I met up with a friend today and ended up giving him a lift from Portree all the way down to the Skye Bridge. This left me with a predicament: should I cross it for the first time in months? I weighed up the pros and cons of remaining on Skye into the foreseeable, realised there weren't any sensible pros, and promptly hit the mainland for the first time in rather a while.
I didn't venture far inland (7.6 miles apparently), but I had fun counting the Wigeon and an assortment of gulls on the rainswept beach at Ardelve, dropping in to a nearby ditch full of Greater Cuckooflower, then onwards to the lone Rhododendron macabeanum with its giant evergreen leaves growing in woodland near Balmacara, followed by visiting the patch of Wilson's Filmy Fern that grows on a large, mossy boulder at Erbusaig. Gosh, the mainland truly is a place of wonder! I have, of course, saved the very best for last. Just cop a look at these beauties!!
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| Canada Geese - mega! |
There were nineteen Canada Geese in the sheep fields below Kirkton church, representing the first record this year for the species in the wider Skye & Lochalsh recording area. Nineteen is by far the largest flock I've ever recorded up here, it's more than I would expect to see on Skye in an entire year; last year's flock of twelve was a shock to the system at the time. I was pleased to note that most of the geese had already paired off and I did see a bit of aggression between neighbouring pairs. Will 2026 be the year they finally over-summer and breed on Skye for the very first time? I put the news out on the local birding WhatsApp group, eliciting a few shocked emoji's followed by one guy asking if there were any Todd's amongst them. I replied they were all Branta canadensis ssp plasticus which caused a laugh but, plastic or not, Canada Goose remains a damn good bird in this part of the world. If the flock behaves anything like it did last year, they will arrive on the saltings at Isleornsay in a couple of months time and I will be able to add them to my Skye Big Year list. Given the abundance of quiet, vegetated lochans across Skye, it must only a be matter of time before nesting is proven. And yet, 'given the abundance of quiet, vegetated lochans across Skye' I'm still somewhat stumped as to how Moorhen is such a mega rarity here whilst Coot is viewed as the stuff of dreams. However, we do have a few good birds up here. Several good birds, in fact.
Last week, local birder Neil saw four Ptarmigan on a mountainside near Broadford. I had no idea they occurred there (I used to look at that very mountain every day when I lived in Broadford last year). As far as I knew, they lived high up in the Kylerhea Hills about ten miles from Broadford and, Skyewise, that was it. Neil has recently seen them in the Kylerhea Hills and gave me details of the best areas to check. Today, seeing as I was in the far south of Skye and therefore not too far away, I decided to call in at the Kylerhea Hills and try my luck. I arrived in sideways rain, but the rain radar told me it would soon pass. I waited and it did indeed pass. Then the clouds descended, entirely hiding the peaks...grrrrr...
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| The Ptarmigan Zone is somewhere out of sight in the clouds |
Undeterred, I headed for a food shop in Broadford, accidentally finding my dream home in the process. I think I am actually in love, just look at this beauty!
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| Triple suicide bars! |
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| Scania G410 XT 4x4 fully equipped expedition truck |
I spent seventeen years driving trucks and, although I'm not at all sure how UK tachograph laws apply to what is essentially personal accommodation on wheels, I think I need renew my CPC and find myself a cheap version of this. Truly I am in love. These beasts retail at around £300K, meaning I am a mere £295K short of the asking price. Plus diesel. I may need to put in some serious overtime this coming season...
Whilst you're gawping at the undeniable loveliness of the Scania, spare a glance for the mountain in the background. That mountain, probable burial pace of the Norwegian princess known as Saucy Mary, is none other than the second site that I know of for Ptarmigan on Skye. Carefully eyeballing the scudding cloud base, I figured visibility would be good and quickly headed off for further signs of Ptarmigan. I kid ye not, I pulled up in a layby, unlimbered the trusty 'scope and in less than two minutes found myself eyeballing a snowball white Ptarmigan perched atop a craggy grey boulder! Unbelievable, watching a Ptarmigan from inside the comfort of my car!! I've certainly never managed that before, what a swizz. I scanned across the boulder field and found a further four Ptarmigan maybe forty feet distant from the lone bird. At 40x magnification I could see them fluttering from rock to rock, looking around, momentarily disappearing behind boulders. I'm not entirely sure how long it's been since I last found myself watching Ptarmigan. Twenty years ago? Twenty five? I'm honestly not sure, a long while back anyway. It took me a small amount of time (ie it took me forever) but I managed to pinpoint the Ptarmigan in my binoculars and then pinpoint the general area by eye. I reached for my camera and managed to locate the birds in the viewfinder. Behold, I give you Skye's finest views of Ptarmigan!
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| Pretty impressive I know, right? |
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| and with 'a bit' of a crop..... |
I think we can all agree, this is by far and away the finest image of Skye Ptarmigan you'll likely see today. Unless you do a Google Image search, of course.
I briefly called in at Portree en route back to Greshornish. Gulls congregate at the river mouth here in order to bathe, preen and loiter and it's always worth a quick fifteen minute scan just in case something unexpected is sat there waiting to be found. No such luck for me today (though Neil had a Bonaparte's Gull here during March of last year, so hope springs eternal) but I jammed into a lovely subadult 4cy Scandinavian Herring Gull argentatus amongst the nominate argenteus birds.
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| Just check out the white in the outermost primary tip |
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| Shaking the rain off... |
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| Heavily streak-headed, a hefty bill and with a dull grey mantle colour |
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| Again, check out the extent of white in the outermost primary tips |
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| Such a standout individual amongst the argenteus Herring Gulls |
Neil assures me that there are often four or five argentatus birds here of a winter. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. One argentatus at a time is fine by me, I'll just keep on checking for those Ring-billed and Ivory Gulls and take the argentatus as they come.
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