Berneray

 Saturday May 7

14C, virtually cloudless blue sky until late afternoon. A perfect Hebridean day, we went to Berneray.  

Berneray is a small island (roughly 2 miles by 3), rich in wildlife and history, with a long sweep of white sand on the west coast, backed by high dunes and machair.The island has approximately 130 inhabitants. Crofting and fishing are mainstays of the economy. It's north of North Uist, connected by a causeway which was only built in the late 20th Century, officially opened by Prince Charles in 1999. He spent some time, in secret, working as a crofter on the island, until then, the island was a part of South Harris. 

We spent some time on the machair clifftop, overlooking a magnificent white sand bay, looking across the Sound of Harris to Lewis and Harris.



My camera couldn't quite manage the colouring, it was very Caribbean without the accompanying heat. I shall have to try again.

From our car, we saw four Great Northern Divers in summer plumage, Gannets, Little and Arctic Terns, and a White-tailed Eagle - our fourth of the trip so far.

Another side road leads to Borve, climbing high onto the machair which is the centre of the farming industry. Two tractors were at work, one seeding, the other rolling. Strips of unploughed machair is left between the crops. Rich with daisies at the moment, it comes into its full flower glory in June.


Another small side road led to a lochside where a single Black-tailed Godwit, our first of the trip, fed. 

 

Starlings are everywhere, resplendent in their summer coats of many colours - if you catch the light correctly.

 


Even more numerous are the Oystercatchers, in pairs and small groups everywhere we go, their frequent loud cries punctuate the day.

 

Clachan Sands is back on the mainland of North Uist. An unmade road leads past the current cemetery and, on the opposite side, the old walled burial mound. The mound is carpeted with a thick layer of Primroses.

 Newspapers are not delivered until after the afternoon ferry on a Saturday. We arrived at Sollas Co-op soon after 5.30, along with many others anxious to pick up their papers. Pam managed to get the last Telegraph on the shelf. I'm not bothered if I miss out, but enjoy the Saturday edition best. 

Time for the famous Committee Road, half expecting to meet friends Sue and Ian here. They arrived late last night and have their caravan pitched on Balranald camp site. Very quickly, Pam called 'Get your camera ready', she'd seen a Short-eared Owl perched on the hillside. Amazingly, it didn't fly away until we had both taken some photos. I have many, here's two of them, one with, one without, ear tufts.



 Next, a handsome male Hen Harrier sped away from us, no chance of any photos there. One day.

Houdini duck update

Heather visited tonight, Ian in tow. They'd solved the puzzle. The duck, named Cuddles (!), jumps onto a wire well off the ground and then down from there.  She's pinioned so can't fly. She ought to be entered in a gymkhana.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

North Uist Day 1

Image
 Sunday May 1 What a lovely day. Despite a late start - lunchtime - we were successful with birds seen, the sun shone, and we loved being back. We needed a leisurely morning after a hard week rushing around and yesterday's ferry journey.  Our first stop was Baleshare, a mere two miles down the road. It's a pretty flat, tidal and low lying island which is now connected to the rest of North Uist by a causeway.  The causeway was built in 1962 and it made a huge difference to the island's mainly farming community, with fifty or so now resident on Baleshare. The main reason for singling out this small island, is that it has magnificent beaches on its western side.   One is unlikely to see many others on the beach, as it is not on the tourist's normal route. It is on ours, as we have seen some good birds out here in the past. The parking  is a flattish area of shingle. Pam located the sought birds, and we drove the car further for a better view. One of...
Read more

The Black Isle

Image
 Monday April 25 I changed beds last night. The previous brass bedstead was so high that I needed a trampoline to get in. The new one is still a good height, and comfortable, so that's sorted. Dictated by the weather, we decided to visit the Black Isle. En route, we pulled into the layby at Dulnain Bridge from which to view the river. No Dipper to-day but Pam found a bedraggled Grey Wagtail huddled on a flat rock. Carrbridge holds a special place in our hearts, we stayed there in a chalet for over twenty years. A very short detour took us to THE bridge over the river from which we often see some good birds. As we turned round, a piper in full regalia climbed onto the ruins of the bridge and began to play. Awesome. In such a fantastic setting too. Pam is always very moved by bagpipes, she loves them. I joke that it's because she's tone deaf - although I'm fond of them too. A fellow teacher piped me on board the paddle steamer on which we celebrated my retirement.     ...
Read more

Over the Sea to Skye

Image
Friday April 29   Not a long journey to-day, the leaving of a rented house is always a chore though. I still resent having to strip beds and, sometimes, vacuum, before leaving. Surely that should be part of the service provided for the eye-watering rental price. Pam is very good about it. We failed to locate both the toaster and the rubbish bins whilst we were here. The indoor bins were left unemptied. We did without the toast. A beautiful, warm, and sunny morning on which to see the Highlands and the scenic roads to Skye. The thermometer showed 16C at one time. We made good time to the Skye road bridge, despite a lengthy part of the A road being single track with passing places. My first trip to the island was a very long time ago, in a minibus full of schoolkids and camping gear, for a wet week on a beach in the Cuillins. The first time that I saw Highland cattle eating seaweed on the beach. To-day we followed an easterly route, stopping at a Co-op parking area, which overlo...
Read more