A relaxing day at Loch Greshornish…

We must apologise in advance to loyal readers of this blog.  We decided to have a day off of touring around today so there won’t be as many photographs as usual.  😦

We have had a request from Sean for a list of the birds we have seen since starting our adventures in the Western Isles, including Skye so here goes with that.

As I think I have mentioned already in these posts, Skye has been disappointing for us in terms of birdlife.  We were really spoilt by the large numbers of different birds in Barra, the Uists, Harris and Lewis.  North Uist is top of the leader board as you can see.  It could be that a few weeks later would make all the difference as so many of the birds we have found have probably been passing through.  There is a pair of resident gulls on the loch in front of us but, apart from the odd Eider Duck and Black Guillemot, it’s been a vast expanse of empty water for the majority of our stay.

However, thanks to our near neighbour with the bird feeders on their whirligig washing line (!) we do have a few bird photos for you.

Rear view of a Goldfinch – they’re handsome from any angle!

Bird on a wire – Goldfinch this time from the front!

Greenfinch looking very coy

Meadow Pipits always seem to be in a tearing hurry and this one is no exception!

Pied Wagtail and his friend the Chaffinch

Oddly, the House Sparrow is a bird that we rarely see at home so he makes it here

One bird that did land in the loch with a splash was this Gannet

Although Oyster Catchers were common in the other islands, this one was a solitary visitor to the shore here (well camouflaged!)

I did a spot of painting (featured image) and Peter made a start on his stage plan for our forthcoming production of Flare Path at the Oast Theatre in Tonbridge so we did make use of our lazy day.  In the evening we had a barbecue but were mobbed by hundreds of midgies so didn’t stay outside too long.

Peter has a theory that they were attracted by the heat as they stuck to the lid and were still there in the morning (you have to look closely).  Apparently they are the main food of the Reed Warbler so they do have a purpose in life – can’t think of any other reason for their existence.  The joke was that we had brought with us a supply of Avon Skin So Soft which, unlikely as it seems, is the most effective midge deterrent you can buy and is used by the Army apparently. Having plastered ourselves with it, we realised later that I had got out the wrong Avon bottle – it was also called Skin So Soft but it was a bronzing spray!  I was lucky but Peter ended up with several bites so didn’t see the funny side.  He turned a nice shade of brown though…

The tri-maran that broke loose from its moorings on the loch yesterday and ended up beached on the mud on the other side, today returned and the reflection of its mast in the water looked lovely in the twilight.