Chasing Orca

I've been stuck indoors for much of the past week, painting guest rooms and stairwells for the most part. However, the weekends are all mine. Today, being Saturday, I made full use of my free time and promptly slept in until almost 10am. On the dot of eleven, I was out of the house and on the road. First point of call was Loch Suardal where the Whooper Swan family was still in residence, plus a lone immature bird lurking in the nearby reedbed. I'm a bit concerned by this, where are its parents? Why has it chosen to remain? Possibly it is ill or injured, or maybe it became separated in foul weather and isn't sure what to do next. Either way, it's not normal for a young bird to be by itself. Maybe it will be accepted by the family group and tag along southwards? Time, I guess, will tell. 

Twenty minutes of preening and washing and not once did they all look up to pose at the same time

Lonesome George. I do hope it is alright

I popped into a shop for the obligatory Red Bull and sandwich combo, then detoured to a nearby car park for a quick scan of the gulls whilst demolishing my food. Which is when this fella/lass decided to say hello

Some years ago I was high up in a mountain pass on New Zealand's South Island. I left the car to go take some photos and, upon my return, realised there was a Kea inside the car. Sitting on the driver's chair headrest, in fact. Knowing that Kea are wont to destroy hire cars I took my time and, from the safety of the passenger side, gently coaxed it back out through the open window. No harm done, though it spent a long time perched on my wing mirror trying to get back in via the (now closed) window. Since then I have never felt threatened by a bird trying to break into my car. Until today, that is. 

Happily, this Hoodie was more intent on my sandwich than my car's interior. Though I had to chuckle as it remained resolutely glued to the wing mirror whilst I slowly drove around the car park! Eventually it decided I was wasting its time and it flew away. With at least half of my sandwich in its crop. 

Young Barn Door overhead. Poor camera skills, but I'll learn...someday

I checked through a few gull flocks, nothing of much interest that I could see, scanned through a mixed tit flock, noting a lamentable absence of rare Sibes, and then thought about checking the local Whatsapp groups in case I was missing anything.

"Orca Kilmalaug. Heading North" 

Fuckaduck, I was a good hour or so south of Kilmalaug. It would be long gone by the time I got there. Though if it's heading north that would put it at Rubha Hunish. Hmmm, the clifftop there is a ten to fifteen minute yomp from the car park. So I'd probably still miss it. Maybe I could head it off at Duntulm? Assuming, of course, that it followed the coast south after crossing the top end. I checked the messages again. "John Coe AND Aquarius at Rubha Hunish, heading west" Fuuuuuck me...I put pedal to the metal and slammed north.

That "good hour or so" flashed by in about thirty minutes. I took the Idrigill zigzags at well over 50mph, completely unthinkable in tourist season. It seemed that the road truly was mine and mine alone. I hammered it up to the top layby overlooking Camas Mòr and considered scanning from there, realised that the last message (20 minutes ago) mentioned Fladda Island up by Rubha Hunish, decided otherwise and careened ever northwards at full pelt at something approaching rally speed. I've never seen wild Orca, it is possibly the species highest on my wishlist. I most definitely did not spare the horses on that winding coast road!

Having utterly destroyed whatever the previous landspeed record was from Dunvegan to Duntulm, I slammed into a layby and scanned out across the perfectly flat sea. I know that Orca often cruise within a few hundred feet of the coastline, so I alternated my telescope and binocular scans with naked eye scans of the near sea. Within about three minutes of my arrival, a car pulled up and a familiar voice yelled out "Are you after the Killer Whales?" It was Yorkshire Sylvia, a frequent user of the Skye Cetacean Whatsapp group. "Yes, but I've only just got here. No sign yet" I replied. "No, well they swam past here ages ago. I've been watching them for the past 30 minutes from Bornesketaig. They headed out towards North Uist, they are really motoring". 

Fuck my life, Sylvia. So why the hell didn't you put word out on the Whatsapp group??? I'd screamed past Bornesketaig on my way here. In fact, had I have scanned directly out to sea from the Camas Mòr lookout, I would probably have seen them! "Best bet would be Waternish Point I reckon" she joyfully suggested, before driving off on her merry way homeward bound. Waternish Point eh? That just so happens to be the very next headland across from where I live. Fucksakes. I looked at the height of the sun above the horizon and realised there was no way I could make it before darkness fell. Plus I'd be looking directly into the setting sun. There was physically no way I'd catch up with the Orca. 

I floored it westwards...

...

...

...and made it to Waternish just in time to watch the sun set.