Sat in Loch Roag battening down the hatches ready for the impending storm….
and it,s a bunny birthday..
Giving W f8-9 overnight.
Been windy all day but with a fair bit of sunshine…
Circumnavigated Benera in the floppy today.
It took a quorum to ratify the decision made by the inner snactum of the house before being passed over to the floor for rumination in the post analysis of the democratic process. This ensured parity of status and ensured that everyone spoke without being heard and nobody’s opinion was embraced by the final outcome. Democracy in all it’s marvellous incantations.
Unfortunatly it took a while and the final word was that were were to leave on monday as the shepherd was coming.
As was the weather. Lots of it.
We rumbled and rolled across trhe Little Minch, through the Sound of Harris, past Taransay and Geisker..
…up the west coast and into Loch Roag, responding to a mayday on the way (fortunatly resolved before I got there). The pick hit the bottom after midnight and I spent the next two hours changing diesel filters and draining water from the deisel system. When I filled up the tanks in Uig I should have specified a higher concentrattion of hydro carbons.
At Guillemot cove/boulder slope
Puffin 7
Guilliemot 72
Razor 50
On the Galtas
Puffin 90 (chicks)/ 10 (adults)
Fulmar 1 (chick)/ 5 (adults)
Razorbill 1
Mick A’Court’s Solo Wandering, a lone hunter stalking thru the undergrowth. This man could track and then sit down next to David Attenburgh and the camera crew would not even notice.
11 Juv Wheatears
4 Adult Meadow pipits Males
1 Juv Meadow pipit
With Vicky on Garbh Eilean, different opinions on the best way up. The nearest path preferred by the sheep is very precipitous so we decided to try for a gentler climb up a grassy gully. Start off along the shore and up the gtully. Vicky found it difficult going at one spot and called Billy back to help. As I looked back I fancied Vicky would manage quite well alone, only to see a large sheep fall off the cliff above her plunge down onto the grassy slope and roll sickenly onto the shore. Bad enough, then it was followed by its juvenile lamb, which managed to keep its footing, and ended up trying to nudge its Mum back to life. Vicky totally unaware of all this, twigged the horrified look on Billy’s face and got even more terrified of her predicament.
Anyway all ended well with Vicky over the tricky bit and a groggy sheep lurching back up the slope.
Bonxies by the score up on the top of Garbh Eilean, spent hours trying to get a shot of Vicky being bonxed. Eventually succeeded. Also noted a colony of Common Gulls down by the old village on the shore.
Back late for rendez vous, but sharp eyes on the boat had spotted us well before we arrived and trusty Cap’n Bob snatched us from a rocky shore.
Just another spectacular day on the Shiants.
Hello Kerry. We’re in the Little Minch, don’t you know!
Diary entry detailing expedition undertaken by Mary and Becky searching out the lesser known and unusal cretaures of the Shiant Isles. We set out on our expedition taking the intrepid route along the boulder scree slope between the causeway beach and the Ringers station on Garbh Eilean. On route we were lucky enough to almost immediately come across a beautiful Larger Shiants Hedgehog! About half a metre in size and with a well developed beard. Feisty at first but once in the specific Hedgehog ringers grip it became quite placid, although tried to deter capture by shedding a musty dust! After releasing the Hedgehog back into the wild we moved on to seek out other Shiants creatures. After a short while we spied the tail of the almost extinct Shy Shiants Serpent and proceded to attempt capture. After a serious struggle the beast was finally subdued and once in the Shy Shiants Serpent ringers grip became passive. Our final attempt to track down rare creatures of the Shiants led us to call for the Horn-ed Toad, using a specific calling horn, whittled from the shed horn of the curly horned sheep found only on Garbh Mhuire. After several messages sent out to the Horn-ed Toad, we were disappointed to recieve no answer and assumed the Horn-ed Toad was no longer resident on the island.
And thats what non-ringers get up to on a bird ringing trip with various bits of flotsum and jetsum found on the beach! (For a more authetic version read in a David Attenborough style. Video to be released shortly!)
More than 1,000 seabirds were ringed on the Shiants in the first week of July by members of the Sule Skerry Ringing Group, who were visting the islands as part of a two week visit to try and discover where Leach’s Petrels are breeding in the Western Isles. Spectacular numbers of Razorbills have been caught, with 500 birds being ringed; only a few thousand of these handsome birds are ringed every year in the British Isles. Several of the ringers have scars to prove it! Razorbills and the other auk species are bringing little food to their chicks and it looks to be a poor breeding season. This seems to be the same for the Great Skuas; many of which seem to have failed to breed.
