120705 Skottland-Scotland , day 12 Thursday Mull of Oa

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Tuesday Travels    Our World Tuesday

 

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120705 Thursday, day 12  Mull of OA and Ferry

 

Woke up at 5 but managed to slumber again. Then woke up at the clock 7.25. Started packing for todays move. Breakfast at 8 as usual. Paid my bill and get myself ready and packed. It is a fine morning and looks promising for the first trip down to The Mull of Oa.

 

The trip to Oa was really a hit. It was a rather pleasant walk in a gorgeous country. The only backdraw was that it was wet so my shoes got wet too. The ground was a thick layer of moss and contained a lot of water. Soft, wet and slippery.  It was best to keep to the path.

A lot of long horns was kept in the fenced area. Curious about us. It was steep so one had to be careful. There was some fences right at the edge. I wonder how they built it. Can´t be of much use if a cow comes too close. 

 

 

Birds was far out as usual, or down, in this case. But this was a great place for a photographer. Near the edge to the ocean was a gorgeous view in all directions. We all took our time just enjoing ourselves.

 We saw a Peregrine Falcon (pilgrimsfalk) today and a lot of Fulmars (stormfågel), cows and seals. And a goat. There were also some Gannets passing by. The Fulners was really goodlooking as they swept by the black rocks and sparkling water. Or clinging on nest at the side of the cliffs.

 

 

At the highest point was a memorial again. A tower, American Monument. Great view over the ocean there too. Then it was time to return to the car. All to soon I think most of us thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch at 13.30 in a nearby village. I had Panini with ham and Brie cheese. It was a bit burned so the bread had a bad taste. Otherwise good. Done eating at 15.20. It was a nice restaurant and they had a very pleasing restroom.

 

 

 

Then we spent some time looking at a memorial statue in Port Ellen close to the ferry. We had some more time before we should embark the ferry so we went to the other side of the bay for a walk towards the lighthouse.

 

 



cave at Port Ellen
 



 

 

The others went ahead as I had seen something I´d like to take some shots of. It was quite nice to just stroll a bit. Shooting a wader, some oystercatcher and flowers and whatever I found. I saw a cave but did not have the time to investigate it.

 

 

 

Ferry departure was at 17.55 in Port Ellen. A bit early. Guess it goes when all cars are loaded. The trip was amazing. Soo many birds. So much fun. Can´t wait to see the shots. We arrived at Kennacraig at 20.20h and then headed to Inveraray and George Hotel which took about an hour.

 

Two Gannets passing by.

 

We arrived to Inveraray at 21.30 and I got a room far away from everything. I´m the maiden in the tower waiting for her prince. I just lack the long hair. They gave me a room in an other building. Had to cross a stony garden with the suitcase. Luckily they carried it as they had to show me the way. I´m on the 3:d floor. A windling staircase with an old thick carpet. Scary to walk on. I was happy I did not carry the suitcase. My bathroom is in the hallway. At least I don´t have to share it. I took a quick shower and uploaded todays shots to the computer. 

No working internet in the room so now I am sitting in a noisy pub with my hair wet and I will shot this down as soon as I´m done. I was accompanied by Sture and Ola for a while and I showed Sture what I was doing as he asked me once before. Now Ola asked me if I wanted to send him some shots for the short rapport. Sure, can do that.

I went back to the room and made me a cup of coffe. I had to sit in the bed drinking it a there was no chair and no table. :(  Made some additional notes and set the computer to charge. And went to bed.

 

Breakfast tomorrow will be at 7.30.

120705-06 The George Hotel, Inveraray http://www.thegeorgehotel.co.uk/

 

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Svensk dagbok
Mull of Oa
Port Charlotte
Kilchoman
Evening Ferry 18.00 from Port Ellen to Kennacraig, 20.20

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120704 Skottland-Scotland , day 11 Wednesday Jura

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120704 Wednesday, day 11, Jura

 

 



Raining in Port Askaig Harbour

Woke up at 7.30. Then breakfast at 8. We had our dark coffee and dark toast. :) It was a rainy morning so it did not look good. We left for the ferry to Jura at 9. Raining all the way to Port Askaig Harbour. The ferry left at 9.02 and was on Jura at 9.08. It took only 6 min to go across The Sound of Islay to Jura. :) No need for drinking coffee on the ferry. Or try to be birding.

We went north and stoped at one place and did a little birding and "sealing" before going to the Destillery. We spotted a herrier and a short-eared owl.

 

 We were taking the tour around the distillery and had a very unexperienced guide. A young woman that was not at all used to talk to a group. Or handle a group. She started the lecture long before everybody had come into the room where we were. So I had to ask her to slow down and wait.

Well, this tour was slightly different from the others. We was allowed to smell the head, heart and tail liquids and in the end of the tour we were allowed to smell in some barrels. The sherry barrel had a very appealing scent.  :)  Isle of Jura Destillary After the Destillary we went to check out a small art shop they had downhill. And checking out the small harbour and view over the ocean.

