Howdo
Am just recently back from a terrific holiday in the further reaches of Scotland. Had an amazing time and was lucky to see many new (to me) species along the way. I should point out at this point that I am far from the most experienced birdwatcher so I am sure there were many other species that I could have seen had I some more knowledge. But anyhoo........
Drove up to Plockton, overnight there and then off to Applecross via the spectacular Applecross Pass single track road. A stunning drive. Arrived in Applecross just after the WHEATEARs did. A first see for a city boy like me!
Also saw SWALLOWS, MEADOW PIPITS, ROCK PIPITS, GREENSHANK, RINGED PLOVER, DUNLIN and the ubiquitous OYSTERCATCHERs. There were hundreds of waders there and I'm sure there were plenty more species for the experienced eye to see.
A short daytrip down to Tuscaig brought sightings of GREAT NORTHERN DIVER, BLACK THROATED DIVER, SLAVONIAN GREBE numerous REDBREASTED MERGANSER and several SHAG and CORMORANTS. A good first day!
The delightful Applecross Inn's sightings book had several sightings of WHITE TAILED EAGLEs at neighbouring Millton and CUCKOOs amongst several other rarities. Unfortunately i only saw them in this book and not in the flesh
We then drove to Gairloch, another beautiful drive with various stop offs.
One of the highlights of the entire trip was watching 2 GOLDEN EAGLES soar above the cliffs near a waterfall for some 15 minutes!! Amazing stuff which has inspired me to upgrade my photographic equipment! Went on one of the boat trips from Gairloch to the numerous islands out in the Minch and saw PUFFINS (a VERY exciting first for me), awesome GREAT SKUAs, GANNETS, RAZORBILL, GUILLEMOTS, BLACK GUILLEMOTS, ROCK DOVEs, GREAT BLACKBACKED, Herring, COMMON GULLs. The skipper was an avis twitcher and kept telling me where to see birds like GRASSHOPPER WARBLERS, WHITE TAILED EAGLES and WHITE BILLED DIVERS but alas I didnt have the time to follow these up.
Took the Flowerdale Falls walk from Gairloch where we saw LONG TAILED TITS, SKYLARKS, DIPPERS, REED BUNTINGS. Also spent a lot of time at Redpoint and Badachro... 2 of the most beautiful places you could hope to visit. Here we saw many of the birds already mentioned again and probably some others as i didnt keep a diary and am writing this from memory and my field book
Next day we drove up to Lochinver via Benn Eighe National Park where we watched SISKIN and COAL TITS on the feeders from the visitor centre's window! Onwards to Loch Marree in Torridon where we once again watched a pair of GOLDEN EAGLES while standing by the Victoria Falls (not THAT one). The small crown around us were busy photographing the falls, I turned around and watched the 2 eagles high up on the hill to my left for quite some time. As stunning as the first pair!
The on to tours around Lochinver, one of my favourite areas in the world. The resident twitcher and Ranger for the Assynt area gave me numerous Otter areas and told of his numerous WHIMBREL and JACK SNIPE locations closeby. Again I didnt have the time to spend at all of these but he was very animated about them and keen to take us there (we left the day before his next guided walk). Did manage to see some OTTERS tho, and numerous SEALS. Also saw STONECHAT, WOODWARBLER and REDSTART while on the beautiful Falls Of Kirkaig walk.
Then on the route back home we stopped at Bonar Bridge where we watched a HAWFINCH in a cafe's garden. Definitely on of my highlights!
Add to all this the usual suspects like ROBIN, CHAFFICH, GREENFICH and all in all it was a superb trip. Cant wait to go back
Well done,
Glad you had such a great trip. We drove that road to Applecross in 2003 - I think it's called the Pass of the Cows - and it must be one of the most spectacular roads I have ever seen.
Your Hawfinch is a great sighting - did you manage to get a photograph?
Thanks for your fascinating report.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy
Hi Dave
Yep, that's the very road! Was certainly a great drive and I recognised it from a few car ad's here in the UK. Tho, the coast road that goes through Drumbeig from Lochinver surpassed it on many levels!
Unfortunately no photo of the Hawfinch. I only have an 18-55mm lens at the moment (which was left behind in the car while i was in the cafe) and we were viewing it through binoculars. After the disapointment of my "speck on the screen" shots of the Golden Eagles i wasnt inspired to rush off and get it. Lens upgrade required asap!!
But for a former Londoner the trip was amazing. There are plenty of birds to be seen around london, but you would be hard pushed to see the variety of bird types that i saw up in the Highlands.
Have already booked a place near the Summer Isles for later this year.
Bring it on!!