Camas Ban on Loch Portree, Birds of Prey

23rd March 2014

 Looking northwards over Loch Portree to the Old Man of Storr.

 Camas Man beach; sheep looking for a deck chair and a toffee apple.

 Fooled once again; what appeared to be two circling Golden Eagles proved on closer inspection to be Common Buzzards (Buteo buteo), with the typical buzzard colour pattern on the underside of the wings.

 Nature's own Cheerios

 An unusual lichen, though Linda insisted it was polystyrene.

 We thought it was a Merlin at first but subsequent analysis of images revealed a Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) (image by Bruce).

 White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) (image by Bruce). 

 (Image by Bruce)

 Notice the coloured ring on the left leg and the metal ring on the right leg.

 The ring is silver over red, indicating that the bird was ringed in 2008.

February on Skye - Bruce espies otter and American Black Duck

February 2014

 A Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) on the shore of Loch Dunvegan photographed by Bruce.

1st

 Winter returns, coating the south Trotternish Hills with castor sugar.

4th

 A Raven (Corvus corax) and Ben Tianavaig. Skeabost is Raven City.

 What do you do when a gang of bovine ne'er-do-wells blocks your only way home?

 Stroll on with a jaunty, nonchalant air, in the secure knowledge that these beasts will recognize one born in the year of the ox and greet him as one of their own.

 See here Jimme, it's horn-up-the-sporran time fer youz!

Finally I remembered my Vegan Society membership card. A quick flash of that while holding my thumb strategically over the expiry date, "It's okay guys, I'm on your side", and we were all good pals.

7th

The soil and the water in it are heated by solar infrared radiation which increases the vapour pressure of the water, allowing more of the H2O molecules to escape into the atmosphere as a gas. As the air is thinner than the soil and therefore doesn't absorb as much solar radiation, it is cooler. The gaseous H2O molecules therefore lose vibrational energy by collisional transfer to other air molecules and begin to coalesce (hydrogen bond with each other) around tiny particles of dust, forming water droplets (mist). Well, maybe that's what happens.

12th

Some time in February

A very rare American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) spotted by Bruce at Strontian, near Loch Sunart on the west Scottish mainland. This duck has apparently been hanging around in Scotland for about a year. Bruce says he went away for 30 minutes and when he got back some twitchers who had been feeding the ducks with bread had disappeared, along the Anas rubripes. Bruce: "...maybe they kept it in their car boot and drove around releasing to cause sensational reports. It was mentioned in the Press&Journal".

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) at Strontian, imaged by Bruce. Notice the vivid blue bill of the female. I wonder where she got that. Probably some form of hybridization, unless Bruce had been at work with the old paint pot, a well known ploy of wild life photographers.

16th

A flock of Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) at Skeabost. This was part of a flock of around 130 who seem to be spending the winter here. One problem with this blog site is that if a photo is on the dark or light side it is automatically corrected, even though one intends it to be dark or light. So the above image should be brighter and without colour artifacts. Left click on the image to see a larger version.

A local community of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Cumulus congestus cloud massing over the Cuillin. These clouds are usually formed as warm (solar heated) moist air rises, creating a convection current (thermal) which brings up more air. Of course, in this instance, the upward movement of the air was in part due to being forced upward as the wind hit the Cuillin. As the column of rising air pushes higher, the pressure of the air around it becomes lower and thus the air in the column expands outwards and in so doing expends kinetic (vibrational) energy and starts to cool. Condensation occurs when the potential energy of  hydrogen bonding (the positively charged hydrogen atoms in one H2O molecule bonding to the negatively charged oxygen atom in another H2O molecule) exceeds the kinetic energy, and water droplets are formed. As the water molecules become bonded to each other the vibration of the molecules is further restrained and the molecular kinetic energy is converted into heat (heat of condensation). This heat reduces the rate of condensation and causes the droplet-filled air to rise still further and the cloud therefore builds and builds until it reaches a point (inversion) where the temperature of the surrounding air is actually increasing with height, and when the temperature of the rising column is equal to that of the surrounding air it ceases to rise and begins to spread horizontally, sometimes forming an anvil shape. Well, maybe something like that happens.

A few Fieldfare join with the Starlings as they strut their stuff.

Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra or Loxia scotia), depending on whether they are Common or Scottish.

Whooper swans, turnstones, and Coral Beaches

29th January 2014; Skye U3A go to Coral Beaches

 A pair of Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) leaving Loch Suardal. Small numbers of these birds, which breed in  Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States, and Russia, overwinter on the Isle of Skye. It has been found in recent years that more Goldeneye in Sweden and Finland, from where the Skye overwintering birds have come, are deciding to remain in their breeding grounds in these countries during the winter, presumably because of the milder climate.

 Four of seven Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus) on Loch Suardal.

 Whooper swans on Skye are mostly passage migrants on their way from Iceland to their overwintering grounds in Ireland and the UK (including important sites such as Martin Mere in Lancashire and the Ouse Washes).

 However, a few overwinter on Skye, with Loch Suardal being their favourite spot.

 One of a flock of Greylag Geese (Anser anser). Part of the Skye greylag population is resident and part is made up of overwintering birds from Iceland.

 Male Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) on Loch Dunvegan (photo by David). This is a winter visitor which could originate in Iceland.

 Red-Breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator). This could be a Skye resident or a winter immigrant from Iceland. Notice the long, slightly upturned bill which helps to differentiate this bird from the Merganser whose bill has a subtle downward curve at the end.

(Photo by David)

Coral Beaches - the "beach" is not made from coral but from something variously described as a dried, calcareous seaweed or red algae known as Maerl, which is said to comprise three species of coralline algae: Lithothamnion corallioides, Lithothamnion glaciale, and Phymatolithon calcareum. Beyond is the small island of Isay and further still in the distance are the mountains of Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

Heading for the port of Dunvegan.

A Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus); this is resident on Skye - photo by David.

Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) - photo by David. This is a winter visitor on Skye, arriving from Canada and Greenland, but can be seen at other times of the year as a passage migrant.

Ringed Plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) - photo by David. This is a common breeding resident but some can be overwintering European birds or passage migrants from Canada and Greenland.

Ringed Plover and Turnstone - photo by David.

Photo by David.

Photo by David.

Photo by David.

Coral Beaches and Isay.

A Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer), spotted by David. This is a winter visitor on Skye and could be a passage migrant as well, as it also overwinters on the seaboards of Scandinavia and western Europe. It breeds in Canada and southern Greenland.

On our way back a gathering of seals (Steve counted 24) in Loch Dunvegan came to stare at us. In an instant they all disappeared under the water simultaneously, as if with one mind. Photo by David.