A cheeky weekend in Lincolnshire...

 

Spitfire AB910

As we have both a new tent and an extended camping trip over the time we've done before coming up, we decided that a trial run was a good plan, so last weekend saw us heading up to Lincolnshire for the weekend. A campsite was found at East Kirkby - which just so happened to be attached to a pub. Pure coincidence of course...well, partly! (Namecheck for the Red Lion pub & Campsite - which is excellent and comes highly recommended).

A new tent inevitably takes a while to get used to - so pitching takes a little longer than it used to. It's also at least half as big again as the old one, and although mostly the same style, just the sheer additional size means that it's taking a bit of getting used to. Up it went though, and within around an hour of our arrival at the site we had a fully fitted out tent and were cheerfully sitting outside it in the sunshine eating our lunch. We've gained a few extra odds and ends which is making packing the car fun - the way up was distinctly shonky, the way home much better, and I fully suspect that the next trip will prove even better - and preferably without the risk of either of us being brained by a kettle in the event of a sudden stop as could quite easily have happened on the way up at least this time! 

The new tent! 

Lunch consumed, we headed off to an RSPB reserve that we had last visited a few years ago, and would have greatly enjoyed on that occasion had it not been for the torrential downpour that struck half way round, leaving us completely soaked through. Thankfully both a set of dry clothes and facilities to change in were available or the journey home on that occasion would have been very unpleasant. This time the weather stayed dry through our visit, and RSPB Frampton Marsh was confirmed as a really lovely place for a walk - even in the exceptionally blustery conditions of the day. I left my camera in the car and had no regrets about doing so as a result of that wind. As the light dropped, so did the temperature, and after eating dinner back at the tent the evening was spent in the pub drinking very nicely kept pints of Batemans XB.

Artwork at RSPB Frampton Marsh

Saturday morning dawned beautifully bright and sunny, and thankfully that nasty wind had dropped, so after a quick bacon butty breakfast we hopped in the car and drove the short distance to RAF Coningsby where my pal Andy was taking one of the BBMF Spitfires up for a practise display or two. AB910 was the aircraft in question - a MkV machine, and Andy's personal favourite from the fleet - recently returned to the flight after several seasons away undergoing deep maintenance. We stopped first at the BBMF hangar where Andy was just conducting his walkaround - hellos were exchanged and we agreed to catch up after his flight, and after watching him taxi out Mr EH and I drove round to one of my favourite spots to watch/photograph the practise. As a bonus Claire was also there, so a great chance for a quick catch up with her also! A lovely display, and a nice chat, and all in fantastic weather too! 

Andy taxies out in AB910

The Blue Bell pub - Tattershall Thorpe

MrEH and I then decided to have a quick wander to Coningsby village before driving across to nearby Boston for a walk there (and a visit to a lovely Good Beer Guide pub!) before heading back to the campsite via the Blue Bell pub at Tattershall Thorpe - a pub steeped in wartime history and FULL of memorabilia. The picture above shows pennies left by airmen from the nearby bases in readiness to pay for their beer on their next visit. For many of them though there was no next visit, and the pennies remain, wedged into the beams as a very special tribute.  Another evening meal was eaten in the tent, and just a quick beer in the pub this time as we were both quite tired and conscious of the need for a fairly early start to get packed up the next day. 

St Botolphs Church - Boston

As with getting pitched in the first place, a new tent makes everything slower on take-down as well. One big change is that our old (smaller, far lighter) tent used to travel on the back seat of the car - the new one is simply too heavy for this as it would turn into a missile in the event of that sudden stop, so it has to go into the boot. The complication here as you might imagine is that this in turn  means that the tent needs to go into the car ahead of rather a lot of the stuff from inside it, which creates some logistical headaches! We got there in the end, and by 11.30 we were away.

Tattershall Church

First stop this time was back to Coningsby for a walk we hadn't had time for the day before - out to Tattershall Castle and church across the fields, then back via the river and village. A quick stop to grab some lunch and we were back in the car for the hours drive across to RSPB Langford Lowfields - another reserve we'd visited previously although not had the time to really do it justice. This visit we had far longer, and walked did the circuit right the way round the main part of the reserve with bird sightings including this cute little Sedge Warbler...

