A new boat, and lots of Eagles!

I mentioned Lady Anne Wildlife Cruises in the post about walking round Grimsay - the brilliant boat trips out from Kallin Harbour. At the time of writing we had in fact already booked this year’s trip - but weren’t wishing to tempt fate as the weather forecast did look a little uncertain. Thankfully though the wind dropped and the rain stopped right on cue, and we rocked up to Kallin at the prescribed time to be greeted by Rosie - the boat’s wildlife expert (and also superb photographer) and skipper Nye. A shout out here to Nick too - without whom there would be no Lady Anne - it was Nick who first took us out a good few years ago now! This trip was our first on their new boat Amarisa - and very smart and comfortable she is too! 

Nye & Rosie carrying out the pre trip briefing

The route for the trips varies depending on tides and weather - although the hope is always to get out onto the open waters of the Minch at some point, that isn’t always possible and Nye’s concern on this occasion was a fresh westerly wind that he suspected might make things too choppy (he and the boat would be fine with it, some of the passengers perhaps less so though!) on this occasion we began by heading out around the uninhabited island of Ronay and exploring some of the sheltered inlets between there and North Uist in search of eagles - and it didn’t take long to find those! 

I don’t think we have ever had quite so many Eagle sightings in one trip - from a White Tail (Sea Eagle) which followed us for much of the time we were out, to several other White Tails and Golden Eagles too. Not only were they in sight but the White Tails in particular were swooping around over the boat as well giving great views and photo opportunities. 

Deer too were all over the place - it is the time of year where as Nye put it the stags are all still friends, but they are starting to work towards the rut which will take place next month- and then all friendships will be off as the males battle for territory and females. It’s always lovely to see them gathered together though. 

Other bird sightings included a Great Skua, a probable (from a distance) female Hen Harrier, herons and Shags aplenty, a lovely group of Curlews which took off as we got closer, Black Guillemots, a diver which we weren’t able to work out whether it was a Red or BlackThroated, and once on the Minch Manx Shearwaters and Gannets galore!

All in all a huge amount packed into 2 hours. Nye and Rosie know the very best spots to give their passengers the best chances of seeing interesting wildlife, and out here “interesting” comes in many forms! The Eagles are always a highlight of course, but for me this time I think seeing the Shearwaters far closer than we usually would from the ferries just felt like a real treat - although they are an absolute nightmare to photograph - small and very fast! The boat trip is one thing that we absolutely can’t imagine not doing when we’re over here - such a brilliant way of getting a different look at the wildlife.  We do have another rather different sort of boat trip planned too - weather permitting, but that is for another post! 

Robyn.