2015 Scottish Odyssey (1) Mammals

We had a wonderful 'summer' holiday in Scotland. The weather was particularly mixed this year; but despite the cool temperatures, we had not expected to find spring primroses and bluebells and quite so much snow around in mid-June. It might even have been good weather for penguins!

Sign on the lovely Scottish island of Gigha

Snow around Kintail

Heading north through Glencoe

Insects were rather thin on the ground this time, but we saw quite a few birds (like the Arctic Terns in the photo below) and an interesting selection of animals.

Dunvegan, Skye      © David Gill 2015

I shall begin with my 2015 mammal list:

• Bottlenose Dolphin (from the ferry to Lochranza on Arran)
• Common/Harbour Seal (largely at Dunvegan on Skye)
• Grey Squirrel (Culzean)
• Hare (particularly at Kilmartin and on the way to the Mull of Kintyre)
• Otter (Skye and Argyll)
• Pine Marten (sadly no photograph, but a first for us)
• Rabbit (Skye)
• Red Deer (several locations)
• Red Squirrel (just one ... adjacent to Loch Awe)
• Roe Deer (several locations)
• Shrew (a nest, Attadale) 

Sadly we failed to see any of the Knapdale Beavers (the weather was particularly deluge-like that day), but we enjoyed looking. Their watery realm was straight out of a fairytale!

Beavers may have eluded us in 2015, but (despite a week on Mull last year), we had our best Otter sightings ever ...

First view: was it an Otter?

Definitely!

 

Last view before it disappeared into the water ...

Bluebells (and Primroses) on Midsummer's Day

Blossoms of Hope Collaboration

And now for something a little different and rather special. My kind and creative friend and poetic collaborator, Kay Weeks (in the USA), has done a wonderful and spirited watercolour inspired by my one of my photographs of Loch Scavaig on the Isle of Skye. Kay's painting is the blue and indigo one in the centre of the invitation card above.

Travellers love to cross the unpredictable waters of the sea loch to reach the magical Loch Coruisk, painted so vividly by Turner and described by Sir Walter Scott as 'that dread lake'.

Loch Coruisk ...

... with its guardians

I am touched and humbled that Kay has chosen to put her painting of my photo forward as part of the Portraits and Profiles: Inspirations in my Life project to raise the profile of Blossoms of Hope, an organisation that supports the Claudia Mayer/Tina Broccolino Cancer Resource Center of Howard County General Hospital. 

Thank you, Kay! 

Rendez-vous in Philadelphia: me (left), Kay (centre), David Gill (left)

Scottish Odyssey 2 ~ Finches at Dunvegan on Skye

It was lovely to find Dunvegan in sunshine. The castle grounds were looking magnificent ...

... with waterlilies ...

... lupins and delphiniums.

We were delighted to find a Bullfinch as we rarely see these Amber Status birds in our own neck of the woods, and have only ever seen one in our Suffolk garden 'down south'.  

We soon noticed that there was also a female. 

I'm not sure what she was eating but it seemed to come from the tree ...

... near the roses.

We also saw this Goldfinch just outside the castle grounds from a place where we like to watch seals on the skerries.

Seals and Cetaceans: Seals at Dunvegan, Skye

I mentioned a few days ago that I would return to photos from our recent Scottish holiday. We have a particular love of the Isle of Skye, also known as Eilean a' Cheo - the Misty Isle. 

A particular treat is to take the small seal boat from Dunvegan Castle out on the glassy waters of Loch Dunvegan to see the seals on the skerries.  

On this occasion we shared the boat with another couple and the skipper. It was a very warm humid day with grey skies. It was the only day of our holiday when I felt that we were actually 'troubled' by midges, but once we out on the water, there was hardly an insect to be seen. The skippers are very experienced and know the moods of the sea-loch like the back of their hand. They are also very familiar with the seals, knowing just how close to go without causing disturbance or unrest of any kind.

The seals in this colony love to laze around on the kelp-strewn rock. They know that the skippers will only go 'so close'. Most of the time they look so sleek and docile that it is hard to believe that they could inflict serious injury if frightened. I get a huge thrill from being 'nose to whisker' with these mammals, and mid-summer proved a particularly rewarding time for our visit as the cow-seals were pupping. It surprised me that the skipper had a particular date in mind, saying that most pupping seals in this colony would produce their offspring on the same given day. 