Sedge Warbler - RSPB Langford Lowfields

All in all a really enjoyable weekend - there should have been more BBMF flying on Saturday, but as is the way of things sometimes that was cancelled. While it would have been nice to see more, the lack certainly didn't in any way spoil the trip and we found plenty else to do. A few days in the tent with an objective eye was a good way of reassuring any concerns ahead of the longer we stay we have planned for a few weeks time, and overall we're still delighted with it, having proper headroom in a tent makes such a difference to camping! A few additional/replacement items have been identified as needed also, so we'll be sorting those before heading off again. 

Robyn

Still standing...

 The pier at Loch Skippprt, South Uist, that is! I looked back at our past years holiday notebooks the other day - and reminded myself quite how many years this remarkable old structure had been “just” hanging in there as far as we are concerned - nearly 20 years now!

So there we are - another Hebrides trip done and dusted. We had the usual mixed weather, everything from freezing cold temperatures and howling wind through to several days warm enough for short sleeves and, for MrEH at least, shorts.  Just the one day of pouring rain thankfully - and obviously we chose a walk right round the RSPB reserve that day and got back soaked in spite of full waterproofs! Hebridean rain does have a way of driving in through any gaps or slightly less well proofed points in jackets! 

Some highlights to be found as ever in the astonishing array of wildlife, and particularly birds. Our best year ever for total sightings topping out at a quite astonishing 114 different species across the bit-over-a fortnight. Best sightings would be the largest - great views of White Tailed Eagles from a boat trip - with Nick on the Lady Anne, we’ve done his trips before and they never disappoint - through to two of the smallest - some time spent watching Red Necked Phalaropes, plus one of those oddity sightings that turns up over there from time to time in the shape of a Red-Spotted Bluethroat. 

Yes - a little brown job that’s been let loose with the poster paint, to all intents and purposes! The Hebrides is one of those places where you never really know what birds might show up - stuff gets blown off course on migration and ends up where, really, it shouldn't - the 2016 Black Billed Cuckoo is a great example of that! It certainly adds an element of excitement to things! 

Robyn

Hills for miles...

 

We’ve done a lot of walking this week. Almost every day has ended with us saying we’d have a bit of a lazier day on the next, to give my poor foot a bit of a break, and each time we’ve said it we’ve failed entirely to make good on the idea! A lot of that walking has also by necessity involved hills -  Cornwall is by nature a pretty hilly county, and the bits round the coast all the more so. As I by nature gravitate towards water, we’ve done much of our walking by the sea...

Yesterday’s nearly 10 miles were across on the other side of the Lizard from where we’re staying - from The Loe - Cornwall’s largest freshwater lake, along to Gunwalloe and then on to Poldhu using the coast path, then back to Gunwalloe and returning to the car via the beach. And of course you can’t go to Poldhu without visiting the wonderful Poldhu Beach Cafe. And you can’t visit the cafe without having a hot chocolate....look.... 

See?  This is the “special” hot chocolate, and yes - it tasted every bit as good as it looked, too! I’m a bit funny with hot chocolate as a rule - sometimes it can be way too sweet for me, and a real struggle to drink, but this one was just perfect! 

We’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather this week - I’m conscious that the photos I’ve been posting both here and elsewhere on social media are all very “blue skies and sunshine” but in fact that is exactly how it’s been - although quite chilly at times, and especially in the evenings, the days have been beautiful. Mr EH has worn shorts for a good part of the week, and we’ve both spent a reasonable amount of time in short sleeves. Holidaying for a week in the U.K. you do expect at least some rain, but we’re certainly not complaining about not having seen any this week! 

