Birding In The Rain

Sunday, May 9 

In the words of Heather, the owner of our cottage, 'to-day's been dreadful'. Weather-wise that is. The constant rain kept us indoors until mid morning, when we set off for Ard an Runair.  A quick look at Loch Sanderay on the way added Tufted Duck to the island list. 

The camp site was not busy, just a few motorhomes dotted about  The Kabin was open for rolls, soup, drinks etc.we noted as we drove the potholed track through the machair, out to the dunes and beach.

Machair A Gaelic word meaning fertile, low-lying grassy plain, ‘machair’ refers to a unique habitat that is one of the rarest in Europe; only occurring on the exposed west-facing shores of Scotland and Ireland. Machair habitat is very similar to a fixed sand dune but is easily distinguished by its flat, or gently undulating landscape, and the variety of vegetation types and land-uses.

Common flowers (such as red clover, bird’s-foot-trefoil, yarrow and daisies) grow a lot here, along with a few rarer species such as lesser-butterfly orchid, Hebridean spotted orchid, marsh orchid and, on Coll and Barra, Irish lady’s-tresses. Wet hollows hold iris beds, while frequent damp patches support silverweed and ragged-Robin. Some areas are used for farming (e.g. for oats and rye) on rotation, and fallow plots may contain corn marigold, field pansy and poppies. Other areas are used as hay meadows.

This machair is managed by the farmers in association with the RSPB. Areas new to us had been ploughed this year, including that behind the watchpoint for Ard an Runair bay, where many birders parked for a better vantage point.

Only two other cars present, we sat and watched the bay as the tide went further and further out, exposing rocks and seaweed .A few Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstones investigated the shore. Two Great Northern Divers taxed my camera's abilities.

 

Pam called a Little,  and then an Arctic Tern, in the murk, a single Gannet appeared for a short while. Ten Eider Duck flew to the far promontory, a Rock Dove landed on the machair behind us. Not a lot. yet enough to keep our interest.

No sight nor sound of Corncrakes yet. The Iris beds are barely a foot high. One brown- stained Whooper Swan, brown from the peaty water in the lochs, lurked near the fence.

Should we try Committee Road again? Yes, of course we should.

We saw two Short-eared Owls on the way up, one of them flying away, startled by a passing car. This is the best I managed through Pam's window. 

 

As usual, we turned round at Sollas, returning to park in the designated Raptor Watchpoint. The driver of the one car present was gazing up the mountain towards the conifer plantation where some Welsh birders, two years ago, swore they'd seen a large black cat  - and had the video to prove it. Pam, through her open window - sheltered side - spotted a large raptor perched on a fence post. Was it an eagle? She fetched my scope, turning the car so that I could open my window and scope the bird. It was a Golden Eagle. It sat there, occasionally opening and flexing its wings, until we left half an hour later. Drying off I should think. Despite the over a quarter of a mile distance, I could not resist taking these highly zoomed photos.

 

We pointed the bird out to two newly arrived birders, who put us on to the pair of Hen Harriers in display flight on the opposite side of the road. The road that keeps on giving. So many Wheatears about here too, they seem to enjoy the areas around the road.

The moth trap is out to-night, fingers crossed for some moths in the morning.