Photographing my travels: July 2016

Went to Dal Beg for the sunset. It was not as spectacular as I have seen but lovely sunsets have been few and far between this year. Then to Callanish to take the stones with the full moon. Apparently there had been an upset earlier at Callanish with someone shouting and swearing at all the photographers trying to take the sunset. Callanish is not the best place for sunset as you have all the houses in the background.

Dal Beg

Callanish stones with full moon

Still warm on Wednesday but not much sun as the drizzle has returned. Stopped off at Ghinda on the way into Stornoway and then spent a pleasant couple of hours on the Braighe at the causeway to Point. Met up with all the other customers (including two lovely Americans from North Carolina) of Stornoway Seafari run by Gordon Maclean, www.stornowayseafari.com and took the trip to the Shiant Isles. A great experience which I recommend if you are on Lewis. Really interesting to see Lewis from the sea. We saw so much - a white tailed eagle to start off with, minke whales on the way over to Shiants and then loads of puffins, guillimots, kittiwakes, gannets and other gulls. Coming back two other eagles were spotted. Gordie took us around Witches Pool which was beautiful. Gordie spotted a merganser but I didn't get a good image. I would definitely do the trip again when I am next on Lewis in the season.

Shiant Isles shrouded in mist

This is a couple of images blended together

More puffins but a little blurry

Gannet

Archway with more puffins on the other side

Two abstracts of the Shiant Isles with intentional camera movement - or boat movement

Tall ship

One of many waterfalls we saw

The second eagle which flew over the boat as shown below

The third eagle which refused to fly for us

The seals came swimming as we came into harbour. They are so used to being fed by people in boats. One of them leapt up and nearly bit Gordie's hand thinking it was a fish.

Reflections in Stornoway harbour

Off to Ness which has some fabulous machair - the best on the island so far. I don't think I made the best of it. After my stop at Europie beach, I walked from Port Ness towards the Butt of Lewis. It was absolutely gorgeous. Windy and sunny with some beautiful scenery. Had a lovely dinner with Jenny and Murdo and a game of scrabble - beaten again by Jenny. A good catch up.

Ness machair

Europie

Foam in a peat stream

coastline on the way to Butt of Lewis

Looking towards the lighthouse at the Butt

Bog cotton on a fence

A buzzard at Ghinda but I thought it was the white tailed eagle that visits regularly and rushed out to photograph it. Still a beautiful bird

I have run out of time and never made it to Hebscape to see Darren Cole's latest work. I have been told by Jenny and Murdo that he is doing some great images. I will have to come back later this year. I had to go into Stornoway and I didn't want to do too much driving today before my return tomorrow. I went back to Point and did a short walk from Tiumpan Head to Portvoller Bay and back by the easy road to my car.

Shieling on Penteland Road

Not so beautiful coast

Flower in peat pond

Looking towards Point from near the Tiumpan lighthouse

Sky

Point machair

Buttercup in the stream

I am catching the 7 am ferry to Ullapool and will pop into Larkhall to see Helen and George before bedding down at the New Lanark hostel. May have some photos to put on later in I get to New Lanark in time.

Had a very smooth crossing and filled up with a CalMac breakfast. An easy drive down to Larkhall to visit with Helen and George. Stopped off at the House of Bruar to look at their Aigle wellies. They were packed with people and the wellies were the top of the range so very expensive. Glad I wasn't coming the other way as the traffic was heavy. Now at New Lanark after an excellent dinner at the hotel. I am staying at the hostel - Wee Row. Played with photographing the Falls of Clyde. As the light was not great, I made an abstract.

Next trip is to the Tribe of Doris festival in August.

I have two days on Rum without the car so sorting out the luggage to leave in the car. Caught the ferry over to Rum. Woke to a lovely sunrise and a bright morning but the clouds were over Rum and it has rained most of the day. Sitting in the conservatory now, looking out on the Loch with the rain lashing down. Very comfortable here in the dry. I had a lovely couple of walks and back to Ivy Cottage B & B for a delicious supper.

Sunrise in Mallaig from Moorings Guest House

Waterfall near Kinloch Glen

Over the wall to Croft 3 - as featured in one of Ben Fogle's programmes

Oak leaves in the rain

Swallow feeding young in the visitor centre

Looking over to Kinloch from the Otter hide walk

Blackhouse on the way to the Otter hide

I saw a merganser from the hide but not a sign of an otter. On a ranger trip on the MV Shearwater to look for sea creatures tomorrow and more walks.