As it wasn’t too late when we arrived back at the car, we decided to head a little further south to Lizard Point again to see if I could track down the Choughs for some photos. Although we had fabulous views of them earlier in the week, I’d not taken my camera with me, and as I was keen to get some shots if at all possible, and we were in the right area already, we decided to go back. We retraced our steps from the previous visit, but to no avail, there were plenty of Jackdaws but no Choughs to be seen. The final hope was to head back round the lighthouse to the car, and as you can see from the picture above, it paid off! This shot was taken on my Canon 80D with its built in WiFi meaning I was able to transfer it to the phone and process on there. I don’t use this method too often as the results are nowhere near as good as “proper” processing via a laptop, but it does mean that sometimes I can play with the odd shot like this. I’m delighted to have got some photos of these fantastic birds, anyway! 

Robyn 

Neglected...

 

Oops - sorry! Those of you who follow me on Instagram as well will be aware that we are now, FINALLY in the Hebrides for the first time since Christmas. It’s truly about time, and even at the last minute fate had one last go at “making life difficult” with the cancellation of our planned ferry (high winds) and the need to change to a different route involving a hundred or so miles more driving AND a 2 hour earlier departure time. This is turn also meant an even longer journey as a diversion was needed to avoid a road closure on the A82 in the Highlands - up there diversions tend to be a lot of additional miles. Sigh. In the event the weather stepped in again delaying our sailing from 0940 to 1300 - one of the few times we are grateful for a delayed ferry! We came across just over a week ago, spent 2 nights in a “glamping pod” at the campsite we usually use the bunkhouse at (closed this year due to Covid restrictions)  then moved in to our usual cosy cottage on a wind-blown headland last Saturday. Since then we have walked, eaten, drunk lots of beer and wine, and enjoyed fabulous views like the eagle above. 

Life here is none too different in spite of C-19 - small differences, the face coverings obviously, and social distancing. Greeting good friends earlier today with no hug was strange. Hopefully by the time we are next here that one may have been relaxed a little! Winston the dog had no truck with social distancing though and greeted us as usual including an exploratory jump onto laps - no pesky virus getting in the way of THAT tough terrier! Places we usually find second hand books for sale are bare of them - thankfully I  brought a good supply so we will probably manage without running out of reading material - phew! The jigsaws that we had planned to leave here after doing will find their way to a second hand shop though as currently the cottage is bare of any books and similar. 

Other than that life is much as normal. Seasonally we have noticed differences though - this is our first summer visit and birds that we usually take for granted are nowhere to be seen, and the flowers on the machair are beautiful but quite different to those we see in the Spring. This year harebells, ragged robin and the purple of heather abound, plus blue scabious and the vibrant yellow of ragwort and hawkweed. Generally speaking everywhere is far greener than we are used to, but bizarrely temperatures have been lower - with a chilly wind blowing these last few days. When the wind drops, the midgies appear of course! Conditions underfoot are far drier than we are used to though, meaning that already one walk we have been putting off from necessity for many years has been ticked off the list!

So yes - it’s great to be back. It already feels like we’ve been here forever yet we have another week to go yet - bliss! Will it warm up enough for me to swim, is my current big question. This is probably my best opportunity- it’s unlikely we will get another summer visit very soon, so I’m keen to get in the water if possible! 

Robyn 

Day 92...

These little cuties are getting increasingly bold and happy to use the feeders while we are in full view now. We think there were 5 in the first brood, and we hope that Mum & Dad have now gone off for brood number 2. The juniors are outside from morning until evening hopping around in the bush, to and from the tree, and loudly demanding further supplies of fastballs when those in the feeders run out!

Many changes announced on the lockdown easing front today, although not kicking in until July 4th. The biggie is that although “ideal” social distancing will remain at 2m where possible, in certain circumstances it will be reduced to what is being known as “1m+”. This will enable the reopening of pubs and restaurants, although with certain conditions attached, including taking contact details for those attending so they can be traced if an infection is confirmed. Hairdressers and barbers will also be allowed to open, much to the relief of many who are sporting a fine “lockdown mop” by now! Other announcements include that two households will be able to meet indoors, with social distancing in place, and outdoor gyms are going to be allowed to reopen also, although still no news on indoor ones, or swimming pools.