8/7/06 Jim Lennon
When I bought the laptop I saw the picture with beautiful people on the top of a remote mountain surfing the internet as if that was the universal panacea to all the 21 century woes.
Well, the reality that the snake oil charmers don’t tell you is the reality that I am at now: with the boat where it is, the signal is intermittent. No one is at home back in Orkney to do the admin etc, so I have to climb half way up Eilean an Tigne to get a phone signal to do my daily correspondance. Typically, the best spot for a signal is also on the exposed face. I therefore have to wait ’till it stops raining, the wind settles down a bit, all the batteries are charged, no birders want landed anywhere and then climb half way up the hill to huddle over a screen that I can’t see very well in the sunlight and do mt emails.
So when MR Whatsit Arsewipe from Nigeria offers me multiple investment opportunties and some lowlife tries to sell me vicodin etc, I get somewhat perturbed.
I wonder if Dell would change their picture…..
……I would still have bought the laptop.
Anyway, the birders continue their ringing despite fresh SW winds and the odd shower. They are low on Razorbill rings (which is a good sign as they have used 200 out of 500) but may require a trip to Uig to get more.
Have stopped diving for a wee while due to lack of inspiration. The views above water more than compensate for the lack lustre view below.
I am also half way thru Adam Nicolson’s “Sea Room”, the book about the Shaints. On first glance I thought it impenetrable and overly prosaic but reading it for a second time, and reading it on location, I have realised that it is me that is to blame and that it is a brilliant, superbly written book and one that I would highly recomend. Read it in the Shiants if you get the chance.
Ringing’s going really well; the beautiful calm weather has allowed us to put mistnets up most days and we’ve now rung close to 450 Razorbills and 200 Puffins. A few Guillemots and Fulmars in for good luck as well. We’ve been targeting Puffin chicks as well as the adults - Razorbill and Guillemot chicks are still too small to ring as the breeding season seems to be late again this year. This probably doubles the year’s total for adult Razorbills, as this is such an amazingly large colony. We’ve had a few birds that have already been rung - some of the rings have almost lost their numbers they’re so worn, so these birds might be 20 years old or more. The oldest Razorbill in Britain is over 40 and the Fulmar record is towards 50! Also had a reccie of Mary’s Island and found a handful of Great Black-backed Gull and Bonxie chicks to ring. Two nights have been calm enough to allow Storm Petrel catching - a total of 130 new birds and 4 that have been ringed previously elsewhere . Hopefully the wind will stay light so we can can catch plenty more birds before we depart for our next ringing destination.
Jenny Lennon
7 July 2006
Circumnavigated Mary’s Island in the floppy to scan for different groups of breading sea birds and then went ashore to watch them ring at the base of the boulder slope.
Once again landed the troops at the base of the boulder slope and then left Angus in charge whilst I set off to walk the length of the two main islands.
Others snorkelled with the puffins..
The weather was absolutely fantastic, the scenery outstanding. Brilliant day.
Took the troops to the bottom of the boulder slope so they could go and ring some Auks.
Went for a dive around the back of Mary’s Island: not very exciting drop. Kelp starts below a zone of barnacles at about the low water mark and extends all the way to around 22m. Mark park than forest, the kelp is covered ith a dusty layer that adds to an uninspiring drop. Vis was not the best at around 15 or so meters.
Well they buried my boat under a mountain of gear and then we set off on a flat calm sea for the Shiants.
With us was a grouo of undercover stealth birders aiming to trial their new camoflage technique.
Whilst all the while the Shiants were hiding behind Billy…
It took another three hours before the islands emerged round the Munro of gear on deck..
and we got there just in time for a cup of tea.
The day dawned calm, contrary to the expected forecast.
Porridge was consumed to fortify the spirit for the up coming expedition.
Then, land ahoy!!
Curruthers pointed out the route taken by the fatefull french expedition of ‘42.
..while a team of sherpas relayed the expedition equipment ashore.
Malingerers and wounded were landed at Loch Scresort.
The Halton steamed north in growing winds and mountainous seas to arrive in Uig at tea time, ready for tiffin and a bit of cake.