 

After that we went birding for an hour before coming back to Juras only hotel for lunch. Today I was a bit annoyed. For the first time I wanted to have a cup of coffee and a whisky cheesecake as dessert. And for the first time the others decided desert was not needed. So I could not have it. :(

 We was supposed to do some birding  on the north part of Islay, but we stayed on Jura as the weather started to be really good. And it payed off. We spotted some female hen harrier feeding a young. And some Short-eared Owls (jordugglor). And a nice view of a Common Stonechat (svarthakad buskskvätta). The view over The Paps of Jura  was quite amazing. I really like those mountains.

 

Above, Craighouse I think. 

This Ringed Plower (större strandpipare) stood on one leg as long as I saw it. Maybe it only had one.  We also got good sightings on Stonechat (svarthakad buskskvätta) and short-eared owl (jorduggla).

 

And now we were running out of time. Of course interesting stuff  happens in the last moments so you don´t really can enjoy them. We had to hurry a bit not to miss the ferry back to the mainland or we had to stay on Jura for the night. That was not really an option.

We arrived 10 min before the ferry should depart, but they were almost in the landing and no traffic. I guess they kept track of the visitors on Jura. We were the only car returning to the mainland adn as soon as we were onboard they left to take us over. Then we had a 30 min drive back to Bowmore and the hotel.

At 19.00h we were at the nearby hotel for dinner. Same as yesterday. I ordered some chicken breast with Cheddar cheesecovering.  It was very good. Then we went to the lounge to deal with the birdlist. A short but nice list today.

I took a shower and wrote this of course. Did check out the blogs too.

120701-04 Harbour Inn, Bowmore Islay http://www.harbour-inn.com/

Tomorrow we meet at breakfast and are supposed to be packed to leave at 9.30.

 

 The view over The Paps of Jura was quite amazing.

Map of Jura


Himmelsk 102   Sky Watch Friday

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120703 Skottland-Scotland , day 10 Tuesday, Islay

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Our World Tuesday

 

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120703 Tuesday, day 10 Islay

Bridgend

Woke up 6.15. Morning walk in a forest in Bridgend not far away.  Not much birds but we did see a treecreeper and a few others. And a cool tree to. We managed to see a treecreeper wich was a new species for the trip.  It was a quiet and relaxing morning walk.  :)

Breakfast at 8 and this time it worked a little better. We did order egg and other warm food even before the cereals and such on the buffe. The staff seemed a bit confused but it worked. Departure at 9 to a destillery. It is a rainy morning again.

Lagavulin

We went to Lagavulin for the first tour through a destillarey today. This destillary is more modern then what we seen before. And for some reason we were not allowed to take shots. Could not understand the reason for it. After the factory tour we went to a storage building. There we were met by Ian. He told us a lot about the destillary and its whisky. We were given 6 samples to try. One at a time of course. The first one was the youngest and was clear in color. Really strong, around 70% I think. Those who did not expect any surprises suddenly had to spit out. Because that smple was really strong. :) Then it got lower in strenght, more colorful and more tasty as we moved on to older malts.

Then we moved to the next destillary, Ardbeg,  At the last one, Laphroaig, we had our lunch. Now the weather had become a bit better.  I bought myself a bottle at the second destillary. The barrel on the image was the coolest thing we saw this day.

Done with the whisky we left and drove along birding along Loch Indaal. Stoped at an inlet looking for seals and birds. And talked to a biking swedish couple. Here we also spotted some seals again and three otters. They are quite fun to watch.

 We had planned to go to Oa, the south point, but the weather was still misty so we headed north again. We also visited an old church ruin that we were passing by.

Arrived at the hotel Harbour Inn in Bowmore at 15.45. Surprisingly early. I took a stroll around the city center to chck for some whisky syrup but did not fine any. Then I went back to the hotel, I took a cup of coffee and went to sleep for an h. Then worked a bit on the internet before going to dinner at 18.55 at a nearby hotel. This meal took only 2h. Much better. This restaurant was better still. It has an interesting view. As our dinner progressed we could see the tide going out and revealing the stone circle.

Then the birdlist at the other hotel lounge where Ola stays. Back to my room at 22.15. Fixed a blogpost for WBW and wrote this. It is past midnight and I am going to bed. There were a program about Simon (Garfunkel) about an album called Graceland. Quite interesting.

Tomorrow is sleeping morning. Breakfast at 8 before going to Jura at 9
120701-04 Harbour Inn, Bowmore Islay http://www.harbour-inn.com/

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Birding at Bridgend forest, then whisky day.
Lagavulin
Ardbeg
Laphroaig
sightseeing in Port Ellen
Bowmore destilleri mm
birding in Loch Indaal

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120702 Skottland-Scotland , day 9 Monday, Islay

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Our World Tuesday   Outdoor Wednesday  Friday Fences

 

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120702 Monday, day 9

Woke up 7.00 but stayed in bed until 7.25. It is another rainy day. Am tired after that long day yesterday. Breakfast at 8 and departure at 9. We will be birding the north part today with Malcolm as guide.
Breakfast took all morning as they absolutely have to serve at the table. And I guess only have one cook. We have started to order extra strong coffee and only dark toast as all of us like it.

