Rum & Canna, West Scotland (30/05-04/06/2014) (1 Viewer)

Introduction

Following the success of last summer's trip to the Inner Hebridean islands of Eigg and Canna (read the report here), the University of Edinburgh Photographic Society took a slightly larger group of 12 back to the Small Isles last week, exactly 53 weeks after our 2013 trip. The new trip organiser, George Byrom, and I had agreed to divide our time equally between two islands. A return to Canna was an absolute must for obvious reasons which I will disclose later and, with Eigg already visited and a desire for some change, its larger and more populous neighbour Rùm presented itself as an obvious choice.

Even with just one week's difference between both trips - the last week of May in 2013 v the first week of June in 2014 - there were some notable differences in the wildlife we came across on this occasion: on the land, there was a greater variety of moths and beetles, whilst out to sea, a considerably higher likelihood of glimpsing some cetaceans. Whilst some species thrived, others were a bit lacking, and I was surprised to see twite and golden eagle number far fewer on Canna than they had the previous year. But the new additions to my Hebridean wildlife list made up for those few declines.

Transportation

George and I drove from Edinburgh to Mallaig early on the morning of Friday 30th, leaving at 7am and arriving in Mallaig at 11:30, with plenty of time before the ferry at 12:45. From Edinburgh, there are two possible routes: one which passes through Aviemore and via Perth, and a second which follows along the Grampians by Glen Coe and into the Trossachs. I found the second to be the most photogenic, although not the safest route to drive in bad weather.

Trains: Run daily from Edinburgh to Mallaig or Arasaig (via Glasgow Queen St), the two ports from which ferries depart to The Small Isles, but are few in number.

Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries: Service is fast and reliable, but the timetable is rather restrictive, meaning that any disruption in service can have a huge effect on your itinerary. Their website includes up-to-date service information and a timetable: http://www.calmac.co.uk/destinations/eigg.htm. I saw plenty of seabirds from the ship, and pelagic mammals and sharks can be seen occasionally as well, although I've been told the Arasaig boat service will more often make detours for this wildlife. Recent sightings here: http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/s...-sightings.asp

Accommodation

Rùm: There is one campsite a short walk from the pier, which overlooks Loch Scresort. Wild camping is possible, and was in fact our plan, until we realised that there are very few suitable spots unless you are willing to camp in the mountains towards the northern end of the island. Alternatively, there is a hostel by Kilmory Castle.

Canna: A very small island community, Canna has one campsite and a couple of small self-catered cottages. We stayed at the camp-site, a fantastic site overlooking the entire east side of the island. Contact Stewart Connor, the island warden, for further information at [email protected] - he provided a useful knowledge of the wildlife of Canna and Sanday.

Useful Links

Whale & Dolphin Trust - find out about recent local cetacean sightings.
http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/sightings-recent-sightings.asp

Map of south Rùm - a handy crayoned map which puts the camping area and nearby amenities into perspective
http://www.isleofrum.com/pulsepro/data/img/uploads/files/Kinloch Map 2013.pdf

Map of Rùm -
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=136553&Y=798780&A=Y&Z=126&ax=140466&ay=799958

Isle of Rùm website -
http://www.isleofrum.com/index.php

Day 1 - Friday 30th May - Arrival in Rùm

Drive to Mallaig (7am-11:30am)

About an hour or so from Mallaig, George and I drove through Glenfinnan, home of the Glenfinnan Monument and the viaduct that was made internationally famous in the Harry Potter films. The roads were twisty and hazardous in places, made worse by the fact that few drivers bothered to stay within their lanes. There were signs everywhere warning of Increased Risk of Red Deer. We saw three, two which walked right towards our car without a care in the world.

Ferry from Mallaig to Rùm (12:45-2pm)

I was keen to sample the ferry's famed Cheesy Chips (they're not on the menu, so you have to ask and do a knowing little "nudge nudge wink wink"), so I only spent 10 minutes out on deck. I apparently missed out on a sensational common dolphin sighting, but the cheesy chips were worth it. In the few minutes I spent outside, I got a modest spread of pelagic species - 16 Common Guillemot, 2 Razorbill, 10+ Gannet in a feeding frenzy, 3 Kittiwake, and 2 Manx Shearwater, hopefully the first of many whilst we'd be at Rùm. The ferry pulled into the pier at Loch Scresort at 2pm - not really a loch in my opinion, but more of a bay. An excellent place to see Red Throated Diver, as I and a few other birdwatchers marvelled at 6 flying over at close range. A Great Skua mobbing some Greater Black Blacked Gulls was a nice addition, and one I hadn't expected to see until Canna, where they are very commonly seen harassing tourists.

