Day 2 – Sunday 4th November 2007
On my first full day, I decided to travel down the east side of Loch Indaal and then on down to Port Ellen and up the south and east coast past a few of the famous malt whisky distilleries to Claggain Bay.
My brief look over Loch Indaal the night before had hardly prepared me for the huge numbers of birds on Loch Indaal or on its shores.
There were very large numbers of
Barnacle Geese,
Wigeon,
Shelduck,
Red-breasted Merganser and
Scaup plus around 20
Whooper Swans and 20
Mute Swans, a small group of
Eider and 2
Pintail.
In addition, there were very large flocks of
Curlew,
Oystercatcher,
Golden Plover,
Lapwing and
Ringed Plover plus smaller numbers of
Turnstone,
Redshank and
Bar-tailed Godwit. A single
Greenshank was a slightly unexpected sighting at this time of year.
Very large groups of
Herring Gulls,
Black-headed Gulls,
Common Gulls and
Great Black-backed Gulls were also present.
Between Bowmore and Port Ellen, I saw small groups of
White-fronted Geese plus several
Stonechats and
Common Buzzards.
Between Port Ellen and Kidalton, I saw several
Common Seals plus a female
Red Deer which stood motionless in the road as I approached!
At Kidalton there is a very old Celtic cross by the chapel and this location also produced around 20
Rock Doves, small flocks of
Fieldfares and
Redwings, a large mixed flock of
Rooks and
Hooded Crows and 4
Red Deer stags.
The minor road eventually ends at Claggain Bay, a broad sandy bay which probably looks magnificent in sunny weather …. it wasn’t sunny!
However, the bay did produce some good birds: a
Great Northern Diver, a
Red-throated Diver, a
Black Guillemot, 8
Mute Swan, 5
Cormorants, a male
Eider, 2
Herons and a
Curlew.
I also saw my first
Otter of the trip, swimming in the bay but too distant for a photo. I always enjoy finding and watching
Otters but this sighting was nothing compared to the experience on the last day of my trip.
The Claggain Bay area also prodiced 2
Grey Wagtails, a flock of around 30
Rock Doves, a
Common Buzzard and a mixed group of
Fieldfares,
Redwings,
Blackbirds and
Song Thrushes.
On the way back I stopped by the Lagavulin malt whisky distillery to watch 6
Common Seals in the bay and I also saw 2
Herons here plus another
Grey Wagtail. This was my first distillery stop but not the only one to produce some excellent wildlife!
When I arrived back at Port Ellen, I took the road up to the Oa, an RSPB reserve. At the car park, I saw
Hooded Crow,
Common Buzzard,
Raven and
Stonechat but the most exciting sighting was a magnificent silver-grey male
Hen Harrier that flew right past the car before carrying on to hunt over the moorland and grassland.
If that wasn’t enough, I saw another male
Hen Harrier and a female
Merlin on the return journey down to Port Ellen. Unfortunately I had no luck with a sighting of
Golden Eagle here.
I decided to take an alternative route back from Port Ellen to Bowmore and was very glad I did as I was rewarded with huge numbers of
Barnacle Geese plus smaller numbers of
White-fronted Geese.
As I reached the head of Loch Indaal near Bowmore, groups of Barnacle Geese were flying in to roost on the mudflats for the night.
Day 3 and more photos to follow.
Richard