Our first one today and what a great one to do it on! Sun rain and wind. We enjoyed great Northern Divers, , Eiders, Terns,
Ringed Plover, Oystercatchers, Swallows, Martins, Wren, Raven and Whitethroat as well as Willow Warbler. We enjoyed the riding too and the coffee and hotchocolate at Debbies during the debrief! Excellent and eco too!
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Monday, 11 May 2009
shearwaters and skua
We headed onto the Rhinns today in brilliant sunshine and warm. Diverse Divers, Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Terns and Fulmars then a Bonxie stormed through good to compare size against a nearby Gannet - not much difference! Later we found out that it had been over Tormisdale too. Hen Harriers and a distant Golden Eagle, Buzzards and Whitethroats too. A warm day birding wise and weather wise too!
Sunday, 10 May 2009
nature notes
April showers.....
...ran into May this week and ran fast too! The wind was furious and those poor folks who were camping had a hard time of it! May is such a good time to come to Islay and a hopeful one too. Unfortunately not so this week. The weather patterns meant some interesting birds though: Iceland Gulls at Coull Farm and the delight of a glimpse of Hen Harrier being rushed across a field by storm force winds. It has also been cold so we have been wrapping up too! In between the rough and wild weather there have been some fantastic moments, like earlier this week when i was out guiding - we were stuck in the landy when all of a sudden the rain stopped and Skylarks started to sing and flash! like a lightning bolt a Peregrine falcon stormed through them all. We waited for a kill but no luck - the falcon left.... hungry.
Except for today, Sunday, whence it has been glorious and spring like. This morning out on the moss below Foreland Bog Cotton was beginning to show and earlier this week Cuckoos were calling too. The ground is still wet from inches of rain and with the sun the grass grows strong and verdant. Violets, Marsh Marigolds and willow are Bluebells are flowering well.
Oystercatchers are on eggs and so too are Lapwing with there vigilance on high alert as Raven, Gulls and raptors seek food in the form of eggs and chicks.
Whimbrel have been stuck here in the gloom till today, and have been heading off north to their breeding ground in the arctic region. In fact, last night I was able to hear quite alot move through over our wee house. It is nice to see folks out enjoying the nature and the wilderness, on bikes as well as on foot. Plenty of birdwatchers are around too. Watching Little Terns, Great Northern Divers, Gannets and Mergansers on Loch Indaal. Eiders are paired up as well. It is a fine time to watch and just catch some rays of warm. Indeed, it has been the only time this week to do so...long may it continue!
...ran into May this week and ran fast too! The wind was furious and those poor folks who were camping had a hard time of it! May is such a good time to come to Islay and a hopeful one too. Unfortunately not so this week. The weather patterns meant some interesting birds though: Iceland Gulls at Coull Farm and the delight of a glimpse of Hen Harrier being rushed across a field by storm force winds. It has also been cold so we have been wrapping up too! In between the rough and wild weather there have been some fantastic moments, like earlier this week when i was out guiding - we were stuck in the landy when all of a sudden the rain stopped and Skylarks started to sing and flash! like a lightning bolt a Peregrine falcon stormed through them all. We waited for a kill but no luck - the falcon left.... hungry.
Except for today, Sunday, whence it has been glorious and spring like. This morning out on the moss below Foreland Bog Cotton was beginning to show and earlier this week Cuckoos were calling too. The ground is still wet from inches of rain and with the sun the grass grows strong and verdant. Violets, Marsh Marigolds and willow are Bluebells are flowering well.
Oystercatchers are on eggs and so too are Lapwing with there vigilance on high alert as Raven, Gulls and raptors seek food in the form of eggs and chicks.
Whimbrel have been stuck here in the gloom till today, and have been heading off north to their breeding ground in the arctic region. In fact, last night I was able to hear quite alot move through over our wee house. It is nice to see folks out enjoying the nature and the wilderness, on bikes as well as on foot. Plenty of birdwatchers are around too. Watching Little Terns, Great Northern Divers, Gannets and Mergansers on Loch Indaal. Eiders are paired up as well. It is a fine time to watch and just catch some rays of warm. Indeed, it has been the only time this week to do so...long may it continue!
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
iceland gulls
Early dawn was dry but, of course, as we headed out, the wet stuff came down and stuck with us all day. Whimbrel, Greylags, a single Greenland Whitefont, Common Sandpipers, Grey Wagtails, Chough and superb views of a male Hen Harrier behind Port Charlotte.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
wet whimbrel wet
From early dawn till now it has been raining. Lots of it and windy too. However we were not to be disappointed. Around Loch Indaal we traipsed; Common Sandpiper, Sandmartins, Turnstone, Dunlin, Great Northern Divers and Ringed Plovers too. We enjoyed seeing a Snipe displaying and then dropping in 10 metres from us to look at for a good time. Up behind Black Rock we spotted a cracking male Wheatear and going back for a good look I picked out 4 Whimbrel - superb, busily feeding and sheltering from an every building wind. On our return a Peregrine stormed out infront sending everything into a mass panic. At the spit we delighted in terns and watched a little Tern offering a Sand eel to it's partner - fabulous.
