Between Showers

Tuesday May 10 

I'm beginning to think that I should start each day's entry with, ' Here is the weather report'. It does affect our days greatly. More rain and strong wind to-day, the rain in the form of squally showers, some containing hail. A little sun, lots of overcast, sometimes mountains in sight, sometimes not. We decided to drive to South Uist's 'Range'.

Just before the Range, there is a seaweed strewn bay, which is a huge favourite with small waders. We used to think that this was the bay known as 'Stinky' - it should be. It was so strong today that not only did it clear my sinuses, it took my brain with it. I tried some photos, the results are not great.





More interesting was watching some Turnstones wash in a puddle. It was so vigorous that they became a blur.

 

The summer Redshank here are very dark. 

 

The Range did not have a red flag flying, nor a radar wing turning, nor any sign of activity. There have been rumours of closure for some time. I checked on the internet which said that it had been guaranteed to stay open until 2026. It doesn't look like it.

South Uist missile range lies on the northwest part of the island of South Uist, together with its local radar tracking station, immediately to the south of the island of Benbecula, where the airfield at Balivanich, RAF Benbecula, serves as the overall range headquarters and provides additional support facilities; the final part of the range is the remote radar tracking station installed on St Kilda, about 40 niles to the west. The range is operated for a number of clients, including the MoD and BAe Systems, by defence contractor QinetiQ, which took over from DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency) after much of that agency was privatised in 2001. The Hebridean range is described as the largest air and sea range in the UK.  

The long stretch of machair, usually teeming with small waders, Dotterel a favourite, was almost devoid. The eternal Lapwings and Oystercatchers of course. Scoping produced about twenty Arctic Terns hunkered down, asleep, heads tucked under their wings. Many of them are still arriving.

After an afternoon snack overlooking an empty beach, we drove north and home, with a chosen bypass to Kallin harbour. There were a few gulls scavenging remains on the scallop shell scrap heap, nothing else. The large patches of BogBean are in bud, should be spectacular in a few days time. Pam has seen a Moss Carder Bee, I'm still looking. Stock Doves are a daily sight.

 


Maybe the Corncrakes at Balranald would come out to play. No, they had more sense, in the wind and rain. Time for us to give up too. As we left Balranald, we met Sue and Ian at a convenient parking place.They'd walked for the female Snowy Owl, a three mile round trip on boggy hillside. Well done them. They'd also had two Golden Eagles along Committee Road. Although we had decided to give it a miss tonight, that changed our minds. We saw two Ravens and not another bird, not even a Meadow Pipit. But..... as we passed the Hebridean Smokehouse, Pam was the first to notice an adult White-tailed Eagle flying past. That made the day.

 

 

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