ringed Plover with Sanderling
Ringed Plover
Merlin, mobbed by an immature Black-backed
Gull
Carrying prey
The morning of the 26th was spent around the headland at Balranald where Great-Northern
and Red-Throated Divers were offshore in small numbers. A large flock of around 800 waders
consisting of Dunlin, Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper and Sanderling was very confiding and
allowed close approach.
Later that morning i received news of a Snowy Owl at nearby Grenitote and set off to twitch it.
Great- Northern Diver
Near summer-plumaged male Lapland Buntings.
Around 40 were at Balranald on the 26th
Purple Sandpiper
From the car park at Grenitote
mixed Wader flock
Turnstone
Snowy Owl!!!
The Snowy Owl was found without much trouble, panting in the warm sunshine.
From time to time it was mobbed by the nesting Lapwings and kept itself either against
the fence or wooden pallets, as in the above image.
What a stunning bird and only one other birder there!
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl "twitch"
Lapwing
Oystercatchers
Having spent a good while with the Owl, i headed for South Uist to meet up with former
Burnley birder, Steve Duffield of Western-Isles-Wildlife.
Steve has an excellent knowledge of the birds and sites of the Outer Hebrides and we
spent a lovely evening at a White-Tailed Eagle site.
Steve located the Sea Eagle sat on it's nest, at a range of roughly one mile. At that range
all you could make out was the pale head and white tail at either side of the nest.
Making up the cast was another Sea Eagle, 3-4 Golden Eagles, 3 Hen Harrier,
Sparrowhawk, Black Guillemot and a smart pair of Red-Throated Divers in breeding
plumage.
Golden Eagles
27th April having spent the night on the Machair on South Uist, today i covered several
headlands starting with Rudha Ardvule. An hours sea-watching produced a couple of
Artcic and Great Skuas with the odd Whimbrel here and there.
At Loch a Chin Uarich, i added a few common duck species in the form of Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon. In addition several Common and Little Terns were at the Loch.
Later in the afternoon, i saw my first and only Otter of the trip but dissapeared when
my camera came out!
28th April again, another night at a quiet spot at the coast and birding mostly coastal
sites throughout the morning.
Around 600 large Gulls were feeding in a sheltered bay but no white-winged Gulls were
amongst them. Highlights of the morning were a flock of 25 Raven, 50 Black-Tailed Godwit
30 Bar-Tailed Godwit, Pintail, 50 Eider and some very showy Long-Tailed Ducks.
Eider
Female Long-Tailed Duck
Male Long-Tailed Duck
Rudha Ardvule
I saw several food passes in a short period of time, also on the moors were
Golden Plover, Short-Eared Owl and Greylag Geese. A pair of Red-Throated
Divers dropped on to a lochan and gave some strange neck movements
before they landed. High up, a pair of Arctic Skuas seemed to be prospecting,
possibly for a nest site.
Later in the evening, i met up with steve again, i got my first views of Corncrake
for the trip.
Buzzard with prey
Red-Throated Divers
Arctic Skua
Corncrake
29th April and a phone call from Steve, with news of a Subalpine Warbler in a garden
at Grenitote. I was there in twenty minutes and joined by Steve. After some searching we
located the elusive, little blighter and just managed glimpses of the bird as it fed in a small
conifer tree.
The Snowy owl was still around and i couldn't resist another visit after the Subalp'. It was
another sunny, warm day and the Owl looked very hot, as it panted to cool down.
I spent the early afternoon watching Hen Harriers, Golden Eagles and Short-Eared Owls
at a site on North Uist.
Subalpine Warbler
Hen Harrier (female)
Wheatear
Whooper Swan, small numbers could be found on
North Uist
Red Deer
Golden Eagle with Raven
male Hen Harrier
30th April, my last full day on the Hebrides and i finally caught up with a trip of seven
Dotterel that were present at Balranald. After a little cautious advancing, Steve and i
managed views down to fifteen feet!
Dotterel images
Corn Bunting
Golden Plover (northern race)
Oystercatcher
Wheatear
Turnstone
Displaying Snipe
Sanderling
Dunlin
a room with a view!
immature Common Gull
Whimbrel
In the afternoon we tracked a distant White-Tailed Eagle near Lochmaddy as it circled
and moved south over the island and kept up with it in the campervan.
Eventually, it flew over us and i was delighted to have got a reasonable view. The
other birds earlier had been very distant. A little while later, we came across an
immature Golden Eagle perched about eighty yards from the roadside. It was
eyeing-up a party of Greylags and it made a half-hearted attempt to catch one.
The geese grouped together and moved out on to the loch, the Eagle flew on and as
with the earlier Sea Eagle we followed alongside in the van. It landed again, very close
to the road and i took some great flight shots, which i unknowingly deleted from my sd card!
The images are currently, trying to be recovered.
this image was the only one i didn't erase
White-Tailed Eagle
The ruined church at Balranald
Rock Doves
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