Crossing to Lochmaddy on 3rd September seemed to hold much promise with wind and rain the previous night giving way to a bright day with a good breeze ...
Gannets are great but something more exciting would be nice ...
... a few small groups of Manx Shearwaters was as good as it got ... I bumped into Peter Stronach on the way off the boat and he had done no better ...
For a day or two the wind was vicious but subsided enough for some seawatching ... a Sooty Shearwater was the main prize along with lots of Manx Shearwaters ...
Approaching the Berneray causeway a large raptor broke the horizon .. Golden Eagle, and there were two ...
... many flocks of Greylags were looking fresh-in and properly wild ...
Twite were present in some small groups but also forming quite large flocks ... interesting that a few Linnets mingled in with these ...
There were some lovely Common Gulls in juvenile plumage ...
... and adults now well into winter plumage and progressing wing-moult ...
The beaches held good numbers of Sanderling, some still in summer plumage but most now in smart winter plumage ...
Divers, perhaps unsurprisingly, were fairly scarce ... this distant Red-throated still in full summer plumage ...
Many species assume a different character from that which I see at home ... Ravens are so much less wary here and a joy to watch ...
... likewise the Starlings seem full of character and always on the go ... these birds are apparently intergrades between the British race and the Shetland race zetlandicus ...
... and surely these are as close to Rock Doves as you can get ...
... and flocks of Oystercatchers included moulting adults and some pristine first-winter birds ...
Back on the beach near Balranald and a flock of Tundra-type Ringed Plovers ... slim delicate birds with smart dark mantles and neat little bills ...
The return crossing to Uig was on a calm benign morning and the 7.00 am light just about good enough but conditions gave little hope of anything good ... until a Bonxie flew past the boat ... then a dark phase Arctic Skua followed close behind a juvenile Herring Gull ... and better still, a single Leach's Petrel crossed the bow and headed away into the distance ...
In between the bands of rain coming across the loch at Ullapool the Sabine's Gull remained faithful to the area around the river mouth ...
... in amongst Common and Herring Gulls ...
... a superb looking bird ...
And a hybrid Herring x Glaucous Gull was reported in the harbour ... a search of the harbour produced no gulls at all ... they had taken refuge on the campsite field ...
An interesting looking bird ... aka ' Viking Gull ' features that probably gave away its hybrid nature were its relatively small size, lack of dark head and neck mottling and a wing length that was a bit too long
No comments:
Post a Comment