'Whatever he studies, the future observer of St
Kilda will be haunted the rest of his life by the place, and tantalised by the
impossibility of describing it, to those who have not seen it.' James
Fisher, Naturalist. (1947)
St Kilda Wren Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis. Courtesy of Samuel Hood
2nd
June. Sam and I had booked our trip to
St Kilda with Sea Harris in February and even at that time we weren’t soon
enough to get onto the priority list so were put onto the standby list. That meant we were dependant upon there being
two days of good enough conditions to allow two trips to run on consecutive
days. In these circumstances and bearing
in mind the difficulties involved in getting to St Kilda we hadn’t built our
hopes up only for them be sadly downed.
We’d convinced ourselves that our trip to the Outer Hebrides would in
any event be a great one and so it was, so a trip to St Kilda would be a bonus. As it
happens, we hit a period of great weather for our trip to the Outer Hebrides
and so the standby trip did run. What
follows is an account of our adventure with images that can speak volumes as to
how exciting this trip is.
We were up
for breakfast before 6:00am. Looked out of the window and saw little because of
mist! I wasn’t downhearted as it was
still early, and in any event one of my all time top experiences has been out
at sea on the Pacific coast of Canada in thick mist which was burnt off by the
sun in time for us to see amazing wildlife and scenery. We were down to the harbour at Leverburgh in
plenty of time to meet up with the crew of our boat The Enchanted Isle and we were soon to learn that young guys Darren
and Iain had been brought up on the Outer Hebrides and were keen to share their
knowledge. Once into our lifejackets we
were off on what was to be just over a 2.5-hour sea crossing of the 44 miles to
St Kilda. It might make good reading to
say we faced high winds, that we were buffeted by a giant swell and that we
faced the biting cold and trauma with stout hearts. In fact, the Atlantic was like a mill pond,
there was no wind what so ever and we felt quite warm even out on deck of the
small craft. It was ideal conditions for
watching seabirds despite the mist which on occasions cleared to show the sun
breaking through only for it to disappear again and mist to once again
descend. It was peaceful, dramatic and
so good to be out there on the ocean.
Great Skua. Courtesy of Samuel Hood
Sam and I
spent most of the time on the outer deck, despite our comfortable airline
styled seats inside. About half way out
we watched 5 or 6 Rock Doves following
the boat, with one making several aborted attempts to land on the boat. We guessed they may be lost in the mist and
the crew said they had never seen Rock
Doves out here before. Sam commented
that he now had some idea how crews in mist and under attack during the war
must have felt. I knew exactly what he
meant. Every now and then we would enter
an area where the mist had lifted, and sun light broke through, only for us to
enter the mist again. Birds would fly
away and just disappear into the mist.
We had some good bird sightings including several Storm Petrels which where seen lifting from the ocean. Other birds included numerous Fulmar, Gannet, Shag, Eider, Kittiwake and other gulls, Arctic Tern, Black Guillemot, Guillemot,
Puffin and Razorbill and then
nearer to St Kilda Great and Arctic Skua. We eventually saw the
island of Hirta emerge from the mist, and we were nearly at our destination.
After some
problems with the motor of the dinghy which was to take us ashore, we
eventually landed at Hirta with help from guys from another boat and their
dinghy, where we were met by Ciaran the Seabird Ranger. Someone mentioned the mist spoiling the view
and Ciaran suggested that had there been wind it may have shifted the mist but could
have spelt rough seas and seasickness so the view then would also have been
spoilt in such circumstances! That
killed off further comment and we got on and enjoyed our hours on Hirta! I have now seen a report which suggests a
couple of weeks beforehand a ranger had to deal with a difficult case of all
aboard being severely seasick, bruised and battered during a quite horrific
incident where the nurse had to be sent for.
I’m glad I read that after our trip and not before. I didn’t feel the mist (which was lifting by
now) spoilt the experience anyway, rather it added much to the dramatic effect
and atmosphere. Sam knew Ciaran from his
time spent on Fair Isle, so we got the chance to photograph Ciaran’s Snowy Owl
pellet, although we never saw or expected to see the Snowy Owl that was
currently on Hirta, but keeping out of the way of the skuas high up in the
hills.
Snowy Owl Pellet. Enlarge the image and see the bones more clearly.