Rùm - The Otter Trail and Camp at Loch Scresort (6:30-8pm)

We set up camp at the designated site, a large patch of grass by the loch side. The first thing we noticed was not the beautiful view over the loch and towards the pier, but the dense and immeasurable swarms of midges! Far worse than anything any of us had seen before anywhere in Scotland, and worse than I had ever seen on my travels abroad. Within the first hour of landing on Rùm, almost all of us had purchased a head net and copious amounts of insect deterrent from the local shop, although these measures proved pretty futile, as midges had found a way to fit through the holes of my net and bite around my eyelids. Deterrent had no effect on horse flies, which seemed to favour behind the knees and behind the ears.

Despite this, we enjoyed good albeit carefully measured views out over the loch, and I got my first proper taste of Rùm's birdlife. Red Throated Diver became the iconic species of our stay at the campsite, with one appearing in every scan of the binoculars. Eider and raucous Oystercatchers were common too, and a closer look revealed a single Black Guillemot, much more smartly coloured than its commoner counterpart, and a male Goosander.

Running behind the camp is a woodland path, where I often heard but didn't see Cuckoo and Willow Warbler, and which leads up to Kilmory Castle (Rùm's largest visitor attraction), where the post office and the village. "Village" is a very loose term for a small courtyard of farm buildings which have been recently converted into a post office, shop and community hall cum cafe. Although small and purely functional, the courtyard clearly serves as the centre of the community, which nowadays numbers around 40 people. The history of how this tight community came to be is worth a brief mention; plenty more is detailed in the Community Hall's "archive" (two folders full of newspaper clippings) and on the island's website. Until the last five years, the population was about half that, and comprised entirely of Scottish Natural Heritage volunteers. The island of Rùm, back in the mid 1900s, was a hunting ground owned by Lancashire industrialist George Bullough (later Sir George), with Kilmory Castle at its heart. Not content with just a castle, Sir George had a grand garden designed complete with greenhouses for peaches, melons and other Mediterranean and warmer-climate fruits. There was also reportedly a palm house full of exotic creatures from hummingbirds and birds of paradise to alligators and snapping turtles. His subsequent marriage to Lady Monica resulted in major redesign and renovation within the castle itself so, whilst Sir George made his mark on the land, his wife was adding her own feminine touch to the house's furnishings. When George passed away in 1939, Lady Monica resided in the house but eventually passed it on to the Nature Conservancy Council in 1957. The NCC subsequently joined forces with Countryside Commission to form what is now the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) - and from 1957 until 2008, Rùm has been in SNH's possession.

This has been much to the distaste of many of Rùm's inhabitants. Until 2008, it was necessary to be "employed" by SNH (under voluntary conditions) in order to reside on the island, and this has resulted in numerous restrictions in what inhabitants could and couldn't do. Kilmory House, we observed as our group wandered around the grounds and peered through the dark windows, has fallen into some ruin. It is still a major tourist attraction, particularly for the island's older visitors and daytrippers, but it is not quite the regal red-stone gem that is portrayed in postcards or even on Rùm's webpage - due to lack of budget, lack of funding and lack of vision, among other reasons too cumbersome to detail here. I admit I didn't go into the house, but the faded windows, sooty masonry work, and the wall-to-wall fencing which cordons off the house from its once prim and now overgrown gardens gave me that strong impression. Looking through the Community Hall archive folder, it's clear that the restoration of the house to its former glory, and as a welcoming centre of education and eco-tourism, is at the forefront of locals' minds.

This is a very brief overview from memory, and as I've said more can be researched on their website or, better yet, tangibly in Rùm's archive and in the grounds of Kilmory Castle.

Beyond the village, as the crayoned map shows, is the main footpath through the hills to Kilmory and Harris, two primitive coastal settlements lying to the North. These would be our destinations for Saturday and Sunday, but today we decided on a more leisured local route along the Otter Trail. The trail is so named because at the end there is a hide along Loch Scresort for viewing otters in the late evening. I made a visit there on Saturday evening, but soon gave in to defeat when the midge swarms became too much to bear. The path runs through a dense fern and lichen forest, which spectacularly shimmered with a rich verdent green in the early evening light. Beyond the hide, it becomes very overgrown and the trail loses way, and when one of our group got a nasty bite from a tick, we decided that was a good moment to turn back.

