A Day to Remember

 Saturday, May 8

A comfortable night and a good breakfast,  I had bacon, egg and tomato, Pam had bacon, two eggs and mushrooms. We both had brown toast and marmalade. Plenty of time before the ferry left at 2.30, we drove to Dunvegan Castle.

Dunvegan Castle is located 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, off the west coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Probably a fortified site from the earliest times, the castle was first built in the 13th century and developed piecemeal over the centuries. In the 19th century the whole castle was remodelled in a mock-medieval style. The castle is built on an elevated rock overlooking an inlet on the eastern shore of Loch Dunvegan, a sea loch. 

 

On a very dull day, it looked like a very dull castle, the colour of the walls similar to the surrounding countryside. 

We collected our tickets from the CalMac office in Uig, filled up with petrol, bought papers and a hot chocolate, then took our place at the front of the assisted boarding queue. The latter means that we have extra parking room, usually behind a big lorry, and get to use the lift. We were late boarding, finding that we were parked facing in the opposite direction from the first parked vehicles. Odd.

We managed an hour on the roofed outside deck before retiring indoors for some warmth. There were Black Guillemots in the harbour, small groups of auks the whole time we watched. Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills plus two Red-throated Divers.

The odd parking meant that we had to reverse to disembark, another novelty. Pam is excellent at reversing. A tractor driver on Mull once described it as awesome when, an old boy in a large car forced her to reverse a quarter of a mile on a single track road over a hump-backed bridge. The tractor followed the old boy through.

Still raining as we disembarked. That doesn't help the bleak countryside. with as much water as land, and homes built to withstand the weather rather than aesthetic appearance. We wonder why we love it so. Yet we do.

The new to us accommodation, Bonnie View, is described as an apartment. It is actually part of a large working croft which used to be run as a B and B. It looks as though we are the first tenants, after 26 years of running it as a B and B. We were recommended the place by the owner of the cottage we had  booked for this year, then cancelled because of Covid, made possible again by Nicola Sturgeon. In the meantime 'our' booking had gone to someone else.That was only two weeks before we left. We think that we struck lucky. Heather, the owner helped carry in the numerous bags we have accumulated, whilst the rain teemed down. We have two en suite bedrooms, sitting room, kitchen/diner and all the necessary machines.  Heather is also familiar with moth trappers, one regularly  stayed in her now sold holiday cottage. Of course we could use a trap. Excellent. And......there's WiFi.

Despite the dullness, rain still falling, as soon as we were vaguely organised, we drove to Committee road. It's less than ten minutes away and is a favourite of ours as it is good for raptors. By now, it was past seven p.m on a very dimpsy evening. Almost as soon as we drove onto Committee Road, Pam spotted a Short-eared Owl sitting on a roadside fence. 

 

Then, there were three more Shorties. How to follow that?

First a female Hen Harrier sighting, then, the magnificent male in a courtship dance. The latter rose vertically for about 30 metres, before dropping like a stone, only to repeat the performance, his very pale body and wings silhouetted against the dark hillside. Awesome, we were transfixed. Two more Owls before driving to the Solas end of the road, one of them the darkest, brown-bellied bird we have ever seen. 

Reaching the main road again and turning for home, we had two more Short-eared Owls perched and hunting. We watched one pounce before flying off with its prize. Five definite birds, eight sightings in all. Waw. That was my best owl experience ever.

It's even colder here than it was on Mull, the northerly wind is cutting. All possible heaters are on in the cottage, including towel rails in the bathrooms. We normally see Bog Bean in flower along Committee Road, the stems are barely showing above the water.

Snowy Owls and Gyr Falcons tomorrow please. They'd certainly feel at home.