Holiday 2021 Friday 7th May

 Last full day of the trip 😢, The weather had decided to play ball and it was a lovely morning, there had been talk of getting up early, but failed again!!

This is the view from the sofa, the far area of water was where most of the seabird sightings were!

We (I) had decided to return to Rua Reidh headland, this time taking the scope for a spot of proper Seawatching, Margie was thrilled😏!! On the way up to the car a Blackbird serenaded us off the Island which made a change from the Willow Warbler although he was still going for it as well! At the car a Cuckoo was wrestling a massive caterpillar, we think the bird won in the end!!

"Our Blackbird"

Another view from the Island

Cuckoo vs Caterpillar

The journey was uneventful, the road less scary in the pleasant sunlight, we stopped so Margie could photograph some Highland Cows

Highland Cattle

We arrived on site, unfortunately there was no wind at all, so no crashing waves, like yesterday but there were still plenty of birds although unfortunately many were more distant today, possibly again a consequence of the lack of wind!! However there was a bit of passage with some Whimbrel going through and a few groups of Common Gulls.

Common Gulls

Whimbrel

More Whimbrel

Common Gull

Got to be said, Margie's dedication to the Seawatching cause was fairly poor and she soon wandered off. To be  fair it was slow going, my dreams of a Puffin fading fast, and my even more fantastical dreams of 100's of Long-tailed Skuas streaming past never materialised, unsurprisingly😏 There were however plenty of distractions, lots of Wheatears, Skylarks singing and Meadow Pipits, a couple of Oystercatchers had acrobatic sex right in front of me, no shame!! The scenery was obviously still magnificent!!

Margie braving the slipway

Oh la la

Wheatear

Meadow Pipit

Me Hardcore again!

Margie had been busy exploring and taking pictures, some of her efforts below.

Meanwhile, the dedicated one (me) was getting some good views of Gannets and plenty of other stuff was around the headland. There is a theory you can have too many pics of Gannets, it is not a theory that I subscribe to 😄

We dragged ourselves away, a quick stop at the Crumbs bakery in Gairloch for a celebratory Sausage Roll, Cream cake and a bit of Tiffin, can't remember what Margie had!! 

We then headed to an area where they are trying to restore the Caledonian Forest, that I've forgotten the name of!! A lovely walk, although the sun beating down compounded by some twonk forgetting the water, yes was me!!, meant we didn't go that far, not many birds, a Raven, a few Willow Warblers, couple of Cuckoos, a Robin, a Goldcrest and a Coal Tit the best of it, some interesting insects on the pools in the boggy heathland and the usual awesome scenery!

 

By now we were  fairly knackered, so headed back to the Island, my Loch scanning worked again with a couple of Pinkfoot Geese on a small lochan! The light was gorgeous from the sofa, gonna miss this view!! 

Pinkfeet

Another excellent day!!!