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Message: <blockquote data-quote="3Italianbirders" data-source="post: 3608058" data-attributes="member: 116922">June 17Scourie, Ullapool, Stornoway, Butt of Lewis, Callanish, BalallanWe catch the morning ferry to Stornoway and the crossing, in pretty stormy weather, is truly memorable, with all the cliff-nesting species of the previous days, plus uncounted Gannets in all plumages, some very close, always majestic, and Manx Shearwaters, a lifer for us. We dock at Stornoway, stop at a supermarket for some food shopping and then drive to the Butt of Lewis, where Lesser Black-backed Gulls nest on the cliffs, Black Guillemots swim just below us and the wind is so strong it’s impossible to stand up straight. Something that could well be a Rock Pipit (one of our targets) flies past, but we can’t be sure. We drive south along the west coast, and when we reach the RSPB Loch na Muilne we decide it will be a waste of time to try and scan the loch for Phalaropes as it’s impossible to set up the scope, plus it has started to rain. So we opt for one of the few tourist things of the trip and drive to the Callanish stones, an impressive sight in the evening light. We have an excellent dinner in the cafe and then drive to our accommodation in Balallan.June 18Balallan - LochmaddyToday we take it easy, as we have a late afternoon ferry to Berneray, so we have almost the whole day to drive around Lewis and Harris to look for eagles. And eagles we do see: the first is a Golden Eagle, soaring above the ridges west of the car park at Bogha Glas, stop no. 4 on the Outer Hebrides Bird of Prey trail. After leaving the car park, the road climbs a hill and as soon as we start descending a White-tailed Eagle flies across the road in front of us. Fantastic! We then drive along the little road on the western side of Loch Seaforth, which provides magnificent views but no other significant sightings. After a pit stop in Tarbert for take-away pizza, we tackle the Harris hills in the rain, which clears when we get to the beaches on the western coast. Here we finally manage to see well a Rock Pipit, which will remain the only certain sighting of this species of the whole trip. From the ferry from Leverburgh to Berneray many Gannets, Black Guillemots, Divers, terns, seals and more. While we are preparing dinner in our accommodation near Lochmaddy an otter swims by in the loch just below the window.</blockquote>

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