Spent a great day at RSPB Otmoor with management experts from RSPB on some grazing marsh and acid grassland looking at specialist management for recovery of this declining habitat. I’m working on restoring 3 coastal floodplain grazing marsh sites across Southern England so this was a fab day!
The Outer Hebrides is one of the best places to see otters. Or so they say… We spent most evenings staking out likely spots on the loch near our accommodation on Grimsay. Eventually after 5 nights we got distant views in the gloom. Then on our last night one appeared right in front of our room!
All three British breeding diver species can be found around the coasts and inland lochs and we were treated to close views of great northern, black and red-throated divers. The red-throated are tricksy to get photos of though spending very little time in one place on the surface.
We regularly saw red deer on Grimsay and North Uist. Common and grey seals are abundant around the coasts and whilst we got unlucky with cetaceans in general, we were treated to spectacular views of bottlenose dolphins.
Other than the uplands of Northern England and Scotland I have never seen so many breeding waders as in the Outer Hebrides. You walk around to the constant noise of lapwing, redshank, oyks, snipe and common sandpiper. Nests are obvious and you have to be extremely careful walking around anywhere.
Raptors are abundant on the Outer Hebrides islands. Short-eared owl and hen harrier are seen everywhere as you drive and walk around and seeing 5-10 of each a day was not unusual! White-tailed eagle are more obvious than the golden eagles, but the latter are easily seen with some vigilance!
Puffins of Mingulay. We spent 3 hours sitting amongst the colony watching their antics. Real characters and despite it being early in the breeding season a number of adults were returning with sand eels for chicks.
The seabirds of Mingulay. This uninhabited island is occupied by a seasonal ranger and small numbers of visitors are able to visit in the summer season. The puffins are the star attraction for most but the island is also home to breeding guillemot, razorbill, great skua and a variety of gulls.
Finally sorted through some photos from our recent trip to the Outer Hebrides visiting 12 of the islands. It feels like a step back in time there, especially with the diversity and abundance of wildlife across the islands. Some of my favourites below and more to follow separately
Fantastic week of birding when I could on Normandy holiday. Was amazing to see the numbers of migrants at beaches and just in fields, yellow wag and wheatear everywhere, hirundines constantly present heading west towards Cherbourg. Savi’s warbler and 13 black-winged stilts best finds.
