Paul Longland
Well-known member
Recently returned from a two week holiday in northwest Scotland and Skye.
Although this was not strictly speaking a birding trip thought I would share a few highlights.
First week was spent in Unapool a couple of miles south of Kylesku next to Loch Glencoul
Cottage was in a wonderful setting with views across the loch and surrounding hills set in its own gardens with adjacent woodland and even a small hide on the loch shore. (when I say hide it was about the size of large shoebox but nevertheless a nice touch. If anyone is looking to take trip up this way Unapool house cottages is a great place to stay. The views from the cottage are astounding with ever changing shadows on the hills etc.(http://www.unapoolhouse.co.uk.)
In the one week we were there I had a bigger garden list (usual rules apply - seen or heard from within the property scope permitted) than I have had at home in my little patch of suburbia in Leicester all year. Check this out for a garden list
House sparrow
greenfinch
goldfinch
chaffinch
great tit
blue tit
coal tit
blackbird
starling
song thrush
mistle thrush
jackdaw
collared dove
woodpigeon
common gull
Herring gull
LBB gull
Pied wagtail - Ok nothing to wright home about but then it starts to get interesting
Spotted flycatcher
hooded crow
red breasted merganser
greylag goose
Canada goose
Mallard
cormorant
Oystercatcher
Common Sandpiper
Siskin
Sparrow hawk (smash and grab raid on the feeders about ten yards away while we were sitting outside enjoying a vino one evening)
Peregrine
Red throated diver (SP)
Grey wagtail
willow warbler
Buzzard
Eider
And then on the Wednesday evening the star of the show:
White Tailed Eagle
Plus a supporting cast of seals red deer etc. Unfortunately I did not get to see the resident otters that frequent the shoreline,
I was informed that a few weeks previously there had been a pair of pied flycatchers in the woods, lots of singing blackcaps and a golden eagle over the far ridges across the Loch.
The mind boggles at just what a full years list would look like.
Even the OH was suitably impressed and sat transfixed for hours on end watching the siskins (one of her favourites) on the feeders (they managed to empty it twice daily!!)
As this was a family holiday serious birding had to be mixed in with general sightseeing and lots of hillwalking (OH favourite holiday pastime). Although not a birder OH does have a general interest and is always keen to see new birds and enjoys their antics especially around feeders etc.
As we were only about 12 miles away a trip to Handa was a must. This was my second visit and must be one of the all time great birding experiences. OH took great delight in filming me getting seriously dive bombed by Artic Skuas (one of each morph). Not so keen when it was her turn to run the gauntlet but admitted it was an experience not to be missed. At the stack I was of course extremely popular with all the kids as I let them watch the puffins through my scope. There was even a family of Americans who had come especially to see them so they were well chuffed at getting great views.
It was particularly notable the numbers of juvenile wheatears that seemed to everywhere. it must have been a good season for them along with ring ouzels that popped up on almost every scree slope.
As meadow pipit seemed to be the default setting everywhere, it was no surprise that eventually on our last evening before moving on to Skye we connected with a Merlin flashing past during a pre dinner walk.
driving the wee mad road as it is locally known is an experience that should not be missed, Not for the faint hearted. A sign at the start inj Lochinver warns not suitable for vehicles over 24'. You have been warned.
Week two saw us relocating to Skye. After a week of fantastic weather the journey was undertaken in a torrential downpour. At least the waterfalls we passed looked magnificent.
Having arrived at our crofter cottage Cumastianavaig (the middle of nowhere) and unpacked, as the rain had decided to call it a day, we decided to take the short drive into Portree (about 4 miles) for provisions. A good decision as first look across the harbour produced a white tail soaring above ben Tianaveg,
The actual cottage garden. whilst having plenty of sheep, did not produce many birds. It took four days to lure a great tit to the feeder I put out!