The pub reopening news is a fairly big one for us - for a start we hope it may mean the bar at the rugby club may be able to reopen - even if possibly just serving outside for the moment. We will probably be in no rush to head for a pub straight away though - not least as that first weekend is, let’s face it, going to be silly season! I for one will be keen to see how things pan out and what reports emerge from those that do reopen on the 4th in terms of customers respecting personal space etc.

The other change announced in today’s lunchtime briefing was that the Government briefings will no longer be daily, presumably because the feeling is that there is less to say now to justify it. The general feeling seems to be that it’s about the right time to cut down the regularity on that, we stopped watching them live just a short time into lockdown, but still tended to check online shortly after briefing time each day to see if anything significant had been announced.

Robyn

New Toy...

So as I mentioned in my Frugal Friday post, I've recently become the owner of a new Canon 80D DSLR. This becomes my second camera body, alongside the 7DMk2 and replacing the 40D I've had in my kit since 2009. The 40D has been brilliant - I've used it for speedway, rugby and aviation stuff, and even a few weddings! It's been to the Hebrides about 7 times, and lots of other places besides. It's been drenched numerous times, and been "round the clock" in terms of shutter clicks, having to have its shutter mechanism replaced back in about 2012 I think it was. To be honest I'm quite sad to see it go, BUT it had just reached the point where its age was starting to show - in digital camera terms the 40D was positively ancient, and switching mid Reds display from the 7MK2 to the 40 I was really noticing its limitations.

By way of comparison - I've swapped out a 10.1mp sensor for a 24.2mp one. 9 autofocus points for 45. Strangely the shooting speed is pretty much the same - maximum 6.5fps on the 40D, and just half a frame quicker pm the 80D. The new one feels a LOT closer to the 7Mk2 - but it's still taking some getting used to. I took it to the Hebrides at christmas, thinking that I'd have lots of time to get to grips with it, but the weather was such that it barely left the bag! So far the only flying things it's been pointed at are birds, but so far I've been pretty impressed with the results.

The autofocus is fast and the tracking in servo mode nice and smooth, and the detail it captures is exceptional. Another feature that was a real selling point for me was the built in wifi - meaning that I can upload photos from the card in the camera to my phone. Might be nice come airshow season to be able to fill quiet moments between displays with a quick bit of processing and social media posting - and as I have apps on my phone for both processing RAW files and copyright marking the processed shots, that's very achievable.

It handles colour well too - as these sunset shots show

Those colours are accurate to what I could see at the time of shooting. All the shots on this post have minimal processing - quite simply they've needed almost nothing. Sharpening only on the two Robin shots, and a bit of levels and highlights, plus sharpening on the sunsets. I used a little noise reduction on one of the Robin ones.

It's no slouch when the daylight fades away entirely either. Remember that supermoon last month...?

That was with the camera mounted on a monopod. It had no issue getting or maintaining focus, and happily gave me a shutter speed of 1/1000th at ISO 400. (If I'd had my tripod handy I would happily have dropped both ISO and shutter speed further.) Again I'm pleased with the detail, and once again relatively little processing was needed.

So - the verdict so far? Impressed. Hoping to get the chance to shoot some Little Red Jets with it  next week - I'll be interested to do a straight comparison with the 7MK2 and really get to grips with how they perform against one another. Fingers crossed for some nice blue skies!

Robyn

Frugal Friday...

Predictably, I'm not making resolutions - yes, again! I am however planning for the year ahead, it feels a bit like the start of term when you were at school, the New year. While I'm not a great fan of all the hoo ha that goes with New Year's eve, I do in some ways quite like the feeling of starting afresh. I'll try and update on some of the other things we're thinking about and planning in the next little while, but for now, it IS a Friday, after all...