This magnificent creature was particularly unfazed by our presence. I love the pink tongue!

You can appreciate the excellent view we had from our clinker-built craft.

I love the way that the seal on the left has draped itself over the kelp ... and I also like the folded flippers of the creature behind!

I suspect this seal may have been waiting to give birth. What beautiful folds of skin around the neck! 

This younger seal (one of last year's pups, perhaps) seemed to have a more quizzical look. It can be very hard not to describe these wild animals in anthropomorphic terms ... but at the same time, I am well aware that these mammals are dangerous and quite capable of inflicting serious injury. 

Minutes pass so quickly out on the loch, and it was soon time to return to the castle gardens ...

... but not before we took a moment (please excuse the string of adjectives!) to admire this utterly irresistible shiny black day-old pup!

Mustelidae: Otters in Scotland

I love to watch otters in the wild. They are very difficult creatures to spot, so we felt particularly pleased to have three sightings during our recent fortnight in Scotland. Two clues help me in my initial spotting, the first being that telltale V in the water as an otter swims, and the second, well, you have probably guessed, that 'ring of bright water' that was borrowed as a phrase by Gavin Maxwell from 'The Marriage of Psyche', the poem by Kathleen Raine.

We often use the car as a hide. It means that the otter is less likely to notice a human scent or to hear a strange noise. It also means that we can keep dry, though we had to keep switching on the windscreen wipers during the time we watched the otter above in the Assynt area.
 

That ring of bright water, emanating from the steel-grey loch ...

Two of my three otter sightings were of otters in the water. The third sighting, on Skye, began with an otter swimming near the shore, in and out of the kelp. To our great excitement, the creature climbed out of the water on to a long low rock, allowing us to see its whole form before it dived back and disappeared into its mysterious watery world.

We have re-visited old haunts on our recent holidays. We have also enjoyed new places along the way, but we have discovered that tried and tested destinations often yield good sightings. It takes patience, of course, and there is always the unpredictable element of timing: you just have to be in the right place at the right time!

Swimming close to the shore

Islands & Islets (10): An Inner Hebridean Odyssey ... Caterpillars

The churchyard at Trumpan, Waternish, Skye, where we saw ...

... a Knot Grass Caterpillar (earlier sighting here). 

We spotted this (?White/Buff Ermine or Clouded Buff) caterpillar near ...

... the wonderful Abbey on Iona.

Do let me know in the Comments section if you can help with the identification of the caterpillar on Iona! Thank you.

Islands and Islets (7): An Inner Hebridean Odyssey - Wildlife Count

The beach at Ord, Sleat, Isle of Skye

While I was away I tried to make a list of (somewhere between all and most) of my wildlife sightings. I am no expert (as you will soon realise!), just a keen observer who likes to know what is about. I decided not to be too strict about numbers as I am so bad at calculating birds in a flock - so bad at calculating fullstop!

The first list here refers to the first leg of our journey to Skye (our most northerly destination), and includes sightings from Glasgow to the north of Trotternish ... I will only 'count' each species once.

Species of Bird
Mainland Scotland

31 August 2012

1]    Mallard - Loch Lomond
2]    Cormorant - Arrochar
3]    Carrion Crow - Rest-and-be-Thankful
4]    House Sparrow - Inveraray
5]    Pigeon (very black) - ditto
6]    Goldfinches - Glen Orchy
7]    Swifts - ditto
8]    Pied Wagtail - Glencoe
9]    Hooded Crow (2) - Glencoe and Onich
10]  Chaffinch - Onich
11]  Unidentified Owl - Glenfinnan

1 September 2012

12]  Sparrowhawk - Ardnamurchen
**]   Goldfinch - ditto
13]  Oystercatcher - ditto
**]   Cormorant - ditto
14]  Eiders (6) - ditto
15]  Grey Heron - ditto
16]  Greater Black-backed Gull - ditto
17]  (?Sky)larks (3) - ditto
18]  Gannet - near Mallaig
19]  White-tailed Eagle - ditto

Nature's paintbrush at work!

