18th April 2013

No Tour today so what did I do with my "day off"? . . . Well I went out looking for wildlife of course! 

The weather was still wet and cloudy but this was a trip with personal objectives. I slowed the minibus slightly as I passed the Otter but didn't stop. I'm never complacent seeing such stunning wildlife but I know her well and will catch up with her another day. 

Today was about the adventurers, the vanguard of Spring's migration. And there was the first, in the scrub by the Kylerhea slipway, a Willow Warbler, the first the reach Skye's shores this year. Not long after I saw my first Swallows and a solitary Sand Martin, again the first arrivals on Skye have been reported today . . . . And OK, although I rudely dismissed the Otter earlier I took delight in watching a male Merlin hunting Meadow Pipits (unsuccessfully). . . And then there was the Golden Eagle, first seen when I searched the skies to see what had spooked a roost of gulls. He appeared later circling low so I went to get the scope - and of course he'd disappeared when I returned moments later. I wondered why such a leisurely fellow had gone so quickly . . . the answer came seconds later as I saw him vanish over the horizon dangling a rabbit.