As always at this time of year we're turning our attentions to things financial - although more with a mindset of a "reset" than anything else. Just looking over what we're doing, Where we're spending, and reminding ourselves to be conscious about the money going out. I've got myself a little bit of a money challenge going on once again - which actually feels quite good, it's nice to have that focus again. In the tail end of 2016 I made two reasoned big purchases - a new camera and an upgrade to  my phone. Once cashback etc was taken into account the camera was purchased for the best price I could possibly have bought it for - and I was pleased to be able to buy from the UK rather than going the Hong Kong route, this time. The phone was dealt with in two phases - with just under 3 months to go on my EE contract I gave them a call as I'd spotted a SIM only deal that I hoped they might consider matching - to my delight they did - saving me around £12 per month on my bill, and increasing my data allowance to a level where I may not run out on several months of the year, too! Having done that, I then purchased the new phone paying upfront from a third party seller - fully unlocked and ready to go when it arrived. I did a lot of research on this - friends left, right and centre were urging me to go for the iPhone 6s - but with my previous one being a 5s, I was wary of the increase in size, so was also looking at the iPhone SE. I read a lot of articles comparing the two, and made a pros and cons list of the advantages of one over the other - there were few features that the 6S boasted over the SE that I really felt I wanted to be honest, and the massive win from the perspective of the SE was the extra battery life over it's bigger sibling. I also analysed how I used my phone and was surprised to realise quite how much of the time I use it one-handed - I estimated that at least 75% of my use was in that way. With that in mind the final deciding test was to handle my Mum's 6s - and that proved to be the decision-maker as each and every time I tried to use her phone one handed, I promptly flipped out of my hand and had I not been ready for it would have landed on the floor. With the decision made to opt for the SE I was even more pleasantly surprised to discover a £100+ difference in price - I eventually paid £409 for mine.

Although I had the money sitting in savings ready to pay for both items, I paid on the Credit Card both for the financial protection it gives, and also thanks to the cashback it pays. It was then that a thought occurred to me...a quick look on the Money Saving Expert site revealed a fee-free balance transfer card which I was likely to qualify to get. (Sainsbury's Bank - 0% for 22 months in case you were wondering.) Applied, and got - result! This means I have a space of time where the money can stay in my account earning at least a little interest - well anything is better than nothing, right? My plan is as follows: I've got back into doing surveys again - and anything I earn via that route will get paid against the 0% card. I'm also setting the Direct Debit for the initial minimum payment, rounded up to the next £. whereas normally if you just set it for the straight minimum payment, it will fall over time, mine will stay the same, meaning that as the balance drops each payment will effectively have more of an impact on the balance remaining. Assuming the TopCashBack payments on the two purchases some through OK, those will also go back against the card. My aim is to pay off both items within the interest free period, (obviously!) but using as little money from my savings as possible. So far I've chipped £35 off the balance - £11 survey money plus the £24 I would usually have paid on my phone bill (it came in at zero this month due to the change onto the new SIM only deal).

I'll keep you informed of how things go - it feels slightly odd to be thinking in terms of being "in debt" again, but currently the very fact that I don't like that much is serving as a good incentive to get it gone! Oh - and the new camera - well see for yourself, I'm happy...!

Robyn.

Today...

Was a "2 Corncrakes in the garden" kinda day...

So, it seems Corncrakes are like buses - you wait all year and then two come along at once!

Robyn

Hard to believe...

...that just a month ago we were in the Hebrides! I've been too busy to really think about it much for the past few weeks, but thought it was about time I took a look at some more of the photos. Here's some of my favourites from the first week...

One thing we did this year was spent a fair bit of time on the beach - in fact our first Sunday, and our final full day were spent on the same beach - the one within walking distance of the cottage. That was one thing we really appreciated this year, that a stroll down the track could get us to this...

That was just a tiny bit of it too - it stretches for miles in each direction! The following day we headed south to South Uist, and visited the beautiful little community garden at Lochboisdale, which was just FULL of chives this year...

...just gorgeous! It's really nicely done, and just such a blaze of colours! Talking of a blaze of colour, there was more of that the next day at RSPB Balranald too...

That's fairly standard for late May on the Machair - just an astonishing carpet of flowers. The daisies appear first, then the yellow of the Birds Foot Trefoil, and the purple of the pansies...a perfect harmonious blend of colours. It doesn't stop there either because as June arrives the orchids appear - their colours from white through to a deep bright purple - just stunning.

