Cycling and Birding the Outer Hebrides May 2013

We had planned a cycle trip through the Outer Hebrides for a few years but finally got round to doing it this year and I've only got round to posting a write-up now!  Many sources of info advise on doing so during May-June for the better weather and to cycle south to north with a prevailing southwesterly.  That’s the theory.  We drove up to Oban and unloaded the bikes at the port before parking the van.  There’s plenty of free parking around the town but give yourself 20-30mins extra to sort it out.  Longer if you want to pick up a sandwich or a bag of chips (a 2 min walk into town).  Booking ahead for the ferry is advisable but not essential, even for vehicles; it can be done at the port.  It is a 4½ hour crossing to Castlebay on Barra, add another hour if going to Lochmaddy from Oban.  The crossing is usually quite calm but we ploughed into a W/NW wind and it got a bit bumpy with the ship struggling for 40mins to dock at Castlebay.  The rain set in and after leaving the gear at the hostel and a quick trip to Co-op for supplies the next plan was to check out the local bar.  A piping Common Sandpiper woke me up and a quick pre-breakfast stroll around Castlebay produced calling Great Northern Diver out on the bay and two Pied Flycatchers were in the copse around the football pitch.  Must be a few megas turning up there in the autumn! 

We took a spin down to Vatersay seeing more Great Northern Diver, a big flock of Red-breasted- Merganser, an uplifting amount of Twite and 3 calling Corncrake at the southern end by the cemetery although couldn’t see them.  Cycling back onto Barra we headed round the island clockwise taking a detour to the north end passing the airport (which is the beach).  More Corncrake, Twite and Cuckoo were added to the list although there isn’t really any viewpoint at the north end but still a nice ride under the singing Skylarks.  I stopped at one calling Corncrake and spotted it among the nettles throwing its head back giving its ‘crex crex’.  

 Cycling on Barra runway

 Nunton House Hostel and B&B Benbecula

Corn Bunting at RSPB Balranald

 We stayed at Croft 183; a brand new hostel type accommodation.  It’s really a converted garage but honestly is miles better than your average hostel).  In the morning we dodged the showers to get to the ferry port from Eransay to Eriskay linked to S Uist.  Our accommodation that evening was Nunton House on Benbecula and we had a tough day into NW wind with some rain.  A café stop at the craft centre was very welcome (good lunch food) and after 50km of constant peddling we were glad to reach our final stop (it really felt like we’d done 150!).  Nunton House is a good hostel with large kitchen (with emergency supplies included), dining area, clean rooms, and covered cycle store.  After arriving and unpacking in the room I cycled back to a lough with Red-necked Phalaropes but missed them due to the strong winds and it was getting bitingly cold.  Other people had seen a one earlier.  I headed back to the coast road and watched the waders at Stinky Bay, a great place to see them up close. 

 Redshank and chick at Balranald

 Empty croft at Balranald

 New-build on N Uist

 Waders at Berneray 

 Gatliff Hostel on Berneray

Cycling off Benbecula onto North Uist we passed a bakery which hadn't yet opened but in all honesty it wasn't really worth the wait but we did pick up a couple of supplies for the day ahead.  We headed west up the coast to RSPB Balranald and had a walk out to the coast from there.  Again there were great views of drumming Snipe, Dunlin and Redshank chicks at the side of the road.  On the reserve Corn Bunting rattled from the sand dunes and I managed to approach closer to get a photo. In the coastal pools I spotted a Purple Sandpiper huddled in the rocks and a Whimbrel sat on a rock out on the beach. We had a good look along the coast as there had been a long-staying Harlequin Duck there for the previous few weeks but it disappeared during the week we where there so hopes weren't too high.  Head east along the coast we were glad to come across the co-op, there really needs to be more cafes up here! Passing Solas it was a short cycle down to the beach where a Snowy Owl had been and sure enough there was a birder there watching it on a distant fence post and we watched it fly along the fence-line occasionally dropping down on the ground.  We cycled on to Berneray and were staying that night at the Gatliffe accommodation at the east end of the island.  The accommodation is basic hostel and offers camping.  There doesn't ever appear to be a huge demand so there should be space but there is a first come-first serve approach.