A great custom tour ended with a debrief at Debbies warming ourselves with hot chocolate and espressos!
A great custom tour ended with a debrief at Debbies warming ourselves with hot chocolate and espressos!
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
things can be this good
It was warm and bright and Ardnave was spectacular today. Some excellent views of good birds. Buzzards on posts, Snipe underfoot, Chough in the air - we had it all. The blues of the atlantic and far views of Mull and beyond were fabulous. Otter tracks on a beach, rock Pipits, Plover, Curlew and Black Tailed Godwits resting before heading northwards. It was good.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
latest nature report....
April showers bring forth May flowers. maybe an old fable but the rain and the warmth seems to be infront of itself and as i rode through Bridgend today the Bluebells were beginning to show. Marsh Marigolds/Kingcup - a very important plant in the past, that farmers would have used to increase their milk yield. Even nowadays there are folks who believe that by hanging garlands around the horns of cows will be especially favourable. The cows do not eat it and at this time of the year - Beltane - connections to past folklore are still hugely important - and - even more so - in the outer isles such as North Uist; it was said to protect the cows from witchcraft and the evil eye. the gaelic name is A'chorra-fhod (f) from corra meaning
a heron and foid or fod meaning clod, peat or turf. 'The heron of the peat'. interestingly the family name is Ranunculus and comes from the Egyptian word ranah, the Gaelic word ran and Latin rana all which mean frog presumably because the places that these plants inhabit are also frequented by frogs! not only Marsh Marigold but, Wood Anemone, Columbine, Hellebores, Love-in-a-mist, Meadow Buttercup, Lesser Celandine and Crowsfoot too.
Beltane is the the start of the time of light and end of the dark times. When things start to move, grow and become open and in the past when cattle were taken to the high pastures. gardens are plated, women marry, men would have gone to battle and the women would be left to look after the house and livestock. interestingly enough these dates were not fixed in the celtic calendar. The calendars turning was of determined by nature, after the spring equinox, bright light, warm enough on the ground to plant and cattle and sheep bringing young into the world. A positive time for all. nowadays we take a holiday - May day and from way back in the Celtic times it is still celebrated. Beltane can be translated as 'the fires of Bel' connected with the ancient and old sun god Belanos from Gaul. It was a time of celebration for the darkness had been conquered and frosts beaten. Planting could begin and the migration well underway.
we have had plenty of interesting birds this week: Marsh Harrier, Iceland Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long Billed Dowitcher, Common Sandpipers, Black tailed Godwits and as my young son and I rode back from Debbies this evening we delighted in a wee group of Whimbrel in the field near Port Charlotte.
This week the Wildwood Wisdom programme begins in schools funded by The Mactaggart Third Fund and the children will be enjoying the spring nature explorations as much as the rest of us!
a heron and foid or fod meaning clod, peat or turf. 'The heron of the peat'. interestingly the family name is Ranunculus and comes from the Egyptian word ranah, the Gaelic word ran and Latin rana all which mean frog presumably because the places that these plants inhabit are also frequented by frogs! not only Marsh Marigold but, Wood Anemone, Columbine, Hellebores, Love-in-a-mist, Meadow Buttercup, Lesser Celandine and Crowsfoot too.
Beltane is the the start of the time of light and end of the dark times. When things start to move, grow and become open and in the past when cattle were taken to the high pastures. gardens are plated, women marry, men would have gone to battle and the women would be left to look after the house and livestock. interestingly enough these dates were not fixed in the celtic calendar. The calendars turning was of determined by nature, after the spring equinox, bright light, warm enough on the ground to plant and cattle and sheep bringing young into the world. A positive time for all. nowadays we take a holiday - May day and from way back in the Celtic times it is still celebrated. Beltane can be translated as 'the fires of Bel' connected with the ancient and old sun god Belanos from Gaul. It was a time of celebration for the darkness had been conquered and frosts beaten. Planting could begin and the migration well underway.
we have had plenty of interesting birds this week: Marsh Harrier, Iceland Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long Billed Dowitcher, Common Sandpipers, Black tailed Godwits and as my young son and I rode back from Debbies this evening we delighted in a wee group of Whimbrel in the field near Port Charlotte.
This week the Wildwood Wisdom programme begins in schools funded by The Mactaggart Third Fund and the children will be enjoying the spring nature explorations as much as the rest of us!
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