HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS
O U T E R H E B R I D E S
26-31 MAY 2002
North Uist landscape – Pete
Cairns |
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Leaders: Craig Round and Phil Benstead
Guests: Chris & Pam Stratford, Pam &
Bill Jones, Andrew & Drew Lyburn, Graham Coster, John Duerden, Ian
Cook, Jean Clarke, Alison Harper and Julia Pearson
Day 1
On a bright, sunny day we all meet up without a hitch
at the rendezvous at Kyle of Lochalsh and after introductions and luggage
loading we head over the bridge into Skye. Craig takes us to an excellent
spot where we have prolonged views of a superb displaying Golden Eagle
which is set against a backdrop of the majestic Cuillins (both a rare
site at this time of year!) and we watch as the bird soars, engaging
in it’s rollercoaster display – a thrilling sight. In fact we enjoy
ourselves so much here that we almost forget we have a ferry to catch
and all too soon we are driving to meet it, on our way overtaking a
single Painted Lady butterfly – our only record of the week. Arriving
at Uig we quickly join the queue and whilst filling out our boarding
cards are able to enjoy our packed lunches and meet Julia before driving
onto the surprisingly spacious ferry.
Conditions for the crossing are almost perfect for
whale-watching (being almost flat calm) and sure enough we manage to
spot three Harbour Porpoises and a single Minke Whale. The crossing
also reveals a number of seabirds with close views of Puffin, Gannet,
Guillemot and Black Guillemot, as well as more distant views of Arctic
and Great Skua and Manx Shearwater. Before we know it we were steaming
into Lochmaddy and driving onto North Uist, taking a detour up the Newtonferry
road stopping at a few plantations and checking out Loch an Sticir.
We have no problem hearing and seeing over-flying Twite but cannot find
any perched birds, although we do catch up with many of the passerines
found in the rare wooded patches of the Outer Hebrides including Greenfinch,
Redpoll, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Robin. The best is still to come
on, the drive back to the hotel, with a very close female Hen Harrier,
a hunting male Kestrel and Short-Eared Owl. Arriving at the hotel we
were quickly settled into our rooms and met up with Ian who had flown
onto the islands.
Day 2
Today we spend the day taking in the key sites on
North Uist and enjoying some splendid weather to go with it. We start
off at Langass Hotel where Craig opts to walk up over the ridge to the
plantation in the hope of finding some migrants and a good view of the
island, the latter is found but sadly there are few migrants. Meanwhile
Phil and Drew take a more leisurely approach, revealing Greenshank,
a single Whitethroat, a rare pair of Chaffinches and an equally rare
single Woodpigeon! A Red Admiral also flies around the hotel gardens
in the bright, sunny weather. Moving on we head for the Committee Road
where whilst trying to eat our lunch we are continually disturbed by
Hen Harriers, Short-eared Owls and another Kestrel, whilst on nearby
Vallay Strand we all managed to see a nice Greenshank before heading
for Balranald.
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After hearing a very elusive Corncrake and
searching in vain we head for the Visitor Centre (and it’s glorious
toilets), where we quickly get very good views of a pair of Corncrake.
The female quickly makes herself scarce but the male entertains
us for an hour, occasionally ‘craking’ in full view, it’s a fantastic
sight and enjoyed by all.
Corncrake – Mark Hamblin |
After sating ourselves on brilliant views of this
amazing species we move onto the headland in the vans, stopped briefly
en route to scan the picturesque bay and finding our first full summer
plumaged Great Northern Diver. Stopping at the headland we quickly
locate a male Shoveler, four Teal on the pool and Sedge Warbler and
Reed Bunting present in the small adjacent reedbed. A selection of
waders includes summer-plumaged Sanderling on the beach feasting on
invertebrates amongst the smelly piles of wrack washed up on the beach.
Glancing out to sea it becomes apparent that a considerable passage
of Manx Shearwaters is taking place, over 400 being seen passing behind
the island of Causamul in a short period of time. Tearing ourselves
away we head for a brief visit to Loch Scolpaig, spotting a single Whooper
Swan and a Whimbrel en route, but when we arrive the loch is quiet,
so we head back to the hotel looking forward to another of Peggy’s wholesome
meals.
Day 3
Over breakfast on the third day it becomes apparent
that there is some wet weather on the way and for the first hour the
rain lashes down, but as we reached the South Ford area it miraculously
clears as we prepare to get out of the vans and start birding. First
stop is the South Ford which produces some good waders including Knot,
Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover. Nearby gardens hold at least three
Corncrake which give excellent views from the vans. Moving on to Ardivachar
we check through all the attendant gulls but find only commonly occurring
species, although we do see our first Corn Bunting and watch a pair
of Shelduck with a mass of newly hatched ducklings. Today we are fortunate
in that no red flags are flying over the rocket range at West Gerinish
and we are therefore able to get in to this fantastic bit of machair.
Searching the flat sandy machair fields around Loch Bee we find a couple
of Greenland race Wheatears and nests of both Ringed Plover and Lapwing.
At the southern end of Loch Bee we find a single Golden Plover and Jean
draws our attention to a superb male Garganey sleeping on the bank and
whilst watching this we also have a pair of Wigeon and a Whooper Swan
before Craig surprises us all when he locates an excellent sub-adult
Golden Eagle flying over the loch mobbed as it drifts south past a variety
of birds. Our final site of the day is on the west coast where despite
putting in plenty of time we fail to connect with Otter or the much
hoped for Sea Eagle. We do however see a number of birds whilst searching,
including Short-eared Owl, Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver
and the splendid garden here produced Redpoll (1) and Siskin (1). Somewhat
disheartened, but vowing to return, we head back to the hotel.
