Rum in the Sun

Not what your thinking...perhaps!  We were on Canna in a little drizzle this morning, and this afternoon on the Isle of Rum with stunning blue sky and sunshine.  Spent a bit of time taking photos of the very photogenic Rum Ponies.  Guess I should have read the sign on the gate saying 'Beware these ponies bite' before jumping the fence and lying down on the ground trying to take photos of them!  Oh well, got a few nice shots of them and some of the other things seen.  We are now heading out towards St Kilda, making a pass through some basking shark country on the way, so hoping to find some of them if possible.  Be nice if we did.

Let's hope the conditions stay nice for our visit to St Kilda tomorrow!

One of my friends on Rum

Buttercup

One of the speedwells, I think Germander speedwell

New leaves against a mossy rock wall

Greylag family

Iona with more great birds

So this afternoon after the morning at Staffa we headed into Iona.  The sun wasn't out in full glory, more a little overcast, but at least the rain held off all afternoon and there was no wind!  Even a little balmy!

Before we had even gotten everyone ashore Tony had found a glaucous gull, which has apparently been around for a little while.  Managed to get some great photos of it, so pretty happy with that, another new bird for the UK!. We the got everyone ashore and Tony and I staked out some corncrake spots.  The best place seemed to be the bottom of the St Columba Hotel garden where one was calling well, but after a while it shut up, and played hard to get.  It finally started up again and we got some ok head views of it in the grass and rank veg in the meadow.

As we were about to leave a small bird flew into a bush right beside us, and showing badly, then decided to fly out the back onto the fence.  It sat there for at least 30 seconds as if it didn't know what to do, letting us get enough detail on it to work out it was from memory either a lanceolated or grasshopper warbler.  Not being able to remember the finer details, I figured it was probably going to be a gropper, and when we eventually consulted the field guide back at the ship, that is exactly what it was.  So another great bird for the list, and only the second gropper I had ever seen, this one a lot closer than the first.

We then met up with the rest of the group, managed to show them brief views of a corncrake as it leapt from the grass in the same area, and then did a nice loop walk out through the meadows and along the shoreline.  We had brief views of another corncrake, but good flight views of a cuckoo (heard at least two different birds), a bunch of sedge warblers, lots of pipits and dunlin, ringed plover and common sand on the shoreline.

A pretty nice walk and yet another great day.  During dinner we had a few Manx shears go past in flat calm conditions and then after dinner a few more common dolphins and a couple of porpoise.  Awesome!

Glaucous gull

Taking off

Staffa in Sunshine

So have been a little remiss in posting stuff to my blog lately so aiming to do a little better over the coming weeks.  The first couple of trips were good, and managed a few nice images, which I will post the best of into my Eco-Vista facebook page over the next 24 hours.

We had a great morning on Staffa, near Mull this morning.  A grey start that threatened rain turned into glorious sunshine.  Lots of wild flowers around and a few puffins coming and going from their burrows, but obviously a lot incubating and so not spending time just hanging about the cliffs.

We are now heading across to Iona for the afternoon there, so will hopefully catch up with some corncrakes.  Heard one this morning on Staffa, and the snipe were drumming also.  A few twite around the place and of course skylarks singing, with meadow and rock pipits being everywhere.

Greylag geese silhouette

Greylag geese silhouette two

Marsh violet

Photographer amongst the bluebells

Top of the columnar basalt formations

Herring gull with thrift

Mega in Ireland!

Just back onboard the MV Island Sky...after seeing Ireland's first record of COLLARED FLYCATCHER!  We have been in Tory all afternoon, with a landing and walks around the place.  Most of the time was spent wandering up around the spectacular cliffs of the eastern part of the island, seeing puffins, razorbills, etc as well as several pairs of choughs.  One pair were doing and awesome display flight.

Anyway, the local guide said there had been a 'black and white' flycatcher found, and we figured probably a pied flycatcher.  I did joke to Tony about it maybe being a collared, but didn't think to much of it.  Although I did spend a couple of minutes on two occasions looking into the bushes it was suggested to have been, but not seeing anything.

Back at the dock as the last passengers were heading back to the ship, three guys with bins and scopes got off the local ferry , and looking frantic headed up past us.  I asked if they were going to see the flycatcher, and they said yes...it was a collared!

Ended up dropping everyone back at the ship and racing back to the dock and up the street to the 'Magic bush' and they had found the bird which was showing reasonably well, but spending a lot of time really low in the bush and nettles underneath.  Great little bird though, a first summer male, and managed a few semi-decent photos.  Not only is this a first for Ireland, but a lifer for me! Thanks to the guys there and hope it sticks around for a few more birders, especially Craig Nash!

Heading back to Portsmouth

Well the end of the first seven day 'Island Retreats' cruise is near, as we pound into the sea heading back to Portsmouth.  The cruise didn't start off too well, with two days alongside in Portsmouth due to the ship failing an inspection.  The crew worked hard and managed to rectify the problem that had been detected, and we sailed directly to the Channel Islands, missing a few stops which had been planned, but managing to put together a pretty good itinerary for the remaining time we had.

Not really a wildlife trip, this was more a visit to islands to see the way of life, and a trip into St Malo, France to see Mont St Michele, the famous UNESCO World Heritage site.  We had a day and a half on the Isles of Scilly, with a beautiful sunny day for our visit to Tresco and Bryher Islands yesterday.  And an overcast and slightly cooler day today with a morning visit to St Mary's.  I headed off on the birding/nature walk with Tony, and then split off and caught up with my good mate Bob Flood.  Always great to catch up with him and talk about whats new in the seabird world, and we wandered some of the local fields looking for a woodchat shrike that had been seen the night before.  This was the second attempt at finding woodchat shrikes here on Scilly with Bob...and we drew a blank on this one also!  Never mind found a couple of yellow wagtails, including what was probably a flava subspecies individual, and then to Bob's for a beaut piece of chocolate cake and a coffee.

Headed back to the ship just before midday, on the way spotting the male hen harrier that had been reported from Bryher earlier in the morning as it struggled across to St Mary's, being chased by a herring gull.  It was apparently refound on St Mary's a little while later after I called Bob.  But as luck would have it Bob phoned me about 1.5 hours after I had left to say he was standing watching a male woodchat shrike!  AHHHHH!  That's birding!

A few Manx shears as we left Scilly, but not a lot else other than a few gannets and fulmars.  A little bumpy, but the wind is forcast to drop.  The next cruise begins tomorrow afternoon and is far more wildlife focussed with some great stops planned - Lundy & Grassholm and Great Saltee amongst others.  Can't wait!

One of the few wildlife photos I took this cruise, a robin in Tresco gardens