NW Scotland Balnakeil Bay - Oyster Catchers

Photos of Oyster Catchers on the beach at Balnakeil Bay near Durness this June...

 

 ....that took to the air.

NW Scotland Balnakiel Bay Durness - Dog & Walker on the Beach

Dog jumping on the sea edge after a ball this June.

 

Scotland Faraid Point Durness - Puffins June 2016

My post of 5th March 2016 posted photos I had taken of Puffins in 2015 & 1974 at Faraid Point, Durness in the far NW corner of Scotland. This post prompted the comment that in May there were no Puffins at Faraid Point, apparently all cleared by stoats. 

 

So with concern that I would see any Puffins, I returned this June, going back to the same spot as in 2015, and to my relief there were Puffins, and took these photos.  Aided by being closer (I braved a ridge to a closer observation point - last year the ground was wet & slippery) and by having a mono-pod, I was able to get clearer shots.

 

The numbers of puffins on this little outcrop seemed higher than last year, with potentially 50+ birds.  

What I did not make clear in my earlier post was that the 2015 photos were not taken actually on the Point, but more at the Eastern entrance to the North cliffs of the Point.  Perhaps this would explain why the person who commented did not find any Puffins, as he would have been looking at the grassy slopes nearer the actual Point where my photos in 1974 were taken,



Durness - Dancing Sandwich Terns

A photo sequence of Sandwich Terns in a pairing display including a Sand Eel offering and a charming dance around each other at Balnakeil Bay, near Durness in the far North West of Scotland in June this year.  They were some distance away on the beach and taken with a 600mm lens and are heavily cropped so the quality is not too great.

 

The pair fly in with a Sand Eel....

 

....and land, presumably the male with the tasty offering....

 

...., and start dancing,....

 

....with the Sand Eel quickly consumed (the pass was sadly missed).

 

The terns rotate around each other....

 

 ....waving their heads.

They move closer to the sea...



 

....The male makes his move....

and attempts to mate.



 

All in 3 minutes.

Scotland - Faraid Point, Durness - Puffin Numbers 1974 and 2015

2015

I have been visiting Faraid Point many times from the early 1970's. Last year I took photos in June of Puffins on the only part of the coast here that I can find these wonderful birds nowadays. The density of birds was such that I never saw more than a few birds together, with probably about a dozen birds visiting burrows in my short stay....

 

 

....Offshore there was a raft of 10 birds in the sea waiting to fly in, trying to avoid marauding Greater Black Backed Gulls and Great Skuas.

 

My viewpoint.  The puffins are right on the green headland in the foreground, whilst some braver souls are a lot closer, having walked the knife edge ridge to gain their positon. 

 

1974

Just over 40 years earlier, I photographed these Puffins with a small 125mm telephoto on the grassy slopes that can be seen in the background of the photo above.  They were all over these slopes. What a loss in that time to the wildlife in an area that has not changed that much in the intervening years.

 

I wonder if it is too late for them to survive with global warming and over fishing affecting the supply of sand eels.  I hope not.

 

Post Script: September 2016 - Closer Puffin photos were obtained in June 2016, and posted here on 19th September 2016.

NW Scotland - Balnakeil Bay Near Durness

Photographs taken in September.

 

A wonderful afternoon at Balnakeil Bay near Durness near the NW tip of Scotland.  We had an amazing sky on this calm day.

 

I just love this place with its quiet beach.

Cows graze the sand dunes, the herd leaving individual hoof prints on the beach.  Pity I could not frame this photograph properly



Scotland - Balnakeil Bay

Photographs taken at Balnakeil Bay near Durness.  I understand that John Lennon's aunt is buried at the  graveyard by this beautiful sandy bay. 

A fortified house overlooking the beach and graveyard.  No window is at ground floor level.  I am not too sure about the rooflights.

A ringed Plover on the sandy beach

Looking across the bay to the Cape Wrath peninsular

A cow and wall

Scotland - Sea, Sun, Sand and Birds plus a Mountain

A beautiful day with Sun and Showers in the far North of Scotland.

Whiten Head on the North Coast from near Faraid Head near Durness looking East

Grass, Shadows and Sand Dunes

Some of the small flock of Whimbrel feeding on Faraid Head

A darkening sky with Foinaven in the distance