Species of Bird
Isle of Skye and Environs

1 September 2012

**]    Pied Wagtail - Broadford
20]   Herring Gull - ditto

2 September 2012

21]   Golden Eagle - Cuillin area
**]    Eiders - Dunvegan area

3 September 2012

22]  Buzzard - Cuillin area
23]  ?Dabchick - Trotternish
**]   Hooded Crows (6) - ditto
**]   Gannets (4) - viewed from Staffin area
**]   Pied Wagtails (6) - ditto

4 September 2012

24]  Starlings - Broadford area
**]   Pigeons - ditto
25]  Goosander?? - photo to follow - Loch Carron area (just off Skye, but trip from Skye)
26]  Rock Pipit - Loch Duich area (just off Skye, but trip from Skye)
**]   Pied Wagtail in first winter plumage - Loch Duich area (just off Skye, but trip from Skye)
27]  Robin - ditto
28]  Goldfinches (6) - ditto
**]   Rock Pipit - Armadale

5 September 2012

**]  Carrion Crows (2) - Portree
**]  Hooded Crows (3) - ditto
**]  Pied Wagtails (2) - Broadford area
29] Wheatears (4) - Waternish area
**]  Carrion Crow - ditto
30] Ringed Plovers (31) - Cuillin area
**]  Oystercatchers (2) - ditto

6 September 2012

**] Swifts (5) - Staffin
**]  Cormorant - ditto
**]  Buzzard - Bernisdale
**]  Grey Heron - Edinbane
**]  Pied Wagtail - Neist Point
**]  Gannets (5) - ditto
**]  Cormorant - ditto
31] Fulmars (2) - ditto
32] Greylag Geese (small flock) - Glendale area

7 September 2012

**] Ring Plover (3) - Sleat area
**] Herring Gull - Broadford area

8 September 2012

**] Grey Heron - Broadford area


Total of 32 (largely identified) species of bird for this leg of the journey (Glasgow to Trotternish)

Other Vertebrates
Mainland Scotland

31 August 2012

1]  Common Toad (query due to dark night!) - Glenfinnan
2]  Bats (5) - (species not identified) - ditto

1 September 2012

3]  Common Seals (small colony) - Ardnamurchen, not far from Corran Ferry
4]  Red deer doe - Bay of the Flies area, Ardnamurchen

Other Vertebrates
Isle of Skye and Environs

1 September 2012

5] Rabbits (3) - Broadford and Elgol areas

2 September 2012 

6] Common Seals (colony) - Dunvegan
7] Grey Seal (1) - ditto

4 September 2012

**] Rabbits (2) - Broadford area

6 September 2012

**] Rabbit - Glendale

************

Invertebrates
Mainland Scotland

31 August 2012  

1] Midge - Loch Lomond
2] Black Beetle (still to be identified) - Glencoe

1 September 2012

3] Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Ardnamurchen
4] Hoverfly - ditto


Invertebrates
Isle of Skye and Environs


2 September 2012

5] Dragonfly, unidentified (flew off too fast!) - Dunvegan area

3 September 2012

**] Dragonfly, unidentified (flew off too fast!) - Staffin 
6]  Cranefly - Broadford area

5 September 2012

7] Caterpillar - Trumpan area
**] Dragonfly, unidentified (flew off too fast!) - ditto 

6 September 2012

8] Lion's Mane Jellyfish - Bracadale 

************

Flora etc.
Mainland Scotland, Isle of Skye and Environs 

1]    Ragwort - Loch Lomond area (widespread)
2]    Rose Bay Willowherb - ditto (widespread)
3]    Bell Heather - ditto (widespread)
4]    Ling - ditto
5]    Montbretia - ditto (widespread)
6]    Meadowsweet - Tarbet
7]    Buttercup - ditto
8]    Conolvulus - Arrochar
9]    Sorrel
10]  Thistle - Rest-and-be-Thankful
11]   Feverfew - ditto
12]   Lesser Scabious - ditto

Also: large brown unidentified toadstool at Inveraray and ?sphagnum moss. Ist lichen on trees spotted at Cladich on way to Kilchurn.  

13]  Figwort - Dunvegan, Skye
14]  Foxglove - ditto
15]  Yellow/Ladies' Bedstraw - ditto
16]  Clover - St Columba's Island, Skye
17]  Yarrow - ditto
18]  Groundsel - ditto
19]  Tormentil - Waternish
20]   English Stonecrop, Sedum anglicum - Sleat, Skye
21]  Water mint - ditto

These observations are obviously of more interest to me than to others, but I hope you may find something in this post that catches your eye! I shall be logging my wildlife sightings for Mull and Iona soon ...