Dry as forecast in the morning. I walked slowly to the otter hide and then on to look for the old village. Decided to go along the shoreline which was a big mistake as I then could not find the path and ended up climbing through bog, long grass, streams and bracken - very hazardous so took it slowly. Rain came and went - not forecast. Luckily made it back to the ferry in time for the whale watching trip. Joyce who is one of the couple also staying at Ivy Cottage went via the proper path which petered out into nothing so she turned back too. We saw manx shearwaters, gulls and gannets but nothing else. Out to Soay to deliver the post to a lady and dog who had rowed out to meet us. Then back in a very choppy swell and no cetaceans. Rained pretty much on and off the rest of the day. I did a bird walk with the ranger Trudi who was very informative. Unfortunately the eagle walk tomorrow is cancelled (seems to be a common feature of this trip) as Trudi has to go to a meeting. One of the pairs of eagles has been killed by other eagles so chances of seeing any golden eagles on the walk would be slight. Went to a talk on Rum, by Trudi, in the village hall in the evening after another delicious dinner at Ivy Cottage.

Water flow

Swallow feeding two young - one hidden by her body

View from my walk

Collecting the post for Soay

A not so good image of a raft of manx shearwaters

Waves from the boat

On my last day I went up the hill from the village. A good track but steep with wonderful views. Lots of little birds but no birds of prey. Bought some more yarn from Rum Crafts - Fliss took cheques which was too much of a temptation. Took loads of pics of the new foals. The bay male is a week old and the little grey is 3 days old and has been named Rhum Breagh (with an accent over the e). Off to the pier to wait for the ferry and finally spotted the otter fishing. Trudi the ranger had said she saw the otter there before.

Hooded crows outside Ivy Cottage

Breagh sitting down

My climb up the hill - you can see the track by the river

Stonechat

Breagh kicking up her heels

Rum Highland Ponies in front of Kinloch Castle

Breagh's half brother

Breagh's half brother and mum

Otter fishing by the pier

I thought this was a diver until I looked at the computer and realised the long beak was a fish in a guillimot

Manx Shearwater taking off

Back to Mallaig, ate and caught the ferry to Skye. Arrived in Porttree only to find that my B &B at Viewmount Guest House supposedly didn't have a record of my booking! On first sight I didn't like the guest house - a smell and looked very dingy. The owner then rang Hart Holidays the next day and admitted he found the record. I suspect he had two people booking in and wanted more money. In any case it left me without a room at 9.15 pm in a very full Skye. Eventually after some ringing around I found the last bed at the SYHA.

The mainland from the Rum to Mallaig ferry

Rum from the Mallaig to Skye ferry

Up early the next day to catch the Uig ferry to Tarbet, Harris. Collected my HebCelt festival tickets and to Creagan Cottage. A lovely chat with Ann Smith, the owner and now comfortably settled in to the lovely cottage. You can see Callanish stones from the windows. Off to look for the otter in the loch this afternoon - Sunday. My boat trip to St Kilda has been cancelled on Monday and looks likely to be cancelled for Tuesday due to weather. Oh well. I know people have waited years before being able to land there so I will have to try again.

Had a coffee at Callanish Visitor Centre before popping into the Morrison's and meeting their Australian relatives. Decided to visit Harris as it was raining and looking grey. I thought that would be a good opportunity to have another grey pic of Seilebost. I kept bumping into Jenny and Murdo, Mandy and Tim as they had also decided to visit Harris. As happens the sun came out and I didn't get the image. Visited Harris Distillery and had lunch at the cafe there. Drove to Northton but only walked a little way towards the Temple. Everywhere was busy. It certainly was not this busy at the same time two years ago. Luskentyre was heaving - Murdo said he had never seen so many cars there before.

Seilebost

Northton

Machair at Northton

I have the ball

Jellyfish on Luskentyre - a blend of images

Patterns on Luskentyre beach

On the way back to Lewis

Jenny's photo of me taking the jellyfish

I stayed local on Tuesday, visiting Dal Beg and Dal Mor. So many people around. Met the 8 pm ferry which Rosie and Yvette had caught by the skin of their teeth. Home to a lovely sunset but I didn't get up to the stones for it.