 Great cafe at Northton, S.Harris.

Scarista

Back to the ferry port by the causeway and travelled over to Leverburgh (Harris) through a turquoise sea peppered with outlying rocks.  At Leverburgh you can choose to go either west or east on the A859. Scenery is pretty good whichever direction you choose but we went west with a bit of a climb out of town the road then drops to Northton. For a great café stop take the road left through Northton until the road levels and the café is on the right (stone with curved roof) with a terrific outlook over the saltmarsh with Corncrake calling in the adjacent fields.  Retracing out steps to the A589 we turned left following the road north to Scarista, Borve and Seilebost passing through some classic Harris scenery.  We climbed east across Harris and turned off the main road to follow a winding road round to Dridinshader and Hostel No'5 which was another breath of fresh air.  The climb from the hostel up to Tarbert was pretty grim in strong winds and driving rain the following morning.  A couple of bus shelters were our only solace.  We dropped into the town and found our compulsory coffee and cake stop.  The Tarbert-Uig ferry arrived and we were asked to queue allowing all of the motorised vehicles on before us and our 3 bikes.  This was made 100x worse by the fact there was torrential rain and hail.  No mercy was shown by the Calmac robot and we trudged on with our bikes and made our way up to the bustling lounge full of dry motorists. 

The crossing was pleasant despite a strong tail wind and we circled round Skye arriving into a rather damp Uig.  We climbed up to the hostel to the south of the town and we welcome of the warmth.  There was no shelter for the bikes so we locked them around the side of the building and had passed the point of caring for one day despite only cycling about 11km.  With a bit more planning we could have stretched this out a bit but accommodation was scarce in such short notice.  We had a walk back to the village and meandered back to the hostel for food and sleep.  The following day dawned wonderfully and we had book the YHA in Broadford but with a blistering tailwind, yes we had finally turned to head SE, we rolled into Portree just in time for breakfast! We moved on, the sun was out the wind was blowing what reason was there to hang around at Broadford until the morning so after some negotiation we managed to get most of our deposit refunded as we booked a B&B in Mallaig on the mainland.  We cycled on through the Cuilins to Portree and further to the south of Skye through some stunning scenery leaving Armadale to Mallaig on the second-last ferry.  There was a lot more life in Mallaig and a choice of places to eat. Wow! May Bank Holiday loomed and we had now run out of accommodation.  Could we make it back to Oban in one day? That would be quite a stretch and we wanted to avoid as much of the main Oban-Fort William road (A82-A828) as possible.  After a good breakfast we headed off through some more great scenery of broadleaf woodland with Wood Warbler and Tree Pipits singing along the way.  At Lochailort we decided to catch the first train of the day as we realised we wouldn't make it back to Oban and had no accommodation.  Cheating slightly but this took us on an very scenic loop over Rannoch Moor to Crianlarich with a short stop to get the next train to Oban for about 4pm at which we drove home to Wales. A bit of a long day!  

 Sky on Skye

Do people still ring birdline?

I mean really?  Answers on a post card No, on my answering machine please. Fair play to it hanging on in the face of a ocean liner magnitude of technology bearing down on it.  It used to be a treat to ring it on a Sunday and get a clip round the ear (still part of the treat) when the phone bill came through the post, delivered by a public postal service.  We would then venture out into the wide world on the gen obtained through the informative automated message and the use of a road atlas.

Then someone invented mobiles, gps and the internet.  Nay when I weralad it werard graft and fifty-pence a minute. 

