On Coll

We’re not long back from visiting one of our favourite islands, Coll. This island is a treat for the senses, as its not just the sights of wildlife that thrill but the sounds. Every morning and evening in our campervan we heard the pee-wit call of lapwings in the field next to us. They looked like young ones and there were about a half dozen of them in the one field.

We went to the RSPB nature reserve at Totronald and heard the corncrake making its distinct “creck creck , creck creck” rasping call. It was well hidden from us in amongst the tall reeds and grasses which are left uncut to provide cover for it. The only bird photo I got here was a thrush breaking open a shell to eat the snail inside.

Mmm…tasty!

As we drove down the centre of the island we stopped the van when we saw what we think is a great skua having a bath in a lochan then preening itself on a rock.

Another time the van pulled over was when we spotted this female hen harrier hunting over a field.

We went otter hunting, scouring empty beaches for otter tracks. However we didn’t see any this time. We did however see and hear arctic terns which were probably nesting on nearby rocky islets.

And also when looking for otters we came across this group of grey seals including a pup. One of them had a gash around its neck, I hope it wasn’t caused by being caught in a net or other human litter.

The mum of the pup on the left hand side of the photo also had a bloody wound. The seals had been well camouflaged amongst the rocks and we nearly disturbed them. So after this quick photo with the big lens we backed away from them.

A highlight of our Coll trip was when we took the kayak out to the little islands off the North of Coll. Here we saw rafts of manx shearwaters. These birds fly from Argentina each year to breed on Rum and other islands.

As we looked out along the horizon we saw a long thin black cloud of them almost like a linear murmuration. On looking through the binoculars we realised we were seeing tens of thousands of them! What a sight! Then to add to our excitement we saw two minke whales dipping in and out of the sea, also a fair way away but nevertheless an extra special sight for us. Coll never disappoints ….