Day 4
Today will be spent on North Uist and Benbecula and
we continue our good fortune with the weather being mostly sunny. After
breakfast we move on towards Balranald, en route we stop to watch a
superb, close male Hen Harrier before stopping at roadworks near the
Westford Inn. Whilst stopped here Chris draws our attention to a singing
Chiffchaff in the garden so we abandon the vans and go to see the bird.
It is singing lustily from the small trees in the pub garden around
the back and we watch it for a short time before being called back by
the patient road-mending crew. At Balranald we quickly get good views
of five Corncrake before heading up to the point for what is to be one
of the highlights of the trip. Arriving at the headland we have no
time to settle in as first of all four Pomarine Skuas and then three
Long-tailed Skuas fly past heading north about half a mile away. Unbelievable–
we see both species in under three minutes! Conditions are evidently
suitable for light passage and a further 16 Pomarine Skuas are logged
over the next one and half hours as well as one Great Skua and 7 Arctic
Skuas - four species of Skua in a day (without getting wet!) is a rare
thing and one we all greatly appreciate. We are also all amazed by
a close migrating Black-throated Diver in full summer plumage which
flies north just past the headland and other passage birds include a
single Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit. Dragging ourselves away after
lunch we finally head for Benbecula. At Culla Bay we connect with the
three Common Scoter seen last week and moving swiftly on we are soon
watching two Black-tailed Godwits and are lucky enough to see a fantastic
female Red-necked Phalarope on a nearby pool. Our final stop is at
“Coot Loch” where the bird of that name performs well to all! All in
all a very satisfying day.
Day 5
Another sunny but rather blustery day greets us at
breakfast and despite the extremely gloomy forecast, it remains this
way all day. We have been really very fortunate with the weather during
the whole of the week, it being a stark contrast to the dreadful week
before.
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Our first stop is a return visit to South
Uist where Craig quickly locates the much needed Otter – a dog
feeding actively and giving reasonable views to all over a lengthy
period.
Otter – Pete Cairns |
Also during our stay here we manage to spot male Hen
Harrier, a feisty pair of Merlin and two excellent displaying Golden
Eagles, although eventually we have to admit defeat with the White-tailed
Eagle and head for the west coast and the headland of Rubha Ardvule.
This fantastic site is at its best, with good light from behind and
a light swell offshore making it very atmospheric and a good point from
which to look at southward bound seabirds. Occasional parties of Manx
Shearwater are the main focus of interest and we all get to grips with
differentiating Guillemot and Razorbill in flight, while Gannets literally
skim the rocks at the tip of the headland – superb! From Rubha Ardvule
we travel to Verran Island and drive from there northwards along the
sandy machair tracks to Stilligarry before arriving at the plantation
on the shores of Loch Druidibeg. The weather is fantastic affording
superb views across the Loch to Hecla and Beinn Mor, which dominate
the landscape, and after birding the plantation and finding no migrants
or the hoped for occasionally resident Goldcrests we drove down to the
picturesque old port of Loch Skipport. As we imagine bygone days of
sailing craft we are interrupted by splendid views of an over-flying
female Merlin before driving on to Benbecula. At the phalarope site
Bill stuns us all by finding a very close sleeping male Red-necked Phalarope
long after we had assumed that no birds were present and the bird eventually
wakes up and shows very well before calling and flying off. A rather
fitting end to a very enjoyable day.
Day 6
The final day dawns with yet more sun and electing
to re-visit Balranald for the last hour or so of birding on the Hebrides,
we are rewarded with absolutely superb, prolonged views of a male Corncrake
strutting around calling by the Visitor Centre. Eventually though we
have to head for Lochmaddy and the ferry, seeing two close Red-throated
Divers as we sped past their lochan. The crossing is again smooth,
although the sea is not as calm as last time, and many seabirds are
noted but the small raft of Manx Shearwaters flushed by the ferry and
seen at close range are undoubtedly the highlight of the journey. On
Skye we take the northern coast road taking in the impressive mountain
scenery and during our journey to Kyle we managed to pick up a number
of species that we had nor recorded previously including Great Tit,
Mistle Thrush, Rook, Sand Martin and Whinchat (taking the weeks list
of species to just over 100) as well as a nice, small flock of Golden
Plover. Arriving at Kyle a quick car count reveals that all are present
and we go our separate ways after a splendid week’s birding on the magical
Outer Hebrides.
It’s decided that the Bird of the Week is
the Corncrake, the Place of the Week is Balranald and the Magic
Moment is arriving at the headland at Balranald just in time to
see four Pomarine and then three late Long-tailed Skuas fly past.
Red-throated Diver
Black-throated Diver
Great Northern Diver
Little Grebe
Fulmar
Manx Shearwater
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Whooper Swan
Greylag Goose
Shelduck
Wigeon
Teal
Mallard
Garganey
Shoveler
Tufted Duck
Eider
Common Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Hen Harrier
Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
Golden Eagle
Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine
Corncrake
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Golden Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Knot
Sanderling
Dunlin
Ruff
Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Curlew
Redshank
Greenshank
Common Sandpiper
Turnstone
Red-necked Phalarope
Pomarine Skua
Arctic Skua
Long-tailed Skua
Great Skua
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Kittiwake
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Little Tern
Guillemot
Razorbill
Black Guillemot
Puffin
Rock Dove
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Cuckoo
Short-eared Owl
Skylark
Sand Martin
Swallow
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Whinchat
Stonechat
Wheatear
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Sedge Warbler
Whitethroat
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Great Tit
Jackdaw
Rook
Hooded Crow
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Siskin
Twite
Redpoll
Reed Bunting
Corn Bunting
Red Deer
Rabbit
Minke Whale
Harbour Porpoise
Grey Seal
Common Seal
Otter
Painted Lady
Green-veined White
Red Admiral
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