The day dawned clear and so I was up at dawn for a walk along the beach, this tike away from the village towards the far point of the sandy bay. The tide was a long way out this morning and the whole bay was filled with birds. Black Backed Gulls and Herring Gulls made the majority and their calls filled the air, along with the shouts of the many Oyster Catchers feeding and flying all over the beach.
Mixed in with these, there were Curlews, Redshanks, Shellduck, Shags and Greylag Geese. There was even a pair of Great Northern Divers making a fly past. Inland and on the margins, the Stonechats, Reed Buntings, Dunnocks and House Sparrows were plentiful along with dozens of Brown Rabbits which seem to be everywhere. A lone Hare was running around the fields above the beach and there was even a distant Deer ( Roe I think) jumping a fence out of the field.
After a quick breakfast, we headed out again, this time around the Southern point of the island to a lighthouse called Glencallum which sits on the rocks at the end of the Isle. The whole coast here is made up of small rock bays and to my untrained eye looked perfect for Otters. Sadly I didn’t see any today, although I did chat to a man who said he had seen on there this morning ten minutes before I got there, good to see my timing is up to its usual standards ! The path was however alive with Wheatears and Stonechats , all chasing in the sun and in very good voice, while out over the sea the Gannets were circling high and diving for fish in to the water. All in all a very nice mornings walk !
Later on in the evening we just had time for a very short trip to Skalpsie Bay and a sneak preview of the Seals ! we will return here but it was great to see them balanced on the rocks !
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