Magic Pelagic- Far out dude

Arriving in Arrecife airport, Lanzarote, we were greeted by Jose Pedro Portillo there for the same reason as us, to head out that night on the first of three 48hr pelagics from the small village of Orzola at the north of the island.  Martin, Marc, Jose and myself jumped into the hire car and headed west soon connecting with Houbara Bustard, Great/Southern Grey Shrike, Laughing Dove and then the biggest ‘jam’ were 6 Cream-c-Courser, 5 of which within 10m of the car on the edge of Playa Blanca.  I had visited the area a few times 3 years ago whilst on holiday and didn't connect until the final day and we rock-up and see 6 within 10 mins.  Job done; off to Orzola to meet the others.  Lunch followed a tapas starter of ‘lapas’ and ‘papas’ (grilled limpets and salted new potatoes). Afterwards we took the opportunity to head out on a zodiac to try for the Red-billed Tropicbirds which had bred on the cliffs nearby but unfortunately the last sighting was just three days prior to our arrival and we soon concluded that the chick must have fledged and the birds gone out into the Atlantic.  A 2 metre Hammerhead Shark was a welcome ‘padder’.  Jose also had an added reason to be there as he was doing a ‘Big Year’ for Spain and was in the lead so any oceanic birds in Spanish waters were a bonus and we were all willing something mega, other than the swell.  The logistics for the trip were organised by Dani and Juan at Lanzarote Pelagics.

CCC

                                      
Flying fish-snuffed it after headbutting the boat!
Hammerhead Shark

 WFSP 

Madeiran

 Bulwer's

                                                                           WFSP

 WFSP

 Loggerhead Turtle eating the chum!

After dinner on the harbour in Graciosa we set off to the NW through the night into the Atlantic with two teams on two boats.  Five minutes below deck was enough for me to decide that I might be better above deck.  Trying to ignore the motion I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and hoped for the best.  Luigi the skipper was on duty most of the night.  There was a crash 

gainst the awning next to where I was pretending to sleep and I didn’t have the energy to see what it was.  Luigi came over with his head torch and said “see, flying fish”.  I craned my neck over to see lying it lying on the outer deck.

Morning couldn’t come soon enough and with coffee and cakes for breakfast we were ready to ‘drop the chum’.  The swell was fairly big by my standards but was pretty calm to the regulars.  Cory’s and Bulwer’s passed the boat and several Maderian Storm-Petrel.  Martin was onto something way ahead of the boat……Dani was straight onto it…“PTERODROMA”!! They got everyone on it, and contacted the other boat.  We initially leant towards it being a Zino’s but remarkably Tony Blunden, on the other boat, 50m or so behind us rattled off a few shots which revealed it to be more Fea’s/Dessertas-type. Wow!

                                        

Fea's/Dessertas type Pterodroma by Tony Blunden

                                        

Pics by Tony Blunden

Next up were a couple of White-faced Petrels came into the chum; what magnificent birds and flight action.  More Madierian followed allowing comparison of moults; the method used to determine F.grants from F.madieria of which there were both.  Sailing in a triangle we covered more ground around El Banco de la Concepcion, an underwater ridge against which nutrients swell-up and the oceanic species gather.  For the second night we just drifted NW into the Atlantic with the sails open.  Moving with the swell, rather than through it as per the previous night, was even more like being in a washing machine and I didn’t venture below deck again resolving for a night on deck again.  Cory’s passed through the faint glow of the boat lights at night and some bioluminescent was visible around the boat.  What with this, the flying fish the night before, it was looking like ‘The Life of Pi’; and I wondered if there was a tiger on board.  Maybe that’s why I didn’t go down there.

