Yesterday we explored the two largest lochs on South Uist - Loch Baghasdall and Loch Aineort - both of which are really good birdwatching sites. We also enjoyed our - first of the trip - sightings of both white-tailed eagle and otter; key target species for any Hebridean wildlife watching.
Loch Ainenott provided cracking views of a pair of otter - straight out from the parking area at the end of the road. The pair were hauled out on seaweed, and seemingly oblivious to the increased attention they were getting from the half a dozen wildlife watchers who lined the edge of the car park with 'scopes and bins. We would have all overlooked them, if it was not for A's keen eye - as I along with the rest of the motley crew were too busy trading notes on the whereabouts of "the grail" of the Outer Hebrides - the very "hush hush" breeding grounds of the red-necked phalarope.
It was a useful conversation to have, and I came away with an X marks the spot on the OS map, and the name of a second location too. The former transpired to be incorrect gen. a misremembered hand me down which looked very similar in location to the latter - but was several road junctions north from the real "hush hush".
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| Otter, Loch Aineott, (digi'scoped) |
With the matter of the phalarope completed, we turned our attention to the birdlife and enjoyed close in views of red-throated, black-throated, and great northern diver. Along with mallard, shelduck, and wigeon; red-breasted merganser, shag and cormorant; black guillemot, arctic and common tern; grey heron.
Walking east through the plantation and out onto the open slopes of the loch side we added a pair of cuckoo, the female heard "bubbling" in response to the males call. The songs of the willow warbler, wood warbler and blackcap were also joined by the song of the scarcer Lesser whitethroat. Blackbird, robin, wren and chaffinch were in fine voice; and a goldcrest sang from the dense cover of a conifer.
When we had first arrived at the head of the loch - a very distant white-tailed eagle had been seen briefly, coming off the cliff-top and heading out over east. So when we found ourselves opposite the same cliff, we sat path side and waited a while. Shortly after sitting down, I picked up on an adult WTE flying across the face of the cliff before it zig-zagged to turn and land on a rock platform part way down the face. Too distant even to attempt a digi-scoped record shot, I took simple pleasure in sketching a schemata for posterity in my field notes.
Back at the campsite that evening, a dram or two of Skye's finest was raised aloft to toast the days sightings. As the sun dropped in a pink sky, snipe drummed overhead, and the continuous "Crex crex" of the corncrake was stifled by distance - providing a good omen for an undisturbed night's sleep.
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| "Slainte m'hath" |
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| Sunset, West Kilbride |
This morning we began the next stage of our road trip, slowly heading north to Benbecula. En route we enjoyed the trips first sighting of hen harrier, a smart male flying low, close in and parallel to the road.
Stopping at Cladh Hallan we visited the three roundhouse remains on a site that has been dated from the Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age. One of the houses is considered to have been almost continually occupied for a period of 900yrs (On-site Interpretation). Foundation burials, cremations and mummified bodies have all been discovered during archaeological investigations of the site. Of the mummified bodies, it is understood that the male was a composite human, comprising the skull, jaw bone and body of three seperate individuals - who had lived at seperate times and had then been buried as a single entity, following a period of mummification in a peat bog (On-site interpretation).
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| Cladh Hallan roundhouses (looking north) |
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| Cladh Hallan roundhouses (looking south) |
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| rems. of "smokery" (looking southwest) |
Taking the opportunity for a walk along the longest of sandy beaches, we followed the tideline picking up interesting shells, and collecting sea glass. Flocks of sanderling, dunlin and turnstone contrived their own beachcombing, searching between the seaweed and the waves for tiny morsels. Oystercatcher and lapwing called from the machair.
Our next stop was Loch Druidibeag - for waterbirds, wildfowl and birds of prey. Golden plover, a pair of red-necked divers; and a female hen harrier brought interest in what was an otherwise quiet birdwatch. The highlight a distant white-tailed eagle set against the sky before the distant Cuillin Hills which rose out of the Isle of Skye. Breathtaking, for the juxtapostion of bird and Skye.
I "discover" a flush of heath-spotted orchid, a new species for me, and I take too many photos.
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| Heath-spotted Orchid, Loch Druidibeag |
Late in the afternoon we pulled into Otter's Edge Campsite receiving the warmest of welcomes from the owner and his daughter. The family having moved last year from the Midlands to do up and run the campsite. Re-opening a year earlier than planned, to provide accommodation for the home-abroad lockdown holiday makers. The owner described the darkness of the long winter they had just experienced, along with the joy of a fireside Talisker to warm the spirit and the heart. Sharing his passion for the single malt, we connect cheerily.
The wind speed is noticeably increasing, and the owner warns of a very windy couple of days ahead. We decide to keep the roof top sleeping compartment down for the duration. The flatness of Benbecula provides no respite from a wind harrying across its small expanse, and there is no angle with which to park to withstand the cold shock of it.
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| Otters Edge Campsite, Benbecula |
After our evening meal, I take a walk along the foreshore and surrounding machair. Oystercatcher, ringed plover, lapwing, skylark, shelduck and greylag geese are all noted, and a peregrine adds a new bird to the trip list. I watch a rat take a small rabbit as it emerges from a burrow. Then it runs, rabbit in mouth along the coast path and right past me.
Our day ends, with a Talisker, whilst listening to another installment of "The Lovecraft Chronicles" on the BBC Sounds App.
As we settle for the night on the cabin bed, we hear the winds and wonder what weather may follow it on the morning?
