Our last day on the Scottish west coast and once again the weather surprised with some lovely clear spells before the rain finally arrived mid afternoon. Having spoken to a few local birders regarding our Snow Goose at Cuil Bay yesterday, the general consensus is that it was in fact a wild bird, so if I had a tick list I suppose I could have the tick!
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| Islandadd Bridge |
We decided to spend our last day further south from the cottage and have another look around the Add Estuary and Loch Sween. We arrived at Islandadd Bridge mid morning for a look over the mud, exposed by the low tide. Almost immediately a bird caught the eye low over the peat bogs of Moine Mhòr, our first ♀Hen Harrier of the visit and thankfully on our last day! A Buzzard, Kestrel and Raven next but then across towards the distant hills the unmistakable sight of not one but two White-tailed Eagles, which after brief views disappeared into the pines, closely followed by several Hooded Crows.
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| Red-breasted Merganser - One of many during our stay |
Just along the Crinan Canal towpath from the bridge British Waterways have provided an excellent bird hide that gives superb views across the exposed mudflats. Here Dee and I spent a half hour locating of note:
Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Red-breasted Merganser, ♂♀Goosander, Wigeon, Teal, Shag, Cormorant, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Herring Gull, Common Gull and Great Black-backed Gull.
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| Goldeneye - seen on most Lochs. |
After lunch at Tayvallich overlooking Loch a' Bhealaich we moved further south heading for an eventual look across Jura Sound at Keillmore. These are single track roads that offer passing areas great for viewing and we stopped several times to scan Linne Mhuirich, a long narrow inlet about halfway down Loch Sween on the north side. At one such stop a couple of
Greenshank, several
Ringed Plover,
Goldeneye,
Little Grebe, ♂♀
Red-breasted Merganser, and a lone
Tufted Duck. A few stops later we hit the jackpot if your a Swan lover, with over 100
Whooper Swans and bizarrely, sticking out like a sore thumb, a single
Black Swan in their midst. Also of note:(5)
Shelduck and a single
Kingfisher.
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| Seal - More from Dee's exploits. |
From here there are three gated sections with little turning space before you eventually end up at journeys end at Keillmore. This offers great views across Jura Sound to the Island, a terrific place to sea watch, or if your Dee, rock pooling! The weather had somewhat deteriorated by the time we arrived but the odd bright spell helped visibility. On the water at least two
Black-throated diver,
Great Northern Diver and at sea
Black Guillemot,
Guillemot at least two
Pomarine Skuas ,
Manx Shearwater and a small number of
Kittiwake passed through, but several other distant
Skua Sp. will have to remain a mystery. So too a small black bird with a distinct white rump that flashed by low over the water and set the pulse racing. In the surrounding area (14)
Ringed Plover, several
Rock Pipit,
Grey Seal and Dee managed
Springtail and
Shore Crab during her dipping session.