                                        

Maderian Petrel

Dawn revealed itself once more and I, despite never being sick, was riding the crest that this evening my feet will be on land but before that there was a whole day soaking up more seabirds.  It was a slower start but we picked up better views of Maderian SP and a Wilson’s SP came into the slick.  A Great Shearwater flew into view followed by an adult Sabine’s Gull, remarkably only the 2^nd for the Canaries and another find for Mr G!  We clocked a distant fishing boat (an obvious draw for pelagic birds) so we sailed over in unison.  The boat was fishing in an area of water we gathered it shouldn’t have been and with frightening efficiency pole fishing for Tuna.  There were many terns around the boat with flocks siting on the open sea, a behaviour which I hadn’t seen before.  Another Great Shearwater was sat on the sea but was still difficult to photograph!  A couple of Long-tailed Skuas also kept us entertained visiting each boat for whitebait.  That was pretty much it before heading back to land, apart from the 8 hours or so left to sail so there was still hope.  Cory’s gave amazing views and plenty more Bulwer’s zipped past.  We also saw a few more Loggerhead Turtles  

                                   

Ad Sabs

                                   

                                   

Comics on the sea!

The other boat had gained a good 30 minutes on us but still in sight.  We kept watching, in between the odd siesta in the blazing sunshine.  Now it was Marc’s turn; I heard “Get on this small shearwater”…(admittedly I may have been mid-siesta).  I was on my feet, bins-to-eyes to see a wing disappear into a trough and then emerge in all its Little Shearwater glory.  A nanosecond passed before Dani outburst with “BAROLO..BAROLO…get pictures!”.  It all happened extremely quickly, from a moving boat, getting onto a flying bird but all the features were pretty obvious even the little beady eye in a white face.  It seem to come in to check the boat, looked at it, then turned on its heels and motored away at almost right-angles in its very individual fluttery flight action on bowed wings.  The icing on the cake was that Jonnanes actually got some pictures.  What a finale.  Unfortunately the boat ahead missed out but they did see two Spm Whales at close range.  Looking out for those in its path we did see a Curvier’s Beaked Whale breaching a couple of times.  An Eleanora’s Falcon 10 miles out at sea chasing a Grey Phalarope was also new behavioural action for me; extreme survival.

                                    

We arrived back in Graciosa, then got the zodiac back to Orzola, then drove to the south of the island to find our apartment for the night exhausted but buzzing.  The next day allowed for connecting with other land birds still needed.  Marc was characteristically out before anyone else and had found a colour-marked Sanderling on the beach so we headed down to get a picture.  See its story here: http://webirdnorthwales.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lanzarote-sanderling-amazing-migration.html

We then tried the rocky coastal area around the NE of the island where a Spotted Sandpiper had been seen during the few days before.  We didn’t find it but it was great exploring the volcanic coast in search of waders, in hot sunshine.  A bit different to home. We went out to a goat farm to see Trumpeter Finch, Hoopoe and showy Berthelot’s Pipits, which were wide-spread.  Heading into the hills we saw the African race of Blue Tit, Stone Curlew and Monarch butterfly.  Following that it was down to the coast at Orzola for a seawatch.  We ended up back at the apartment at about 9:30 and Jose said “we meet in 15 minutes to go out for dinner”!  Us Brits used to going to bed around then; we politely and defiantly accepted as you do and had a great meal in great company.  A couple of hours the next morning saw us at Teguise golf course spending an enjoyable morning looking for migrants picking up a flava Yelllow Wagtail, Melodious Warbler and a couple of Pied Flycatcher before our flight home

A huge thanks to Martin, Dani, Jose and Juan for making it such a great experience.  Hope to meet up again next year! 

Waxwings stripping hedge and ringed

 Spotted these the other weekend stripping a cotoneaster hedge. Two days later they had moved onto the other hedge in the background.

 In the weighing pot. Cynfon sidan in Welsh for their old name Silk Tail.
In the hand:

Rook architecture

Rooks are very busy at this time of year with lots of squabbling and thieving sticks from one another's nests. As the leaves emerge the birds will be feeding young but with another week of snow and freezing temperatures that feels like a while off yet.  

Great Grey Shrike stencil

GGS Stencil; spray/card.

Simple Surf Scoter

Surf Scoter still in prog: Marker.
RS

Waxwing Stencil

Waxwing stencil: spray/card 2011
RS