From the patio of Creagan Cottage

Into Stornoway to pick up Rosie and Yvette's festival tickets. Unfortunately, everything is sold out so they will not be in the main arena at all. We did a few of the sites via Barvas moor to the Arnol blackhouse, a picnic at Bragar, Garenin Blackhouses, the Carloway Broch and ending at Callanish stones.

Very contrasty photo so difficult to spot Rosie at one of the Arnol blackhouses

Yvette at the Gearranan blackhouse village

Picnicing at Bragar

Taken by Rosie at Bragar

Yvette at the Carloway broch

Carloway broch

Callanish Stones with Rosie and Yvette

At Callanish

The archaeologist on holiday

Enjoyed the Alison Lupton band in concert at Breascleit but too tired to go into Stornoway for any more festivities. Around Harris on Thursday, mostly in the sun. Coffee in Skoon Art Cafe and lunch at the Temple then a walk on Luskentyre. Back to the cottage after a quick introduction to Jenny and Murdo before they go off the island for a wedding, then into Stornoway for me to go to the main arena and the others to visit the pubs.

Looking at the seals through a very expensive scope - one pound for about a minute. Luckily I remembered I had binoculars in the car

The seals

Reeds near Leverburgh

Rosie (looking at the camera) and Yvette on Luskentyre

A stranger on the shore

Cloud scape in the sand

Clouds

Moon jellyfish pattern

Stopped off a the Laxay sheepdog trials

Didn't catch the name of the dog

She belongs to Murdo Murry, nicknamed Bloxie who did well - hopefully a first.

On Friday we had a gaelic song workshop booked and joined in with a gaelic language taster beforehand. The workshop was good fun being hosted by Julie Fowlis from Uist, Mary Smith from Lewis and Cathy Ann MacPhee from Barra. There was a song circle at Artizen cafe led by Callum from Point. I went on to the festival. Rosie and Yvette decided to catch the last bus back to Callanish at 6 pm and had a chill out evening. Yvette is nursing a broken wrist and suffering from the side effects of painkillers. I enjoyed Julie Fowlis in the Island Stage, as well as Astrid, Whisky Kiss and Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Bella Gaffney and Brian o Headhra with Fiona Mackenzie were good in the Acoustic stage.

Julie Fowlis Mary Smith and Cathy Ann MacPhee

We had a slightly more leisurely Saturday morning. Coffee at Callanish and a stop at Callanish IV - too wet to get out. A stop at the lovely new museum at Lews Castle. I will go back as there is a lot to take in. Lunch at the Woodland Centre then more shopping. I left my visitors as they had Eddi Reader to look forward to and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss Skippinish on the main stage. Skippinish were great. I then saw Talisk - also good, James Mackenzie, another local boy in the Acoustic stage. Lucky to catch Sink Ships at the Island stage as they had changed times. Only their 5th gig - they were great and I hope they do a CD. Went to see Rura to be sure of a near front stage spot for Runrig. Neither did much for me so I left early and picked up Rosie and Yvette who were having a drink at the County Hotel, Eddi Reader having been a great success but finished at 9.30 pm.

Dog taken through a car window, hence the distortion

A photo request by Rosie

Textures and patterns found by Yvette

Up early to take Rosie and Yvette to the 8 am ferry. Raining most of the day so I am catching up with my images. On Monday it was still raining in the morning but cleared up later - not the heatwave the south are experiencing but it did get to 16 degrees. I made it out to the Tiumpan Lighthouse at Point. The best place for whales. I watched gannets diving and then finally some minke whales.

Shags on the rock

Either two seals or the same one popping up in a different place

Fulmars

More shags and into black and white below

Minke whale

More interesting than bright sunshine

The heatwave is supposed to reach us tomorrow. I hope to make it to Uig, Lewis.

Awoke to heat and sun and thankfully the wind is still with us so the heat is bearable. I wore my sandals for the first time. Had coffee at Callanish. Tried to spot the otter but found two baby rabbits instead. Drove to Uig and on to the end of the road. No parking which is a first. I found a space near Breanais and thought I would have lunch on a secluded beach. Disturbed by a large dog and woman with two children just as I was about to eat. Other tourists rarely go off the beaten track on Lewis so I was surprised and left quickly! Ended back at Mangersta which is a lovely beach. Two surfers on the beach - one of them was caught in the panorama below. Back at the cottage and waiting to see if there is to be a sunset.