Scotland 2017

Saturday May 20 Brutally early alarm, after the last week of laissez-fair. Both my clock and my phone (belt and braces job) went off at 5.20 a.m. Beds had to be stripped, the house left 'as you would want to find it' and then, a 20 mile drive to Lochmaddy to queue for the ferry by 6.45 at the latest. We increasingly resent having to clean the rental cottage before leaving, the rent should cover someone to do that for us. The Boat of Garten rental does. The vacuum here is so heavy that neither of us could carry it upstairs. The cottage looked spotless, we only used three rooms. It was also raining heavily this morning, not good for final packing. It reminded me of taking children camping in North Wales and dreading having to pack wet tents and then dry them when we got home. Corny the Crake bade us a muted farewell, an invisible one of course. A couple we see every year were queued in front of us in the 'lift lane'. Their little Schnauzer is full of beans. W...

Friday May 19 Did it have to pour down on our last day? I had every intention of being out early this morning, I even set the alarm clock. One look out of the bedroom window, which had streams running down it and it was back to bed for a read.  Pam dressed and got the moth trap in - after emptying two inches of water out of the suitcase lid. I took it apart and dried everything, finding no moths at all and, sodden egg boxes. We were due to collect my made up earrings to-day, as good a destination as any. Considering the number of birders who visit these islands, they are very dilatory in producing appropriate jewellery. The same two bird designs as last year, neither of them particularly desirable.The shop in South Uist is also their workshop, they made a couple of tie-pins into earrings for me. I'm sure that Puffins would go down very well with general public, not only birders. The first little parking area at Loch Mor was full, we parked at the westerly end again. on the ...

Thursday May 18 Our latest start yet, for no apparent reason. Weather was good, as was our humour, we (I in particular) loafed about. My snail pace was because the WiFi worked for a while and I made use of it. The moth trap was sodden again. When does it rain?  At night obviously, about which we should be pleased. I’d really like a few moths before leaving and, to-night is the last night possible. We met BB a few days ago.he’d trapped very few but, at least he’d had something in his two weeks here. I wonder if he’ll be in Norfolk again this year. To-day’s aim was the island of Berneray The Isle lies at the northern end of the Uists, but historically was part of South Harris. It was joined to North Uist by a causeway in 1999. It’s only 2 miles by 3 in area and well worth a visit. Last year we had non stop heavy rain and determined to visit it again. In the very north of Uist shortly before the causeway, there is a ruin on an island in a loch. Luckily, there is a good information ...

Wednesday May 17 No internet again. So frustrating, it loads part way then crashes. After a lovely day too. Still too much wind for comfort, the sun and blue sky makes up for it. South Uist and Loch  Aineoart on the east coast was the destination, there’s a clump of trees here for passerines (rare on these islands) and a lovely view. It should be sheltered to-day in a south easterly wind. One false turning, to Flodda, which is an unmarked dead end. No matter, another road explored. Unfortunately Aineort is well known to birders. The small parking place for about six vehicles at the end of the track was full. We parked up the hill, near the boat shed, from which we could view the loch. Two Ravens and a Hooded Crow - the latter nowhere near as widespread as they are on Mull - two Red-breasted Merganser, the inevitable Eider and a few basking seals. We, I, couldn’t walk up the high hill beyond the wood, which is where we saw Golden Eagles and passerines last year. Fortunately, I’d p...

Tuesday May 16 The only sensible thing to do was... stay in bed and read.  A howling gale still, rain lashing against the bedroom windows. I can only suffer sitting up in bed for a short time, it's too uncomfortable on my knees. Fortunately, the rain eased, we were encouraged to chance the day. I'd planned to start at Aird an Runair, to see if the wind had brought us some skuas. Instead we ordered the Telegraph at Bayhead supermarket -  not in until 5, late boat on Tuesdays - and made for South Uist and the Phalarope loch. Alhough the sky ahead looked pretty dark, it cleared, the sun came out and we saw our first Short-eared Owl of the day. Two brawling Buzzards had us flummoxed for a while. Reaching Loch Mor, we started scanning from the eastern end. Shelduck, Oystercatchers and Arctic Terns. There's a grassy hillock at the western end where we parked and scanned the favoured end of the loch. I was scoping Wigeon, a pair of Gadwall and two pairs of Arctic Tern. Pa...

Monday May 15 Not much to write about to-day - except to express the British obsession with the weather. Hebrideans say that when the wind stops blowing on Tiree, all the inhabitants fall over. We had to struggle to stay upright IN the wind.  It's been blowing a real gale here to-day with intermittent rain. Not cold, peculiarly, due to the southerly wind. I had to hold the car door  open so that Pam could get in. It was lunchtime before  we left the cottage with several chores in mind. Stamps for the postcards and a battery for my watch. I must be able to get one somewhere. A shop assistant at Bayhead, down the road, said that their post office was shut as it only opened on Monday and Friday mornings until noon. The main Post Office was in Lochmaddy. I should be able to get a battery in Benbecula. And..... having driven the 20 miles there especially, the Lochmaddy Post Office also closed at noon every day and it was now 1 p.m. How helpful !!! There's a large RAF...