Not much birdlife evident in the forest - just a Treecreeper, some Robins, and also a Peacock Butterfly on the wing. Late evening saw the return of three Grey Herons to their treetop roost on the west side of Loch Scresort, and a couple of Buzzards, miscalled by one of our group as eagles.

East side of Loch Scresort (9pm)

Just beyond the community hall is a trail of sorts running along the east side of Loch Scresort. It's a good area for trout fishing, and very reliable for seeing Red Deer, we were soon to discover. Throughout our stay, in the late evening an hour or two before sunset, we saw a pair of young stags feeding on the shoreline grass. They were very approachable, and a long way from the main herds and deer research centre 8km north at Kilmory. In the hunting season, deer outside the research area would be shot, so I hoped these deer wouldn't get too comfortable around the locals.

Day 2 - Saturday 31st May - Kilmory, Rùm

Walk to Kilmory Beach (10am-4pm round trip)

We awoke to a hot sunny morning and just as many midges as the night had seen in, so were quick over breakfast and packing our bags for our day trip to Kilmory. The reason for going to Kilmory, other than being marked more boldly than anywhere else on our map and therefore an obvious choice for a visit, was to see the resident population of red deer. The walk is pleasant and gentle, with only a slight incline in parts, and with the rapids of Kinloch Burn on one side and the imposing volcanic peaks of Hallival, Askival and Barkeval on the other. I found few similarities with the volcanic landscape of Eigg, which focusses around An Sgurr and which in contrast is harsher and blacker. To the west lies the brilliantly named Trollaval, one of the lower peaks at just 700m, and home to the Manx Shearwater. Trollaval means "Hill of the Trolls" and is so named because Vikings believed that the eerie call that shearwaters make were the sounds of trolls. About 100,000 birds nest here, which amounts to a third of the entire world population. They can be seen on specially arranged night visits up Trollaval and the Rùm Cuillin, although the weather was so poor in the evenings that we didn't make the trip.

What we did see though were plenty more of that iconic species the Red Throated Diver - about 8 or more, as we left Loch Scresort, and continuing well along the Burn, where we saw a pair flying over Hallival's ridge. A couple of Skylark announced our entrance into peaty moorland habitat, where we also started to see an abundance of insect life. Not just midges and horseflies, but a few interesting beetles such as the Green Tiger Beetle, the jazzy purple Rhysodes Sulcatus and a single representative of the orange and black Nicrophorus Vespilloides. Typical peatland flowers included the banana-peel Butterwort, dainty yellow Tormentil, baby blue Milkwort and, everywhere, one of my favourite mountain species, the Bird's Foot Trefoil. Along any body of water, whether it be puddle or stream, there were Large Red Damselflies. Dragonflies are worth a mention as Rùm boasts 12 species, including some scarce ones like Beautiful Demoiselle, Azure Hawker, Keeled Skimmer and Northern Emerald. At this early point of the season though, Large Red was the most common candidate, and the only one I've seen in the Inner Hebrides. I also saw a Dipper, just a flash but obvious what it was.

The one stony track breaks off into two directions - left (West) goes to Harris, and right (North / North East) goes to Kilmory. Butterwort became more profuse, the land became peatier, and in turn I saw a rise in insect species - more of the aforementioned beetles, plus some butterflies: singles of Peacock, Green Veined White and a lovely little Green Hairstreak. Dayflying moths are relatively few on Rùm so easy to identify, not least the large Fox Moth which flew across our path. I was very happy to find a new species for me, an Argent & Sable, which is localised and quite rare, but very distinctive with boldly marked black and white wings. Treble Bar moths were common along this stretch.

No deer yet, but bird sightings picked up on the final leg to Kilmory. A bit of forest on our left produced a very close-by Cuckoo which, once done with calling, flew out across our path along the treeline. 4 female Stonechats sat upon the peat, serenaded by a male, which I tried to draw over (to the amusement of my group) by imitating its call by clacking two stones together (it has worked for me in the past, but not on this occasion). Two Wheatear and a very vocal pair of Curlews, which somehow in the strong midday light gave the first distinct impression of young eagles or buzzards!, were expected species out here.