However this minor set back was soon forgotten when a large bird was spied in the distance. A quick sprint for the bins and I was soon on the bird. however a flash of white under wing dismissed it as a buzzard. Lowering the bins in disappointment I then realised that the culprit still a lot farther away than I realised. The Non birder OH who was still watching it in her bins said it was not flying like any of the other buzzards she had seen. "what do you mean I asked?" to which she replied that its wings were "just different" . Just as I went for another look, it disappeared from view behind the hills, only to reappear heading straight for us as it came over the ridge. At this point I realised what she meant, no uplifted wing tips, and that this was no Buteo. As it flew right over us to an exclamation from OH of look at the beak on that thing I knew we were looking at a sub adult Goldie!
Once again as we walked the hills of Skye wheatears and ouzels were abundant. The Cuillans and Quiraing are spectacular. If you are up to a steep walk the old man of Storr is well worth it too. Not only is the scenery stunning there is always the chance of connecting with a few decent birds although many of these attractions get very busy.
A short boat trip from portree gave us good views of sea eagles both perched on the cliffs and briefly in flight along with black gillies and others.
On our final day we decided to take the short ferry crossing to Raasay.
Both white tailed and goldies were seen soaring above the hills whilst waiting for the ferry. We took the road to the northern end of the island where we pulled in at Brochel castle. As we stepped out of the car a juvenile white tail flew along the coastline right below us. Result! what a way to end the holiday.
The northwest of Scotland is an area that should not be missed unless of course you like being within ten miles of shops and other creature comforts such as phone signal or internet etc.
All in all, a great two weeks with some great birds, great scenery and unusually in my limited experience great weather. (last time I was in Scotland in April it was snowing and last summer it was wall to wall mist and rain). A word of warning though... the one thing that does not change is the midges, although we took the advice of the locals and ditched the perfume/aftershave in favour of Smidge spray (it actually works unlike some of the other products).
If you have dot this far and are considering holidaying in this area I heartily recommend it. I will certainly be going back as soon as I can and have already told OH that I fancy retiring to this neck of the woods.
Although this was not strictly speaking a birding trip thought I would share a few highlights.
First week was spent in Unapool a couple of miles south of Kylesku next to Loch Glencoul
Cottage was in a wonderful setting with views across the loch and surrounding hills set in its own gardens with adjacent woodland and even a small hide on the loch shore. (when I say hide it was about the size of large shoebox but nevertheless a nice touch. If anyone is looking to take trip up this way Unapool house cottages is a great place to stay. The views from the cottage are astounding with ever changing shadows on the hills etc.(http://www.unapoolhouse.co.uk.)
In the one week we were there I had a bigger garden list (usual rules apply - seen or heard from within the property scope permitted) than I have had at home in my little patch of suburbia in Leicester all year. Check this out for a garden list
House sparrow
greenfinch
goldfinch
chaffinch
great tit
blue tit
coal tit
blackbird
starling
song thrush
mistle thrush
jackdaw
collared dove
woodpigeon
common gull
Herring gull
LBB gull
Pied wagtail - Ok nothing to wright home about but then it starts to get interesting
Spotted flycatcher
hooded crow
red breasted merganser
greylag goose
Canada goose
Mallard
cormorant
Oystercatcher
Common Sandpiper
Siskin
Sparrow hawk (smash and grab raid on the feeders about ten yards away while we were sitting outside enjoying a vino one evening)
Peregrine
Red throated diver (SP)
Grey wagtail
willow warbler
Buzzard
Eider
And then on the Wednesday evening the star of the show:
White Tailed Eagle
Plus a supporting cast of seals red deer etc. Unfortunately I did not get to see the resident otters that frequent the shoreline,
I was informed that a few weeks previously there had been a pair of pied flycatchers in the woods, lots of singing blackcaps and a golden eagle over the far ridges across the Loch.
The mind boggles at just what a full years list would look like.
