Because there were to be three ringing groups spread over the two weeks on the island the plan was to split the island into three for the daylight ringing and each group just had their third of the island to cover. Anything that could be rung in that third was ours to do. The Storm petrel station was to remain constant throughout. After three days we had covered our third of the island so for the last two days it was a case of having as much sleep as possible then just looking around the island in general.
One of the days was a bit special as one of the ringers said he had a treat for me. I promptly followed him for about half a mile to what looked like a sheer cliff. He assured me that there was a narrow path between the rocks and still not knowing what I was going for duly followed him down a very narrow ledge. There were 4 of us there and we were in single file. After going down for about 50 feet we came to a flattened out area where he stopped and pointed to a whole in the rock face. He slowly put his hand in and pulled out a gorgeous bundle of black fluff. It was a Black Guillemot Chick and he proceeded to ring it ad measure it. What a gorgeous thing these little chicks are. I have put a bad photo of this bird below.
On the 4th day we were sitting in the campsite when a Swallow kept flying around us and in and out of the ruins. It kept this up for ages and towards dusk it went into one of the buildings to roost. It was decided to put a mist net up to capture it so it could be rung and it worked as early in the morning there it was in the nets waiting for us (photo below).
One of the ringers had said that plenty of
Porpoise, Dolphins, and a few Whales had been seen by the previous group so it was suggested that we sat on the cliffs facing the mainland and watched for any movement out on the sea. We had been sitting there watching various gulls, Skuas and Auks when one of the ringers excitedly pointed down below us. He half whispered “
Otter”. All I could see was large rafts of sea weed covering the water at the rocks edge. Then an
Otter appeared and clambered onto the weed and then I noticed that it was joining another
Otter. They started to play fight each other then started to continually dive. It wasn’t long before one
Otter came up with something in its mouth and proceeded onto the weed. I don’t know where the stone came from but the
Otter proceeded to crack open a shell. We all watched totally enthralled, especially me as this was my very first
Otter.
Out on the sea we were soon seeing a few
Porpoise close to the mainland and the odd Dolphin down the middle. Quite a few
Common Seals (and if my memory serves me right,
Grey Seals also) were spotted on a few of the flat rocks both on the island and mainland but it was ages before a Whale was seen. The annoying part is I can’t recall what type they were but there were at least three out there.
The three of us decided to leave the island early if we could. Thankfully there was an excellent mobile signal on the island and we managed to contact the boat owner and she agreed to come over at 8 am to pick us up. I knew the area quite well on the mainland and on my suggestion it was decided to go back along the western side of Scotland by going via Durness and Ullapool, and then onto Gruinard Island for the chance of White tailed Eagle.
We bade our goodbyes to the other team members, stating that we would be back the following year. The crossing back was a much calmer affair with little wind to raise anything more than a slight swell. My two friends had the chance to watch the birds on the water this time and we had extremely close views of Black Guillemot, Puffin, Razorbill and Guillemot as well as Skuas harassing the odd gull and Tern. The odd Seal would poke its head curiously out of the water as we passed through them and not too far away was a small party of
Porpoise. This became an extremely enjoyable trip back to the mainland.
Below are photos of a Black Guillemot chick. A Meadow Pipit chick about to be rung and the Swallow that we had netted in the campsite.
John