On this walk, we only met one person, who incidentally turned out to be one of our group member's dissertation supervisors from Edinburgh. We chatted with her for a bit about the deer, as she knows many of the red deer individually by sight (and "by name"). She told us there would be a particularly tame hind called Sandy, just beyond the Kilmory cottage, with a tag and a large hole in her ear. I asked about cetaceans, and whether we might see them among the gannet feeding frenzies. She said she had seen a Minke Whale just a couple of days before, and someone else had seen Common Dolphin. Not long to go until Basking Shark would be seen, and when as many as 30 could number in the bay.

Our appetites whetted, we carried on, and finally saw our first Kilmory Red Deer! At a bit of a distance, one a good 300m away in the grass, and one proudly silhouetted atop a peak. We were to see many more, within touching distance, when we reached the cottage and farm houses - each sighting brought us closer and closer to these apparently very tame creatures. Scrambling down to the white sand beach, it was little surprise to me but some shock to the rest of the group to see deer at the water's edge, eating the kelp (something which I remember watching on Autumnwatch with Simon King).

Some of our group entertained themselves with photographing the deer, whilst a few of us sat on the beach to lunch. This seemed a good time to scan the sea towards Canna and Skye for seabirds and cetaceans... Barely moments into my first scan of the sea, I saw a long back and small dorsal fin break the calm water. It was such a long breach that dolphin and porpoise were quickly eliminated as options, and I was certain this was a Minke Whale, if not the whale that the lady we had met had also seen. Keen to getting a good look first, as this was my first ever whale, and a very decent sighting too, I passed the binoculars along for others to have a look. Unsurprisingly, for a whale, we didn't see it again for some time - just the one breach, and it was gone. I kept my eyes peeled on the sea whilst I ate lunch, and caught up with the whale again, this time to the very far north of Rum, quite near to Canna's A'Chill Beach.

Satisfied with an amazing sighting to remember, I focussed on what else I could see at sea - Red Throated Divers, one Arctic Tern, a dozen smart Black Guillemot, and a distinguished Black Throated Diver near to shore.

Loch Scresort (evening)

The Red Deer stags were back on the east shoreline, and as the sun set, one Grey Heron returned to roost in the trees, singles of Dunlin, Red Throated Diver and Black Guillemot, and a flock of 30 Greylag Geese settled near to the deer, by a footbridge overshadowed by wisteria.

Day 3 - Sunday 1st June - Harris and Loch Scresort, Rùm

Walk to Harris (11am-2:30pm round trip)

Heavy rain throughout the night and into the morning meant little enthusiasm for a long walk, but it seemed odd to leave Rùm without having visited the beach and acropolis of Harris. This would mean a 16km walk, most along the same trail as that to Kilmory, with a split west deep into the hills. We gave up soon after midday because the rain got pretty intense (at least no flying biting insects), and wildlife sightings were low with just 1 Skylark on the bird front, and 1 Fox Moth, 4 Treble Waves, 1 Large Red Damselfly, and a couple of the Rhysodes Sulcatus beetle.

Community Hall (remainder of day)

The afternoon and early evening was spent in the dry of the community hall, playing darts, pingpong and pool and enjoying the cafe's excellent rooibos tea and cheese scones. From the patio of the hall, we could enjoy the two Red Deer stags again at the loch side, and I added a further bird species to the trip list in the form of Common Sandpiper - a nice addition to the Red Throated Divers, Oystercatchers, Hooded Crows, Dunlin and Eider which I also saw in low numbers. Through the rainstorms, I heard a very persistent Cuckoo (it struck me that cuckoos will call through any weather conditions, and at all times of day, as we found on Eigg last year when we had one calling all through the stormy night). It was nice to catch up with 6 Pipistrelle bats as well back at camp, hunting low along the forest side.

Day 4 - Monday 2nd June - To Canna and Sanday

Rùm Campsite and North Trail (morning)

Rains, thick clouds and very poor visibility over Loch Scresort didn't fill the group with much hope for our crossing to Canna. Our ferry crossing was at 12:45 so, despite a late rise, there was enough time to pack up camp and go for a brisk walk along the North Trail. The trail starts along the same route that goes North to Kilmory and Harris, and at the first opportunity to turn right. There is no other opportunity to turn right other than when you reach the Kilmory/Harris fork some 4 or 5km later, so there is no possibility for error. I only saw a couple of Curlew near the bird hide on the croft, a Skylark and heard a few Willow Warbler, but I'm sure a solid look along Kinloch Burn and the Hallival/Askival peaks would produce Dipper and Eagles. I did however spot plenty of evidence of Otter: that is, a couple of footprints in the fresh mud, certainly no more than a few hours old, and a couple of rocks lined with white spraint. Regarding eagles, I had seen on the sightings board (in the wildlife hut by the communal showers and toilets, a short walk from the campsite towards the pier) that 2 Sea Eagles and 2 Golden Eagles had been seen recently near Askival, but I'd had no luck other than the "tourist eagles" (aka buzzards).