The following day was our long awaited boat trip out with Nick on the Lady Anne - we were just so pleased to finally get out on one of these trips - it's felt like a conspiracy these last few years with things stopping us doing it! It must be said that it entirely lived up to expectations, especially seeing this amazing White Tailed Eagle so close up...

Yes, you don't need to be a bird expert to recognise that one, do you!  The weather went a bit grey and gloomy the next day...not though we let that stop us getting out and about. We headed back to South Uist again and climbed a hill....views weren't bad but better was spotting this Golden plover and it's mate...

They head to the hills to have their chicks, no sign of babies yet with these two but they were clearly thinking about it! Absolutely stunning birds in their full breeding plumage - and unmistakable once you've seen them the once, too!

Last shot for now, and it's one from one of our favourite hills on the Islands - Rueval on Benbecula. I don't think there's a year gone by since we first climbed up it that we've not gone back - it's only quite a small one but the views are phenomenal...

...this is the advantage of Benbecula being a quite flat island! I suspect that next time we're there though we'll probably have to give it a miss as the winter isn't the most ideal time for hill climbing - we'll see though!

Expect to see some more shots of RAF fast jets coming up over the next few weeks, as we have several airshow trips planned and a visit to Scampton for an In Season Practise with the Reds. July is looking hectic, and while I do intend to carry on with Frugal Friday posts if I miss another week please do bear with me!

Robyn

Last day...

And what an excellent last day it's been. The sun has shone ALL day and we've managed to be out enjoying it for most of the day too.  We started with one of these...

 



You'll have to excuse the utterly rubbish photo - of course it's a Corncrake - secretive little birds and at this time of year you're doing well to see one at all as the vegetation has now grown high enough that they can stay under cover a lot of the time!  At the same place (Balranald) we also saw what seemed like an entire field of those beautiful purple orchids...

 





Fabulous aren't they - they were right across the field!  The we stopped so I could wander up a hill and capture this view...

...that's all four of North Uist's notable hills there - North Lee, South Lee, Burrival and Eaval.

After that and with the weather SO glorious we had the traditional last-day walk on a beach...

...this one was a bit special though as this was the beach that is walking distance from the house we've been staying at - and the whole time we were walking on it there was not another soul on there with us - amazing!

Finally the day ended with the most amazing sunset....

As ever we've had a wonderful time - fabulous to catch up with friends who are lucky enough to live in this fantastic environment all the time. We're very excited to be heading back up in just over 6 months too - and already have this house booked for next year's fortnight too! For this time though, tomorrow morning the car will be packed and we'll drive south down through the Uists, Grimsay and Benbecula to catch the ferry back to Oban...

Robyn

A bird explosion!

As we were heading south yesterday morning in any event, we decided to pop into the Salar Smokehouse and buy our packs of their delicious Flaky Smoked Salmon to take back home with us at the end of the week. We always go home laden with the goodies that we can only get when we're here, and that salmon is a firm favourite. The shop isn't *quite* the same now that the business has been bought out by the Loch Duart people, but thankfully they've not meddled with the fish.

Periodically some of the fish "remains" from the smokehouse evidently get lobbed out onto the road for the gulls, as when we drove up we saw this...

...which each time a car drove towards it turned into this...

...a sort of "bird explosion" that could thoroughly freak you out if you'd seen "The Birds" recently!

The weather the last two days - a proper sea fog was drawing in when we went for our late walk along the beach on saturday night, and didn't really lift until the middle of the day yesterday. It's very odd to look out of the windows and not see the usual familar landmarks - from here that's the sea on three sides, and Loch Sandary and Cleattraval (the hill with the internet mast that's enabling these posts) on the other. We didn't let it get in the way of doing things though - Sunday was always going to be a gentle pottering sort of day in any event, and yesterday we headed to South Uist to do one of our favourite walks - a circular one with all sorts of interesting things along the way, as well as a fantastic cafe for lunch.