Even the OH was suitably impressed and sat transfixed for hours on end watching the siskins (one of her favourites) on the feeders (they managed to empty it twice daily!!)
As this was a family holiday serious birding had to be mixed in with general sightseeing and lots of hillwalking (OH favourite holiday pastime). Although not a birder OH does have a general interest and is always keen to see new birds and enjoys their antics especially around feeders etc.
As we were only about 12 miles away a trip to Handa was a must. This was my second visit and must be one of the all time great birding experiences. OH took great delight in filming me getting seriously dive bombed by Artic Skuas (one of each morph). Not so keen when it was her turn to run the gauntlet but admitted it was an experience not to be missed. At the stack I was of course extremely popular with all the kids as I let them watch the puffins through my scope. There was even a family of Americans who had come especially to see them so they were well chuffed at getting great views.
It was particularly notable the numbers of juvenile wheatears that seemed to everywhere. it must have been a good season for them along with ring ouzels that popped up on almost every scree slope.
As meadow pipit seemed to be the default setting everywhere, it was no surprise that eventually on our last evening before moving on to Skye we connected with a Merlin flashing past during a pre dinner walk.
driving the wee mad road as it is locally known is an experience that should not be missed, Not for the faint hearted. A sign at the start inj Lochinver warns not suitable for vehicles over 24'. You have been warned.
Week two saw us relocating to Skye. After a week of fantastic weather the journey was undertaken in a torrential downpour. At least the waterfalls we passed looked magnificent.
Having arrived at our crofter cottage Cumastianavaig (the middle of nowhere) and unpacked, as the rain had decided to call it a day, we decided to take the short drive into Portree (about 4 miles) for provisions. A good decision as first look across the harbour produced a white tail soaring above ben Tianaveg,
The actual cottage garden. whilst having plenty of sheep, did not produce many birds. It took four days to lure a great tit to the feeder I put out!
However this minor set back was soon forgotten when a large bird was spied in the distance. A quick sprint for the bins and I was soon on the bird. however a flash of white under wing dismissed it as a buzzard. Lowering the bins in disappointment I then realised that the culprit still a lot farther away than I realised. The Non birder OH who was still watching it in her bins said it was not flying like any of the other buzzards she had seen. "what do you mean I asked?" to which she replied that its wings were "just different" . Just as I went for another look, it disappeared from view behind the hills, only to reappear heading straight for us as it came over the ridge. At this point I realised what she meant, no uplifted wing tips, and that this was no Buteo. As it flew right over us to an exclamation from OH of look at the beak on that thing I knew we were looking at a sub adult Goldie!
Once again as we walked the hills of Skye wheatears and ouzels were abundant. The Cuillans and Quiraing are spectacular. If you are up to a steep walk the old man of Storr is well worth it too. Not only is the scenery stunning there is always the chance of connecting with a few decent birds although many of these attractions get very busy.
A short boat trip from portree gave us good views of sea eagles both perched on the cliffs and briefly in flight along with black gillies and others.
On our final day we decided to take the short ferry crossing to Raasay.
Both white tailed and goldies were seen soaring above the hills whilst waiting for the ferry. We took the road to the northern end of the island where we pulled in at Brochel castle. As we stepped out of the car a juvenile white tail flew along the coastline right below us. Result! what a way to end the holiday.
The northwest of Scotland is an area that should not be missed unless of course you like being within ten miles of shops and other creature comforts such as phone signal or internet etc.
All in all, a great two weeks with some great birds, great scenery and unusually in my limited experience great weather. (last time I was in Scotland in April it was snowing and last summer it was wall to wall mist and rain). A word of warning though... the one thing that does not change is the midges, although we took the advice of the locals and ditched the perfume/aftershave in favour of Smidge spray (it actually works unlike some of the other products).
If you have dot this far and are considering holidaying in this area I heartily recommend it. I will certainly be going back as soon as I can and have already told OH that I fancy retiring to this neck of the woods.