We got lunch packs and left short after 9. We headed to the Nature Reserve, Loch Gruinart at the north west point of Islay to meet with Malcolm. We walked a while through a nice forest and arrived at a balcony at first with a view over the wetland. We stayed there for a while, then headed down to two different hides. It was a beautiful place but not much birds. A few ducks and herons and cows. :) Finches was hard to see as they spent their time in the bushes. Only a Linnet (hämpling) family was seen in the open. A Corncrake was heard.

View Loch Gruinart

After being there for a while we walked back and then paid a visit to the station and RSBP visitor centre. And they had some important facilities too. :)

Then we left for Ardnave Point and had our lunch picknick on the slope at the parking area. This is the place where we could find the Red-billed Chough (Alpkråka) and we did.  I think we counted 12 of them. It is also a place for a lot of sheep with colormarkingson them. I think the markings was for different owners, otherwise it seemed to have no purpose.

We were walking on the path to look for the Red-billed Choughs, sheep and some cows among other things. It was a nice area built up by sand dunes as far up north as you could come.  It was sunny and warm now. After a couple of  hours walk we needed some refreshment and had some

 afternoon coffee at the destillary Kilchoman and then we said goodby to malcolm at 17.00 ca. On our way there we passed Loch Gorm and made a stop to get some shots of a Common Stonechat(Svarthakad Buskskvätta)
 sitting nicely on a pole.

Red-billed Choughs

We headed south after the coffeebrake and drove to the Portnahaven and found us three Twites (vinterhämpling)sailing the sky. So fast I had really problems to catch them. vinterhämpling. Cool birds that was even quicker then barn swallows. I managed to get one flying shot of  2 of them. Under exposed, but still it is possible to see it is them.

Portnahaven

We were back at the hotel  a little late. Dinner was supposed to be at 19.00h. We arrived at the hotel at 18.50 so we were a bit late to the lounge. 19,12. This was a terrible restaurant. We ordered staters at 19.20. Then main dinner and dessert. This took 3h an 5min. It was more then 10 a´clock pm before we finished dinner. I was hungry again! I really had other things to do then spend an entire evening at a table. I think it is rude to let your guests wait so long for everything. :(

Well, then we had the meeting to go through the todays birds, and yesterdays too, as it was a late eveing yesterday as well. Then finally I could go back to my room. Shower? Sorry. too late for that. Fixing shots and wrote a little then off to bed.

Morning birding tomorrow at 6.45

Birding on Islay. Guide Malcolm Ogilvie.
Loch Gruinart, ducks and vaders
Ardnave Point
Loch Indaal
Loch Gorm
Machir Bay
Portnahaven if times permit it.

120701-04 Harbour Inn, Bowmore Islay http://www.harbour-inn.com/

 

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120701 Skottland-Skottland , day 8 Söndag, Färjan svenska

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120701 Söndag, dag 8, halvägs genom resan

Morgonskådningen, kl 6.30,  lades till Machrihanish Seabird Observatory igen. Det regnade en hel del i början med det lade sig så småningom. Jag har börjat klura ut hur sulorna ska fotas så nu börjar det bli riktigt roligt. De flyger in på ett visst sätt när de ska dyka. Andra gånger går de ner till vattnet och det ser ut som om de använder vingen till att rotera sin färdriktning. Dom vobblar då. Intressant! Jag har också sett flera olika dräkter. Det är vackert med alla klippor, vågornas brytning och fåglarna.

Vi hann med att äta frukost innan vi skulle åka med färjan kl 10.30.

Port Askaig

På väg över till Islay, vilket tog ung 1.5h, kunde vi skåda en hel del fågel.  Mindre Liror, fick jag lära mig, fanns överallt. De for som skottspolar farmför färjan. Solen kom fram och lirorna glimmade i flykten. Sedan slog de sig ner vid sidan av färjan för att strax därefter ta till vingarna igen. Häftigt så det förslog för en som är ovan vid detta. Men som allt annat tog detta roliga slut. Vi kom iland och även till vårt nya hotell på andra sidan ön.

 

Mitt badrum. :)

Efter att ha fått våra rum åkte vi iväg igen för att träffa Malcolm från Islay Wildlife centre. Vår guide på ön. Vi åt middag på en lokal restaurang och sedan höll Malcolm ett föredrag för oss om fågellivet på Islay.  Det blev rätt sent men ändå stannade vi till för att se om vi kunde hitta någon tornuggla nere vid viken på väg tillbaka till hotellet. Men därav blev intet.

Däremot blev vägen till kudden väldigt kort den kvällen. J

 

120701-04 Harbour Inn, Bowmore Islay http://www.harbour-inn.com/
 

 

MAP OF Islay      English diary

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