Back along the loch, walking back to camp, there were the usual suspects: 22 Greylag Geese in their usual corner near the Community Hall, as well as the 2 Red Deer braving the wet; Willow Warblers and one Chiffchaff, lurking in the trees but making their presence known clearly; an elusive Cuckoo. The rain was bringing out a lot of insects and worms, which in turn enticed some of the garden species I'd been expecting to see, but had somehow so far missed, out into the village: singles of Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and even a male Siskin. Near camp, there were now 2 Common Sandpipers and, on the walk with baggage to the pier, a skulking Blackcap.

Ferry to Canna (12:45-2:20pm)

Although the rain ceased and humidity soared, forcing us to strip off jumpers and anoraks, visibility was still very poor, so I didn't spend much time out on deck. I made a good decision however to stand on the starboard as we left, thus giving me a good view towards the nearer west shore of the loch and where otters and seals might be. Predictably I saw nothing of the kind, but a switch of position to the port side gave me a no less special sighting of some Moon Jellyfish bobbing near the water surface. I called some of my group over, and within a few minutes we had managed to count close to 60 before we had even left the loch.

I stuck it out for a few minutes, seeing a raft of 150 Manx Shearwater which took off moments before our ship cut deep into the mist. After that, there wasn't much chance of seeing anything, and it was only after we reached Canna some 70 minutes later that the white blanket lifted, revealing little by little pockets of water on which floated or danced Guillemot, Razorbill, Arctic Tern and Shag.

Canna Bay and Camp (3pm)

There is one road on Canna and, having walked it many times now, I never tire of it. Each day and every hour, it is changed, being situated right on the tidal line, and the sunlight moves across it all in magical and mesmerising ways.

Birds seen: 20+ Oystercatcher, 10+ Wheatear, 1 Buzzard, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Rock Pipit, 5 House Sparrow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 10 Greylag Geese, 1 Hooded Crow. The farm houses by the diesel generator are good for sparrows and wagtails and the odd pipit. At camp, no signs of the eagles which were so abundant last year, or of twite, but I did get a fly-by Peregrine Falcon and a Buzzard. It is quite a good campsite for birds of prey - I have seen about 6 species here.

Sanday Island (4:30pm-6pm)

Canna has a sister island, Sanday, which is accessible by a footbridge near the camp. Whilst roughly half of the isle's inhabitants live up in the hills near Canna pier, the remaining half live on Sanday, the part nearest to the footbridge bridge, which looks back towards Canna and over the bay. Much of Sanday is bare open landscape, like moorland, with a few small areas of peat bog and one single lochan which apparently is pretty good for dragonflies in late summer. The seabird colonies of Dun Beag and Dun Mor, which I visited last year, are on the far north side of Sanday, but on this occasion we didn't visit them. Our group took a late afternoon walk onto Sanday, towards the Church of Edward the Confessor. A pair of Great Skuas were seen over the far end of the island, one circling its huge territory and the other perched in silhouette upon a rock, scanning the horizon. We were at a safe distance from their mobbing, and that's how I preferred it to be, remembering the minor harasses we had encountered the previous summer with skuas. Walking down the middle of the island, where the land is hillier and where I thought we might be at highest risk from skua divebombing, we stumbled upon a Skylark and her nest. We stopped very briefly to peer at the nest and the one mottled brown egg within, but I ushered the group on so that the adult bird could return. I saw only one Twite on our loop back to the bridge, near the white sand bay which, in the early evening, shimmered with newly made fractals. The fractal sands are a spectacular sight, most impressive on the Singing Sands and at Laig Bay on the Isle of Eigg, and now here etched with subtle intricacy. The white sand, grey lace-like fractals, and the azure water and white foam, together made a wonderful summer evening sight.

Two fledgling Wheatear chatted on the rocks behind us. Still covered in downy feather, their flight was restricted, but they made up for this by enthusiastically flicking their tails and white rumps and running along the dunes.