The wildflowers get more stunning by the day - this field of Buttercups, Marsh Marigolds and fluffy white Marsh Cotton was beautiful...

..and we're yet to identify this intense purple flower - this is probably one of a number of photos that will be winging its way to Fay in due course for an expert eye!

Once we'd got back to the car from our walk we set off to drive along one of our favourite roads - the Uskevagh road on Benbecula which winds out miles across to the east of the Island - the reward for some challenging driving (MrEH behind the wheel on this occasion) being the absolutely stunning views. On this occasion I can't show you I'm afraid as the cloudy weather didn't really make photos that worthwhile - you'll need to take my word for it! We did spot this handsome Snipe standing calmly on some heather just next to the road though...

...and then a little further on this glorious Golden Plover...

...not so easy to see at this time of year these - a few weeks earlier there are entire fields covered with hundreds of them, but once they are in full breeding plumage like this one they head off to the moorland and hills in pairs to breed. The other one was present but wasn't in a position I could photograph the two together. Typically as I got back into the car again the two could be seen standing together in full view!

Robyn

A wee cruise...!

We've had the decision that this year we're not going to take a trip up to Lewis and Harris while we're here. We do love going up there, but with the return ferry fare for us and the car now coming in at over £80, we've struggled to justify it for the past few years really. This year's increase in fares was really one too many, and we've taken the call that we'll give it a miss for this year. Once RET (Road Equivalent Tariff) is brought in on the inter-island routes we'll happily revert to making  the trip again I'm sure, but that's probably another year at least away yet. We do love the ferry crossing though, so yesterday we decided on the spur of the moment to do the crossing "out and back" as foot passengers - or as the man selling the tickets said "Oh, you're just going for a wee cruise!"

Definitely all about the wildlife this one...the binoculars are in constant use and we're constantly pointing out things to one another. No question about this one though - a nice close pass from a Gannet...

 ...one for you there Jo! Oddly enough they weren't diving at all today - now that is a fantastic sight to watch! Another bird great to watch is the Tern - although these Common Terns were using a channel marker as a handy bench for a rest...

Its always worth keeping an eye on the markers as a lot of things seem to find them useful - quite often you find the bottoms of them covered in the tiny Black Guillemots. Also out of the water resting were the seals...

They can be seen all around these islands and are always great to watch. they'll often come towards the boat for a closer look too.

More Gannets - resting on the water this time, but all the better to get a really good look at just what strange looking birds they are...

...and finally a couple of Cormorants also making use of a channel marker...

...do you think they realised how good their plumage would look against the red?!

Robyn

Up a hill just to see the view...

A bit of a favourite pastime when we're up here, that. And yesterday was a bit of a favourite hill, too - Rueval, on Benbecula. It doesn't start well this - the directions for the walk when you first read about it start with "Park next to the landfill site"...thankfully this isn't as grim as it sounds, and in any event you soon leave it behind. Once you get to the top and get this view, it's well worth it anyway...

We've walked right out along that track you see there - it ends up at a deserted settlement on the East Coast of the island but we've not made it quite that far yet. There's plenty to see before you start up the hill too...lots of birds for a start...

The RSPB Raptor walks used to be held here - we'd walk out along that track for an hour, stopping every so often to see what was about, and even if we didn't see much in the way of birds of prey (although we've seen everything from Short Eared Owls to Golden Eagles in the past) there were always lots of smaller birds to see - last year there were Stonechats everywhere!

Once up the hill it was the plant life that first caught our eye - with this lovely little Orchid standing out...

...A Heath Spotted Orchid we believe - there is also a Hebridean species, but this doesn't quite look right for that. The amount of wildflowers here at this time of year are just breakthtaking - the machair is covered in a beautiful carpet of daisies, birds foot trefoil and tiny little pansies, while the moors have tormentil, marsh cotton and lousewort and milkwort. Boggier areas are covered in marsh marigolds, and the ditches are full of Iris.  it's amazing, because looking at this view...

...you'd think there was very little colour in the landscape, wouldn't you!

Robyn