Thursday 28 May 2015

16th-23rd May Kenmore, Applecross peninsula

After leaving the Uists via a 4.30am alarm and an early ferry from Lochmaddy to Uig on Skye we were able to enjoy a pleasant journey towards the mainland and onwards to our next location.

Some re-stocking of supplies was necessary and some fabulous views were marvelled at as our sedate progress continued, the pace was dictated by the allowed entry time for the cottage!

We have had some splendid sightings from Shieldaig harbour before so we parked up there for a while and wandered along the promenade.

A smart redpoll was looking for food in the grass...
We watched as a white tailed eagle took to the sky, together with the usual harassment from a gull!

I did manage a slightly closer shot of the magnificent sea eagle...

...and so to the cottage, unpacking was completed just in time as a really heavy shower blew in, after the rain the view across Upper Loch Torridon complete with rainbow.

We have stayed in this cottage before, the owners who live nearby inform guests that they have resident pine martens. Largely nocturnal these beautiful animals are making a good comeback after much persecution and habitat destruction, they have been resident here for many years partly due to the protection the owners provide. They advise guests on how to see them and lay down a few sensible rules....no flash photography, no opening windows or doors to obtain a better view or photograph...and a tiny amount of jam smeared in a couple of places. The photographs gained are of no commercial value, mega high iso and very slow shutter speeds mean the shots are for interest only.
The amount of jam is important, obviously the amount of sugar from large amounts may be detrimental to the pine martens health and also high volumes would give a danger of altering their normal food habits and lessen their ability to hunt.

I strongly believe in the disclosure of how photographs are obtained, there are many examples on the internet of some hard to see creatures where the photographer has been in a commercial hide and failed to disclose that. Certain perches for birds feature heavily....quite simply whether for financial gain or simply the approbation of the public, tell the full story!

There is nothing wrong with either using these hides or posting them on the internet, my problem is when this background information is not disclosed it leads to viewers getting an improper perception of the photographers fieldcraft and also leads to the viewer thinking it is fine to approach these creatures so closely, thereby creating a risk of disturbance and disruption, mightily important at all times and especially so in Spring.

So...through the double glazed patio doors and not great shots, pine marten


Our first good sighting the next day was a magnificent young golden eagle, the closest we have been so far and the beautiful markings can be clearly seen..


The heavy showers we were experiencing made the waterfalls quite photogenic!

This lovely green veined butterfly chose to settle on a bluebell, how could I not photograph that..

A willow warbler...

A greenfinch visited the garden one evening...

The moodiness and changeable weather demonstrated by a view over the Torridian mountains...

A burn near the cottage..

A little vole in the garden...

Another sea eagle...

A common carder bee

Deer sightings had been plentiful but distant until we found a couple of young stags near a road one day...


A song thrush in fine fettle...

A curly fern

Great skua

A colony of common seals

Juvenile herring gull

Common seal pup playing...



We watched a buzzard hunting close to the ground in a gusty wind...


And so another splendid stay up here came to an end...almost!

Armed with some information about ospreys we stopped off at Loch of the Lowes before our overnight near Crianlarich.

Within half an hour of being in the well placed hide we were treated to the sight of the male osprey bringing in a meal for the female and chicks...magic!

Another superb holiday in Scotland for us and some memorable sightings.

Many thanks to all who view and as usual my reminder that if you do wish to comment...they come to me first for moderation otherwise I get spammed by all sorts of ridiculous things....and the occasional naughty word!

Friday 15 May 2015

A week on the Uists 9-15th May 2015

Much as we love our local area we always look forward to seeing wildlife in different locations, over the last few years we have enjoyed some splendid holidays in Scotland and our knowledge of the best places has grown accordingly, maybe not best but our favourites.

At this time of the year we love the west coast and in particular the isles, this year the Uists were the chosen location as we had a fantastic time here two years ago, some fear to return thinking that disappointment awaits, not us though....

A well planned drive north went smoothly enough and after an overnight stay in Connel we were handy for the ferry from Oban, the five hour crossing to Loch Boisedale was incident free and we spotted a few great skuas from the outside decks plus one pomarine skua and a few other birds and a small group of porpoises.

Locating our cottage on South Uist was easy enough and we were fortunate to have a lovely sunny evening where we could enjoy a glass or two of wine in the garden watching birds near the cottage.

Sunday was wet...to say the least! We decided that bird watching from the car was the best option, previous knowledge disclosed some good locations so out we went..

First shot a very fuzzy male hen harrier...

The sheltered bays seemed attractive as winds rocked the car whether moving or parked!

A turnstone

Dunlin

Ringed plover
...and redshank
The following day the winds were even stronger and the rain was a nuisance!

In between the showers we found golden plover...

More dunlin and turnstone


and sanderling

The highlight of the day was a great northern diver

But we also found eider ducks...

Tuesday and the sun comes out, we know a great place to see short eared owls ...success beyond our greatest hopes...




A check on a good place for buzzards worked well too :-)


Golden eagles are quite numerous up here, poor photographs are too!


Another view of a great northern diver...

Arctic tern

Ringed plover

Gannets

Twite

and a better hen harrier shot!

Red throated divers the next day

White tailed eagle

..and otter!!!




A wren which is unique to the Isles because they cannot fly far enough for the pure race to be diluted by continental birds...

The sun was great for views...

Golden eagles soared...

And the short eared owls continued to be entrancing....




We also found a relatively rare corn bunting part hidden in some reeds...

Many thanks to all who read, don't forget if you do comment that they come to me first for moderation.

Early start tomorrow to head towards the mainland and more wildlife watching.........