Other birds seen: Cuckoo (heard), 5 Eidger, 4 Black Guillemot, 8 Wheatear, 1 Buzzard, 2 Hooded Crow, 2 Rock Pipit, 5 House Sparrow, 12 Common Guillemot, 1 Manx Shearwater, Great Black Backed Gulls, 10 Greylag Geese

Canna campsite and road (evening)

An evening stroll to the showers and new village shop by Cafe Canna resulted in much the same birds (with the addition of 2 House Sparrow fledglings near the diesel generator and a Collared Dove). A Reed Warbler churred amongst the Yellow Iris, a large roost of 43 Oystercatcher settled for the night near the harbour, and there was a decent count of 6 Red Breasted Merganser.

Day 5 - Tuesday 3rd June - Exploring Canna

Walk to North Canna (10:30am-2:30pm)

The clouds had completely cleared and we were in for a beautiful day. After breakfast, I took our group to the far North side of Canna towards Garrisdale, which I hadn't explored yet in full and which I was therefore keen to do. The footpath - again, there is only one - is an easy ramble with stunning coastal views towards Rùm and Muck (although, if you want to see Rùm's best side, your best bet is from Laig Bay on Eigg in the evening, with Eigg's renowned fractal sands leading up to the dramatic volcanic peaks).

After about 20 minutes of walking, we veered uphill to get views in the other direction over the Outer Hebrides and Skye. For birds, this was a good decision, as within minutes of doing this I spotted a male Hen Harrier, numerous Buzzard, a Peregrine as we neared the cliffs, and our only Golden Eagle of the trip, which gave superb views for everyone. We also managed to flush a Snipe from its peaty seat and, now quite obsessively looking around our feet for other creatures that might be flushed, I discovered a delicate Green Hairstreak butterfly, some Treble Wave and a Brown Silverline moth, and the larvae of a Fox Moth which won the admiration of a few of our photographers.

Reaching the higher peaks, we now had a decent view back towards Rum and an excellent vista towards Skye. Far below us, large parties of Guillemot congregated, interspersed with Razorbill, whilst at a distance floated a small raft of Manx Shearwater. Great Skuas took any opportunity they could to harass these sedentary birds and, when they tired of this, entertained in chasing Fulmars around the sea stacks and arches, where the latter had set up colony.

Canna Harbour (3pm)

Our afternoon activities were focussed around the south of the island: Canna House and its environs, A'Chill Beach and the bluebell woodland. Waiting for some of the group to pack their day bags, I went ahead to the village shop, passing the Greylag Goose roost and Oystercatchers, the Cuckoo, still hidden away somewhere in the woods, Hooded Crows on the beach, and 4 Grey Seals basking on the rocks by Sanday. Three were jet black whilst the fourth was a slaty grey.

A'Chill Beach (3:30pm)

A quick stop here for our lunch. This would undoubtedly make a good spot for cetacean watching, but I only saw a couple of Black Guillemot (one very close to shore), Shag, Wheatear, Skylark and a Buzzard. Also present was a Red Admiral and a Fox Moth.

Canna House and Woods (4-5pm)

Unfortunately, despite the pier blooming with bluebells, the few bluebells we came across in the woods were crushed into the soil, suffocated by the dense overgrowth of ferns - quite a different sight from the one I had seen last year. Similarly the garlic had a muddy sweet husk, and their flowers looked very defeated.

Not much wildlife here at a glance, whilst the public garden of Canna House provided some close views of typical garden species: 2 Willow Warblers, 4 Greenfinch, 1 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Robin, 1 Wren and a Goldfinch in the flowerbeds. Also, 1 Green Veined White.

Canna Harbour (8:30-10:30pm)

The evening light looked promising, so some of us headed roughly for Canna Harbour to get some shots towards Canna, whilst George wisely returned to the same spot we had visited that morning in the North. The Grey Seals were in the same place as before, and I noticed a higher density and range of birds - 2 Red Breasted Merganser, 5 Eider, a Black Guillemot (my first one actually in the harbour), about four times the number of Oystercatcher as this morning, a Sedge Warbler putting on a good show in the Yellow Iris plantation, quite a few Rock Pipit, very approachable, and numerous Wheatear as usual. As the hours tolled on, I got a few Pipistrelles swooping up and down the path, and a startling leap and splash from the water alerted me, and a very opportunistic Grey Heron, to a Brown Trout.

