Now those of you who know me might find this difficult to believe, but I took a holiday! It was wonderful and I just wanted to share a little bit of it with you.
The place: Islay. The time of year: mid-late May.
For those of you not familiar with the Inner Hebridean island of Islay, it's a two-hour ferry crossing from Kennacraig (near Tarbert Loch Fyne) on the Scottish Mainland. A friend of mine (a client) owns the most gorgeous little cottage at Bruichladdich, overlooking Loch Indaal. It's bliss, and Dik very kindly gives me the use of it now and again. So it was, accompanied by a couple of friends, I headed off. Surely any island which boasts 8 distilleries has to be good but there's so much more to it. Normally we go in the winter as Islay is renowned as a wintering ground for various species of geese but it's also wonderful in the spring.
It boasts several iconic birds - Golden Eagle, White-tailed Sea Eagle, Chough and Corncrake to name but a few. Now I don't know what you know of Corncrake but they are secretive birds with very loud voices. Most people who have visited the Hebrides or Orkney have heard their call, described once as "a comb drawn over a piece of paper". Not a pretty song but what it lacks in delicacy it makes up for in shear volume. Thousands have heard it but not many see it let alone get a good view.
I once had a fleeting glance of one in Orkney on Papa Westray but I'd never really seen it properly. This time I was determined. Three times we went to the site right beside the RSPB centre at Gruinard and three times the bird was not only invisible but also totally silent. Then, after supper one night, a friend who lives on the island and who is a terrific birder (he's led the odd tour for me over the years) called to see if we'd "got" the Corncrake. On hearing the negative news he came round 10 minutes later and took us back to Gruinard. Within minutes the bird was calling and then it flew (briefly) towards us, landing right at our feet in the nettles on the other side of the fence. We couldn't see it - just the nettles moving. Eventually Annie managed to make out one eye and part of its face, but then it was gone again.
There were four birds in the area altogether and the whole thing's very territorial. Imagine our delight as "our" bird suddenly flew up, over the fence and landed right on the path in front of us. It turned its back and proceeded to stroll away before taking flight again to land in the nettles on the other side of the path. Thrilled, we turned to go back to the car and home. For some reason, Annie turned round and there was the Corncrake strutting its stuff along the wall. It got to the end and turned round, put its head back and shouted full blast. Amazing. Looking back, I still can't quite believe it.
Now back at work but life's not dull here in Comrie. I was sitting at my desk beavering away when movement in the trees outside attracted my attention and there were two red squirrels having a right old barney. It's got to be good!
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