Sunday May 14 Last year, my case moth trap was new, so I heeded the advice not to put it out in the rain. It has a rain guard, why should I be so limited? We only used it twice on this island last year. It wasn't raining when we went to bed, there had obviously been a heavy shower during the night. The actinic tube was still hooked up but not alight. No moths either. We emptied the trap, left the egg boxes to dry out and left for Balranald. A lovely sunny morning with a stiff breeze, Skylarks singing, Lapwings Peeweeing, Redshanks whistling and at least two Corncrakes craking. None in our garden so far. Straight out to Ard an Runair beach, the area around the Reserve centre ( a small stone shed) and the loos was full of people, a coachload had arrived. The metal road soon descends to a very rough stone and sand track through the machair. Very few vehicles at the beach, half a dozen at the most. Parking where we could see the bay, scanning brought a host of Sanderling wit...

Saturday May 13 After a comfortable night at Skyehaven B and B, we left for the ferry terminal at Uig. I'm wearing the only watch of mine which had a working battery,  all five others (!) were dead. After a conversation re time - I was dawdling - I discovered that mine had stopped. Dunvegan wasn't far away and Pam had never been there. What a small village for the seat of the McLeods and its castle. We tried to see the castle, it's completely hidden from view from all directions - apart from the sea I suppose. Ah well. What do the Uist folk do when their batteries expire? The ferry was 23 minutes late coming in and almost identically late leaving. As invalid passengers - me - we have to put on our hazard lights and get parked on board behind big lorries which take up two lanes. That gives us plenty of room to get in and out (Pam once had to get in via a car window) and we are situated next to a lift. Bliss not having to do all those vertical stairs. We shared the...

Friday May 12 We couldn't have breakfast until 7.30 - because the Aga takes 25 minutes to heat up. !!! ??? That was the reason for scrambled eggs only on the menu. Eggs are not my favourite food and I struggled to eat mine this morning, despite resorting to brown sauce. We could have left much later really but, Pam wanted away. A little fine drizzle saw us off, it didn't last long. A short wait for the ferry at Fishnish. Despite a long queue with a huge timber lorry in front of us, we were on the first ferry to Corran. We were waved on ahead of the lorry, he was fitted in diagonally, allowing another car to be shoe-horned in beside his rear end. We were motioned forward until all three of our front sensors were screaming red at us. Those men know what they're doing. The most convenient supermarket in Fort William is Morrisons just off the roundabout into town from the south. Although the islands have shops, they're not always well stocked, nor do they have all ...

Thursday May 11 Having completed yesterday what we'd planned for to-day, we explored the north east coast. Some of it a duplicate of the previous two days, some different. Pam loves the road from Dervaig to Salen, we started with that. The Salen garage was packed, one fuel tanker delivering , a queue at the other station. Could we manage to get to Fort William to-morrow? Yes. Arthur had made a small diversion towards Knock Bridge to show us a magnificent display of bluebells in the woods. We did the same with a further excursion to see what - if anything - was happening at Knock Bridge to keep it closed for this long. Two men working, one with a manual roller. So much conjecturing as to what exactly is going on. Arthur's story seems the most believable. They are strengthening the small hump-backed bridge in order to make it suitable for the heavy lorries visiting the fish farm. A queue of parked cars nearby must belong to the people in the houses on the other side, the...

Tuesday May 10 Plenty of time before our 12.00 boat trip for a comfortable breakfast, drive to Tobermory and a Co-op shop. Stugeron was on the list too, just in case it was a rough ride. We were then fully prepared. I had trouser inners on as well as the regular pair, we both took Stugeron and parked as near to the jetty as we could. Pam went off to the booking office and came back with Tim from there and Richard from Sealife Surveys in tow. Despite me producing  a confirmation Email, booking number and payment receipt from the original booking, plus confirmation email from last week, Explore Mull had no record of our booking. The Sealife boat had been cancelled - low numbers - and they hadn't got room for us on the other. Richard was embarrassed. We were offered a free trip to-morrow but we refused - too near the drive to Skye and journey to Uist, we're tired.  The sea's been perfectly calm with little wind to-day, also overcast all day with occasional slight...

Tuesday May 9   In Africa they have the Big Five to target. Mull has the Favourite Four. Our day out with Arthur Brown, who with his wife Pam runs '' Discover Mull'', is much anticipated and always enjoyed. Arthur was a Shropshire dairy farmer until he came to Mull and started his wildlife tours in the north of the island, based in Dervaig. We parked at his house, as did four other participants, before leaving to pick up two others from the Bellachroy Inn. Very conveniently, a pair of White-tailed Eagles have built a nest a mere quarter of a mile from Arthur's house. All we could see to-day was the top of the sitting bird's head. The Forestry Commission was in the middle of felling this particular patch of forest when the Eagles moved in. They then had to stop felling - a reversal of the usual process. The birds must have accepted the logging as part of normality around them,  building their nest without fear. With regular pauses for refreshment, home-m...