A'Chill Beach (11pm)

Having ventured as far as the pier, and what with it being a very calm night, it made sense in my mind to return to shingly A'Chill Beach to try listening out for Manx Shearwater. I'm sure staying beyond midnight would have brought success, but the group was quite tired and eager to get a good night's sleep, with many of them driving back to Edinburgh that following evening. In the twilight, we made out a Grey Seal paddling along the shore line, a couple of Pipistrelles, and a Black Guillemot. Millipedes seem to have boomed this year, as I saw hundreds a couple of weeks ago in Dumfries and now I saw a big pile of them on the rocks.

As we sat listening to the shore, a rustle in the grass alerted us to a little creature, endemic to this island. It scuttled passed me, stopping to sniff at someone's rucksack, and zoomed through the legs of one our group! A Canna Woodmouse, much lighter and sandier coloured than the woodmice we find on the mainland, and a good species to end the evening on.

Day 6 - Wednesday 4th June - southern peaks of Canna, and return home

Sanday white beach (8:50am)

An earlyish rise gave me time to return to Sanday's white beach to photograph the white sands, fractals and azure water. Nothing spectacular to add on the bird front: 6 Oystercatcher, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Wheatear, 2 Skylark, 2 Eider.

Camp

At last, some Twite! Since my last visit to Canna, I have become enamoured with this endearing finch, which looks much like a redpoll but has in my opinion more of a "dumpling" aspect to its physique. Just four, but nevertheless good to see them back in the campsite.

South Peaks

George and I ventured in the direction of A'Chill Beach, veering up the hill past the bluebell wood to the higher peaks that the island has to offer. From here we'd have excellent views towards Rum and Skye, and look back to the tripod arch (two arches conjoined at the top, like a tripod). This was a definite highlight of the trip for me, as the weather couldn't have been any more favourable, and the wildlife we spotted wasn't anything less than special.

From the cliffs above Sanday, I got my second sighting of a Minke Whale. I strongly suspect it was the same individual I had seen four days earlier from Kilmory Beach. NOTE: Looking at the Whale & Dolphin Trust sightings page, a Martin Swan has recorded 7 Minkes off Rum on the 5th, and a Jan Storie has records of 2 from both Rum and Canna the following day. I also got a decent view of a Common Dolphin which, since my departure, have been seen in good numbers off Canna. Down below, about 8 Moon Jellyfish glowing against the shimmering blue.

Once again, a walk is not complete apparently without a Fox Moth finding - this time, another larvae.

Some excellent birds as well, particularly near the tripod arch. This side gave us good views of the nesting Fulmars, but distant views of the Manx Shearwater raft seen the day before and Auk species. No puffins, although George did find a mangled beak and skull. Other species as expected, with the thrilling addition of a Peregrine coming over, and 3 Ravens flying by and croaking.

Canna Pier (2pm)

The wildlife highlight of the trip? The last few minutes before we boarded the ferry home!

Sitting by the pier, I could see a good 20 or more feet down to the bottom of the sea. Absolute crystal clear blue water, teaming with Moon Jellyfish - 40 at a rough count within a small area, but assuredly much more than this. The mild winter must play some part both in the high count and in these jellyfishes' proximity to shore (although the Moon Jellyfish is more littoral than other British species). Having never scubadived nor snorkelled out at sea, this alone was an exciting enough sighting, as the clarity of the water gave a strong impression of already being in the water with them, or looking through an aquarium window. I enjoyed trying to identify the key features - in particular, the four circular gonads on top of its translucent bell. One very blue individual anchored itself to some rocks; they varied in size, from about the size of a grapefruit, to the size of a melon.

Oscillating among the jellyfish was a shoal of 200 odd Sprat, a species of herring. It was hard to discern their colours and form clearly, but they looked long and wiry, with a whiteish fin against greyish brown scales. They weaved in and out of the kelp forests - surely a fantastic habitat to dive in and observe a multitude of species.

