Just back from a very successful trip to the Hebs so I thought I'd post a short report.
The Plan
We had been intending to visit the Uists again this spring but with the harlequin duck lingering on Lewis we decided to tack on a day there first. The idea was to drive up to Uig on Skye on Wednesday 12th May, stopping off on the way to bag a Munro. We would then take the ferry from Uig to Tarbert on Harris on 13th, spend the night somewhere round Stornoway before crossing to North Uist on the afternoon of 14th. We would return to Uig on the lunchtime sailing on 17th and drive back to Fife.
Day1, 12/5/04
We saw little of note on the drive north with the first hooded crows seen around Loch Cluanie. We stopped for lunch in a lay-by south of Kyle-of-Lochalsh and picked up at least 3 twite. Once on Skye we turned off the main road at Broadford on the road to Elgol and drove to the foot of Bla Bheinn (our chosen Munro). We had originally intended to climb Beinn Sgritheall above Loch Hourn and cross to Skye on the wee ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea. However at this time of year it stops running at 5:45 and we didn't want the risk of having to drive all the way round to the bridge.
I realise that many/most birders find the idea of climbing mountains an appalling concept but we find that birding/walking fit very well together.
The ascent of Bla Bheinn is a relatively quick one, hence the choice of objective. We set off shortly before 2:00 in hot sunshine. At the bottom we saw a common sandpiper and our first cuckoo of the year - which accompanied us up the glen. Further up were several wheatears but a calling ring ouzel remained invisible. From the summit we had superb views across to the main Cuillin ridge.
On the descent came the birding highlight of the day - a superb male ptarmigan about 20 feet from the path. It seemed an unusually dark grey - is this a peculiarity of Skye birds living on gabbro and where there is seldom much snow? We got back to the car about 5:45 and drove on to Uig and our B&B. The reedy field across the road from the B&B was full of singing sedge warblers. So concluded a travelling day - for the "real" stuff you'll have to wait for the next installment.
Rob
Excellent stuff! Was up myself at the Weekend! I`ll post a trip report and we can compare notes