5th June – back to mainland Scotland
Early morning in Stromness on Orkney dawned bright and sunny with no wind.
The Northlink ferry journey from Stromness to Scrabster was everything the one the previous evening wasn’t
.
Hoy, Orkney ....
Old Man of Hoy ....
The usual range of seabirds were seen but in smaller numbers than the seas around Shetland plus there was a cetacean (probably a
Bottle-nosed Dolphin) close to the shore near the Old Man of Hoy.
Fulmar ....
Having arrived in Scrabster, I refueled the campervan in Thurso …. thankfully a little cheaper (but not much) than the £1.42 per litre for diesel on Shetland
. In Thurso, I saw 6
Swift over the town, the most northern sighting I have ever had of this species.
In Thurso I had to make a decision …. take the direct route down the east coast to Inverness (110 miles) or take the much longer route west along the top of northern Scotland to Durness and then south down the west coast to Ullapool before travelling east to Inverness (195 miles).
No contest …. given the wonderful blue skies and sunshine, the additional mileage option was an obvious choice and the views along the north coast were brilliant
.
Coldbackie ....
Kyle of Tongue ....
Ben Loyal ....
Loch Eriboll ....
Traigh Allt Chailgeag ....
Sango Bay ....
Balnakeil Bay ....
Kyle of Durness ....
The bird highlights on my journey back to Inverness were a
Black-throated Diver near Laxford Bridge, a
Golden Eagle at Inchnadamph (the first time I have just spotted one from a moving vehicle rather than a “stop, sit and wait for a long time” technique) and
Red Kite near Garve 25 miles west of Inverness and at Culbokie off the A9 much nearer Inverness and the more usual area for sightings.
Before returning the campervan to Culloden Moor, I visited Chanonry Point on the Moray Firth, a site I have visited many times to see
Bottle-nosed Dolphin. Unfortunately and unusually, I did not see a single dolphin on this occasion but then nor did many other people or a BBC Springwatch OB team including Simon King who were filming at the location. I watched the Springwatch programme back at my B&B in Inverness when they did show some wonderful footage from earlier in the morning.
Chanonry Point did provide 2
Arctic Skuas out in the Moray Firth plus 1
Turnstone, 5
Ringed Plover and 2 summer plumaged
Dunlin feeding together on the seaweed and sand.
Some closing thoughts.
So that is it …. an excellent second trip to the northern most parts of the UK.
Highlights
- the rare and beautiful (and prize-winning)
Red-necked Phalarope …. definitely worth travelling 800 miles to see
- the elusive but eventually seen
Otter …. these wonderful mammals are always a highlight of any trip to Scotland
- the very confiding
Puffins at Sumburgh Head…. what entertaining birds these are
- the trip around
Noss NNR …. what an awe-inspiring assault on all your senses!
- meeting
Simon King …. how do you get a job like that?
Disappointments
- failing to take a midnight visit to Mousa to see the
Storm Petrels
- missing out on seeing
Orcas although they were reported around the Shetland coast during my visit
- that horrible
ferry trip from Shetland to Orkney!
- having to come home!
Questions
- why do
Fulmars and
Gannets regularly follow boats?
- why do summer visitors like
Swallows and
Wheatears travel another 800 miles north from southern England when they could settle in and breed much earlier if they did not undertake this additional journey?
- there are no
Foxes and very few birds of prey on Shetland so what keeps the huge population of
Rabbits under control?
Thank you for reading .... assuming you got to the end!
Richard