Whilst watching these and the jellyfish, and pointing them out to the rest of my group and other people waiting for the boat, I spotted what was the undoubted wildlife highlight of the trip - better than the Minke Whale even - and one of the most astonishing creatures I have ever seen. A second type of jellyfish, perhaps no larger than a walnut, with extremely fine silk-like barbs drifting like angel-hair pasta behind it. Their diminutive size was what initially alerted me, and the lack of four gonads too made me realise that these weren't Moon Jellyfish. Remember I know very little about these underwater creatures, so I didn't know yet what I was looking at. One swam quite close by, close enough for me to get an excellent look through my binoculars. What I saw was unparalleled with anything I've seen before - the closest natural spectacle I can think of which has taken my breath away as much is the metamorphosis of the dragonfly. With the sunlight stroking its barbs and cilia (the tiny longitudinal hairs which move in unison, causing the jellyfish to move), the cilia began to flicker and shimmer in an incredible light display. Up and down, up and down, reds, greens, blues, yellows, like LED lights or like cats-eyes on an airplane runway. These, I discovered back home, were Comb Jellyfish - four in total, but only one which gave me such a magnificent display. It seems a cliche to say I felt like I was watching a David Attenborough documentary in HD, but it was very reminiscent of that episode of "Blue Planet" when they venture into the deep and find sparkling alien lifeforms unknown to science. It seemed incredible to see this, in such shallow waters, let alone in the UK! I have no photos, what with my camera being securely packed away, but I attach this image and video link, well worth a watch: http://fmymind.com/rainbow-emitting-jellyfish/

The ferry beckoned, so I took a final look into the azure, and saw a rarer sight. A huge white ghost, blowing through the waves... When I say huge, it must have been about 1m in length, maybe more - and that was without a clear view of its surely impressive barbs. The bell was shaped like a cloud burst, "fluffy" like a souffle or a cauliflower, and a similar colour too. Again I had no idea what the species was, but I knew it must be something special. I found it was a Barrel Jellyfish - a species which has "boomed" particularly recently off the Cornish coast, near Penzance and Falmouth, in large numbers. More astonishingly, the mild winters had brought this deep-sea beast very near to the shore, as I now saw here. This individual was not associating with the Moons or Combs, but feeding by itself, a giant among dwarves. Seeing a creature like this causes excitement for pelagic wildlife enthusiasts, as its presence often attracts interest from sharks and rarities like the Leatherback Turtle.

What a pair of sightings to end the trip on, surely to be remembered for a very long time...

Ferry to Mallaig (3pm-5:20pm

After that, I wasn't expecting miracles. No cetaceans (although 2 suspected Harbour Porpoise). Plenty however of the pleasingly familiar: 10 Grey Seals in Canna's pier, 6 Gannets, 4 Arctic Tern, 1 Great Skua... Passing Rum, we found 6 Red Deer along Kilmory Beach, and within short distance of Mallaig (having grabbed some Cheesy Chips as a much-needed interlude), an intensity of 19 Manx Shearwaters, 11 Guillemots, 9 Razorbillls, 3 Black Guillemots, 2 Common Gull and 3 Shag. And 6 Moon Jellyfish to round the trip off nicely.

An interesting account Paul, liked the Jellyfish sightings.

Rum is a place i would like to visit. Not least because of it being the centre for the story of the UK's most controversial case of botanical fraud - a botanical equivalent of the Hastings Rarities. If you are not aware you may want to get a copy of 'A Rum Affair' by Karl Sabbagh.

A bit more technical than the book, the original report from John Raven's visit to the Hebridies in 1948 has also since been published by the BSBI... http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/25_1_PrestonRaven.pdf

Abstract: "In the summer of 1948 John Raven visited Harris (v.c. 110) and Rum (v.c. 104) to investigate the numerous rare plant species reported from there in the preceding years by Professor J. W. Heslop Harrison. His conclusions were summarised in a report to the Council of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1960 he presented a copy of this report to the library of King’s College, Cambridge, but asked the librarian to restrict access to it until after his death, and that of Professor Heslop Harrison. The text of this report is published in full for the first time, with an annotated list of the documents attached to the report and notes on some of the species, people and places mentioned in it."

You refer to Kilmory Castle on several occasions, I'm a little confused as I was the manager of the castle 20 years ago & to me & many others it was Kinloch Castle. Have SNH in their infinite wisdom rebranded the castle ?

What a great report, loved reading it especially as I live in the area. The Castle is, indeed, Kinloch castle and SNH do a tour most days. jellyfish wise there has been a vast number of jellyfish seen this year (I work on boats that run from Elgol, Skye) and there have been thousands of Moon plus a good number of lions mane and mauve too. Also of note is that on the rock(s) to the left as you enter Canna Harbour area there's usually a decent number of Grey seal and Common (Harbour) seal. The latter being the smaller of the two species.
Best wishes
RichC