2021 Hebridean Adventures, Pt.2 - 23rd to 26th May, 2021

Blogger is still succeeding in destroying header images, but I'll persevere anyway - please just imagine that the header is sharp!

I set off writing this post with a view to making an effort to making it shorter on words, and cram in the photos in the hope of this being the final part. However,  best laid plans . . . . ! It's going to be a three-parter. If you missed it, you can find Pt.1 here:- http://peglerbirding.blogspot.com/2021/06/2021-hebridean-adventures-pt1-18th-to.html.

So here goes:- 

Sunday, 23rd May          the north of North Uist

          cold and very windy

The road on which our rental property is situated is named Clachan Sands. The place nmed Clachan Sands which has an informal camp site and a fine beach is nearby but off a different road - boy, does that cause confusion to the campers! 

A stroll a couple of hundred metres up theroad from the cottage after breakfast didn't produce the plethora of Redshank and Lapwing expected. However, Meadow Pipits were much in evidence.

 

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) - Clachan Sands,  North Uist

We stayed local that day, the Committee Road leaving us stuck on the Meadow Pipit theme.

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) -Committee Road, North Uist

Not far from the property, beside the road to Berneray, we found a Hooded Crow.

Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) - by Berneray Road, North Uist

A mid-afternoon return to the cottage had me finding things a little more exciting by the property.

Common Gull (Larus canus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Another visit to the road by the cottage in the late evening had me spending time with an owl once more until it flew into the distance and joined up with another some 800 metres away (as shown in the last of the images below). If you don't like owls, now might be a good time to depart, as I am rather fond of them and there will be more than a few to come in this post!

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Monday, 24th May          North Uist to Benbecula and return

          very windy and wet, a.m ; drier, but dull, p.m.

There's a road near Lochmaddy, North Uist where, two years ago, I briefly saw a pair of Red-throated Diver. We returned there this day, on our way to Griminis on Benbecula. We found a single Red-throated Diver, but it stayed very distant in poor light, so I only got a record shot.

Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) from North Lee Walk, North Uist

A visit to Griminis on Benbecula in the hope of finding Red-necked Phalarope didn't come up with the goods, and the rain was coming in through the window of the car. Even the geese had had enough and departed.

Greylag Goose (Anser anser) - Griminis, Benbecula

Even my evening trawl of the road beyond our cottage was disappointing with the most interesting thing being Hooded Crow.

Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Thus ended a rather flat day.

Tuesday, 25th May          the north of North Uist

          very windy again, with showers in the morning

A pre-late breakfast stroll up the lane was pleasant although not outstanding.

White sheep, black lambs - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Lapwing  (Vanellus vanellus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

A run to the machair near Borgh on Berneray had us wondering why so few cars were parked on the grass above the beach. We subsequently found that this was now forbidden. However, there were several cars parked at a spot on the way back and an investigation found  us a beach we had not visited before. In spite of the cars, there were few people around and it was an amazing beach.

access path to beach through dunes - near Borgh, Berneray

beach - near Borgh, Berneray

The machair, on the way back to the main road can be interesting and Skylark here are quite common.

Skylark (Alauda arvensis) - machair near Borgh, Berneray

Calling in at the cottage gave us the delight of a relatively good encounter with a Twite - at last!

Twite (Linaria flavirostris) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Malacliet beach on the north coast of North Uist is one of Lindsay's favourites for looking for sea glass and bits of pottery. I concentrated on the few birds. I'm not good at gulls but think this is a young Common Gull.

Common Gull (Larus canus) - Malacliet, North Uist

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) - Malacliet, North Uist

mixed flock of Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) & Dunlin (Calidris alpina) - Malacliet, North Uist

I took some photos of Sea Thrift and seaweed, being intrigued by the pink colours in the seeweed.

Sea Thrift (Armeria maritima) - Malacliet, North Uist

seaweed - Malacliet, North Uist

Further along the coast, we stopped so I could take some photos of Dr. Macleod's tower - a well-known landmark at Scolpaig.

This folly was built on an island in a small loch by Dr Alexander MacLeod of Balelone. The tower was built with stone scavenged from an earlier Iron Age dun. Around 1820 Dr MacLeod, for reasons best known to himself, decided to pull down the Iron Age remains and create a mock medieval tower in its place. One rather kind interpretation is that the doctor was concerned about the living conditions of the islanders and came up with his folly building plan as a make-work project to provide employment.

 

Sadly, it seems that this area is going to be severely sullied by the constraction of a rocket-launching station for communication satellites.

 

Dr. Macleod's Tower - Scolpaig, North Uist

Balranald beach on the west coast of North Uist swallowed up the three or four other people on it with no problem!

Balranald beach - North Uist

Sanderling (Calidris alba) - Balranald, North Uist

Dunlin (Calidris alpina) -Balranald, North Uist

Back at base, I didn't get any shots of owls that evening, but I did get a long-distance view of a Hen Harrier in the fields behind the cottage.

Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) (male) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

It was a fine ending to the day!

Thursday 26th May          the north of North Uist again

          less windy and a bit warmer with sunny spells

A more pleasant start to the day, weather-wise, seemed to have brought in the birds with suddenly there being good numbers of Redshank and Lapwing seen on my pre-breakfast stroll from the cottage. Most exciting was the sight of a Curlew, however.

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Sheep with four black lambs - Clachan Sands, North Uist

The Redshank were being particularly noisy.

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Lapwing  (Vanellus vanellus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Encouraged by my earlier trip up the road, I returned after breaksat. As I left the cottage, one of the very confiding Wrens nesting in the thatched roof was delivering food to young. This, I believe, is of the subspecies hebridensis which is larger than the mainland Wren

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes hebridensis) - Cottage, Clachan Sands, North Uist

Redshank (Tringa totanus) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (female) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

From the road just to the north of the cottage, I spotted a high-flying Short-eared Owl.

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) - near Clachan Sands, North Uist

We had lunch that day at a new eating facility that has popped up between the road and sea shore at Malacliet. It was excellent, although the bad weather for the past few days had prevented the fishermen from going out, so the menu had a few gaps in it. This instantly became our lunch stop of choice.
 

lunch at The Wee Cottage Kitchen, Malacliet, North Uist

Continuing down the west coast of North Uist, we took the loop road which ends up near the RSPB visitor centre, stopping at a place where the road is close to the coast. Here we found Eider and Sanderling. You are getting both shots of the group of eider as I couldn't make up my mind which amused me most.

Eider (Somateria mollissima) (males + female) - from Balranald loop road, North Uist

We stopped at Balranald, primarily to use 'the facilities', but I did take some shots of a common Gull.

Common Gull (Larus canus) - RSPB Balranald, North Uist

My regular run up the lane from the cottage produced a distant Curlew, but no Short-eared Owl.

Curlew (Numenius arquata) - Clachan Sands, North Uist

This brings me to the end of Pt.2 of my account. Pt.3 will follow at a later date.

 

Thank you for dropping by.

 

Best wishes - - - Richard