Fulmar
Sam managed
to capture an image of the St Kilda Wren
Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis
and there were several of this sub species singing as we explored the village
remains. I was only vaguely aware of the
history of the St Kilda community and my intention is to educate myself about
the details and the book St Kilda- The
Last and Outmost Isle is due for
delivery as I type, as is a CD of music inspired by old St Kilda songs. Interestingly we heard a Cuckoo on the island and later Ciaran confirmed that they are
rarely recorded at St Kilda. There were
plenty of wild/feral Soay Sheep too. There is some evidence to suggest that this
ancient breed of sheep arrived with the first settlers on St Kilda around 4,000
years ago. We walked high above the
village which gave a good view point on the remains of the village and it was
here that we ate our very nice packed lunches.
Sam later encouraged me up the area called ‘The Gap’ where we rested, I
needed to by then, and watched birds including Great Skuas and Arctic Skuas. The mist rolled in at times and as it hit the
sheer cliff where it tended to rise before us, giving a very interesting
ghostly effect. It would not have been
safe to walk to the very top of the cliffs as mist kept falling, that’s my
excuse anyway. We had been warned by
Ciaran not to attempt such a walk as the area is treacherous in misty
conditions. I began to wonder how many
people had fallen off these sheer and vertiginous cliffs. Before we had reached the top of the gap we
had found the situation quite surreal as we heard a Geordie accent coming from
afar and listened to the bleeping of a reversing truck in the village area
where there was work being done on the army post. We didn’t allow this to spoil our
experience. I spoke with the Geordie
voice later when I bumped into a bloke from South Shields. I mean, you go to the
Islands of St Kilda and there is another Geordie there!
Village remains
Interesting structures high above village that I need to research
I'd made it and had a sheer drop off the cliff behind me!
We took
another look around the village including the graveyard and the museum and even
had a quick look in the shop. I was
hoping to buy myself a St Kilda hat or something similar. I was disappointed with the hats, they were awful
and in tones of light blue and pink and every bit of clothing had a Puffin on
it which made me think I was in Seahouses! Not sure why they don’t use St Kilda Wren or
at least a Fulmar or Skua. They got no
money from me although I’m sure they wouldn’t care as one bloke seemed to
purchase half the shop. He either liked
Puffins, had lots of money or perhaps both.
Oystercatchers on the village walls
Over four hours
on Hirta flew over and we were then treated to a slice of homemade ginger cake
and a mug of coffee on board the boat before the best part of the trip, a slow
boat trip around the islands and stacks with a very interesting commentary at
times from Iain. One minute we were
looking at stacks in mist, then suddenly in sun. I have to say such an adventure will take
some beating as these cliffs and stacks are an amazing sight.
Hirta
We saw
thousands of Gannets, Fulmars and
auks and numbers of Great and Arctic Skuas at close range. By now the mist had lifted somewhat but there
was still enough to give a real atmosphere.
We had spoken to a couple visiting from New England and they were greatly
impressed and said they had been mindful of Game of Thrones as they went past
the cliffs and stacks. I had earlier
mentioned a Lord of the Rings atmosphere, so we had been thinking along similar
lines.
During this
part of the trip and on the journey back to Leverburgh we had wonderful
sightings of birds, their flight reflected on the ocean in stunning lighting
conditions, as once again the sun at times shone through mist. Sam and I were out on the open deck for most
of the return trip across the ‘mill pond’.
Gannet. Courtesy of Samuel Hood
It had been
an amazing adventure and I’m pleased we had chosen Harris Sea Tours to take us
as everything was so well organised and the boat and crew excellent. We were buzzing when we arrived in the
harbour and quickly sorted ourselves out before we went for dinner in the local
restraunt. It was an OK meal and we got talking
to the couple on the next table to us, Linda and Charles (hope I remember the
names correctly) from Burton on Trent.
They invited us to join them and we ended the evening chatting away as
if we had known each other for years. I
don’t think either Charles or Linda had any great desire to go to St Kilda, but
their love of the Outer Hebrides shone through everything they said, and they
explained that it was a regular trip that they made. They certainly understood our excitement
about our visit today. Charles had
recently faced a very serious medical operation and they had not known whether
they would make this trip at all.
Thankfully they did, and I do hope they are able to return many times in
the future. They were lovely sincere
people and our meeting of them added greatly to today’s experience.
As we drove back to Spinners Cottage we watched
a Short-Eared Owl and once back to
Geocrab watched the Otter again in
the bay before completing our days bird list.
And so, to bed, hardly believing we had been to St Kilda. Sam has dreamt of going since he was a ‘wee’
lad and as for me, I just didn’t think I’d ever get there. Now I have had time to reflect, today’s trip
has entered my top ten list of ‘experiences’ with the natural world.
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