Today I struck for Colonsay / Oronsay. It's been a mega-long day that's been made even longer by involving some pretty heavy-duty bike riding. Suffice to say I'm now pretty pooped
Things to remember:
- Mint camp last night and the first thing I saw this morning was a red-throated diver and, just beyond it - about 100m out to sea - another diving otter.
- A drama unfolded here. The otter made a catch, brought its prey to the shore, and began to eat it. It was shortly joined by a great black-backed gull, a herring gull and a couple of hooded crows. All the birds stood a respectful distance from the otter waiting for leftovers; and also started eyeing each other up. The drama: a very nervous pair of ringed plover started calling and fitting around incessantly. I then saw why... crouched motionless, only a few metres from the otter, gulls and crows were a couple of the ringed plovers' tiny chicks. It was an anxious 10 minutes until the otter, having made the best of its prey, returned to sea. In doing so, it opened up a leftovers free-for-all but during that anxious time, none of the relentless opportunistic predators spotted the motionless chicks and all was thankfully diffused.
- Sussed out an overnighting spot for tonight's inevitable post-midnight finish on the drive to Kennacraig. Phew.
- Hell of a job trying to park at Kennacraig. I had to get very creative (pic).
- Very cold on the crossing all the way over to Colonsay but I brassed it out in search of wildlife. Plenty of birds, including shearwaters and kittiwakes, but no basking sharks!
- Jura looked pretty moody and it was good to reminisce as we passed the Feolin ferry that we'd used to get over there last Christmas. Spotted a lone hen harrier quartering the brooding moorlands.
- Colonsay. I'd worked out - having checked tide times - that if I time-trialled from the second we landed on Colonsay that I could just about make it over the ordinarily tide-consumed mudflats that occasionally allow vehicular access to the island of Oronsay. On arrival at the 'crossing' the prospect looked pretty daunting but some people were out on the flats walking: so I went for it. I was genuinely nervous about the whole thing but thankfully made it. Had I been stranded, I quite literally couldn't have (easily) got back to Kennacraig until this time next week.
- I even pushed my luck by going as far as it's possible to go by bike on Oronsay: indeed I made it to the ruins of Oronsay Priory. It was humbling to find Commonwealth war graves there.
- Colonsay itself is pretty enough with many diverse habitats. Best wildlife encounters were hearing a corncrake and seeing a 'left-over' pink-footed goose amongst greylags.
- I covered just about all of the lumpy-and-bumpy island and even took in a few cultural features.
- Not due to land in Kennacraig until around 11.00pm.
- Bears repeating: a big but immensely rewarding day!
Post composed at 20:45 on Wednesday 25th June from N 55.83657°, W 06.09756° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:55.83657%2C-06.09756