retrospective from earlier in July - Scotland part 3

Day 4 Tuesday
On my walk with Tyse this morning I experimented with recording some of the bird song to help with the little brown bird issue – it seems to have recorded OK but is taking a lot of power, so will see. On this walk around 8.45, the weather was much brighter and it was a much prettier walk than it has been the last two days. There was a lot of birdsong and brown bird movement, but no eagle sightings until I got right back to the house and saw one briefly.

Then we went and had lunch at Calgary? farm house and saw further birds of prey – but some were buzzards, though we think the first we saw was another eagle. Without a good view and at a long distance where size can't b easly judged it is difficult.

We did a walk marked Treshnish in the book, a lovely walk above the coast looking out towards the treshnish islands (there are a number) and then close to the beach. We saw is oystercatchers, gannets, winchats (we think), also ravens and a wren – and hooded crows. The walk back once we had left the rocky climb form the beach was over marshy, boggy ground. This was where we saw the wren. Also many flowers: orchids, thyme, harebells for example, and wild bugle. Near Calgary beach on the way, there are several meadows flourishing with wildlife.

Coming up from the bay we saw something swimming in the bay – not a seal as there were two fins. J and I thought they were sharks – a large and small, as the body never came up from the water. The only other possibility is dolphins or porpoises but it/they weren't behaving like dolphins. Whatever it was swam up and down in the last bay, at times the fins moved through the water with some speed. After reading up and talking to people on the whale watch boat, what we saw was a basking shark - the fins were from the same animal - the dorsal fin and the tail fin. We have seen some film of them and also saw one from the boat - so definitely a basking shark. No photos though (I need a better camera!)

The walk back was over wet boggy grassland. Winchats (if that is what they are) were still apparent. Interestngly (or not?) we have not heard curlew, or lapwing.