Dear Fellow Members
In June Sue and I visited the Uists with the Field Studies Council for a week of birdwatching and botanical exploration starting from their Kindrogen Field Centre.
The weather was actually excellent and we had a wonderful time in a landscape that is at the same time both breathtaking in its beauty and bleak! We recorded 90 different species of birds, 10 of which were ticks (OK, so we don’t get out much).
The highlights include 4 red-necked Phalaropes which were displaying and mating; Corncrake galore; a Golden Eagle plus chick on a nest; a Glaucous Gull; skuas; divers, Storm Petrel; loads of Short-eared owls and the sheer number of breeding waders which were everywhere.
Oh, and a first even for our team leader which was perhaps the only wild snowy owl in the UK – a superb brilliant white adult male.
A totally recommended location to visit.
See you on the next coach trip!
Kevin Johncock