 Re: Western Isles in April
Not entirly sure of what you might see, but should be worth while it's a magical place. Below is a post i did from my first trip there in early May 2008.
The 304 miles from Leigh to Oban is approx a 5hour drive
The sailing from Oban to Lochboisdale is another 5 hours 15 minutes
On arrival at Oban you will without doubt see a variety of common gull species, but the bird to look for in the harbour is Black Guillemot if you have a wait for the ferry it will be worthwhile setting up you scope to scan the harbour and sea, you will be unlucky if you don’t see a least Shag and Gannet as well.
After boarding the ferry take with you all you will need to endure the 5 hour + journey to Lochboisdale, South Uist, because returning to your car is not permitted. So wet weather / warm clothing is essential, so are your camera, various lenses and binocs.
First of for me is up on deck to decide where to perch for most of the way but of course this position will no doubt change with the direction of the wind as the ferry moves up through the sound of Mull and out into the open sea.
Birds usually encountered would be Black & common Guillemots, Shags, Cormorants, Eider ducks and drakes. Gannet, Fulmar and again gulls are definite and Razorbills, Puffins and Shearwaters are about especially Manx but I have seen Sooty shearwater.
For those that like to travel in comfort or need to rest then get a move on in fact send some of your party ahead to bag your seats, communicate by mobile phone and find them later. Having said that there is plenty of comfortable seating but some people don’t half like to spread out. The food on board is quite good and also reasonably priced; we have found the staff to be very friendly as well.
There are lots to see as you sail, the sound of Mull is only a couple of miles wide so good views of birds and scenes are all around, a camera is a must but do make a note of the shots you take on the way out because you will probably want to take the same ones again coming back. Grab the shots while you can if the weathers good, because it sure wont be the same coming back.
Bird List
Red-throated Diver, Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Little Grebe,
Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Grey Heron, Mute Swan,
Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler,
Tufted Duck, Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Goosander,
White-tailed Eagle, Hen Harrier, Common Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Osprey,
Kestrel, Merlin, Corncrake, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover,
Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel,
Curlew, Common Redshank, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone,
Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull,
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern,
Arctic Tern, Little Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Puffin, Rock Dove,
Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Cuckoo, Snowy Owl, Long-eared Owl,
Short-eared Owl, Common Swift, Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Whinchat, Stonechat,Northern Wheatear, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat,Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Common Treecreeper, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling,House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Redpoll,Common Crossbill, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting.
__________________
http://www.shallcrossimages.zenfolio.com/
http://www.shallcross-ancestry.org.uk |
I have a lot of relatives on the islands that will hopefully have some information for me, better get the phone numbers out 
Linear Mode
