Hebridean & St Kilda Odyssey..Pt4..Harris and Lewis

31^st May.  As I loaded my luggage into the car early morning I welcomed the overcast sky and lower temperatures.  I had hoped that the hotel would offer us an early breakfast, but that didn’t seem to fit in with their arrangements, so we had a cup of tea before leaving.  We were soon heading for the ferry at Berneray which would take us to Leverburgh, Harris.  We saw our first Arctic Skua of the trip along the way as well as Short Eared Owl and were to see more of the former before the day was out.

The ferry trip was rewarding, and the sun was soon out again and the temperatures rising.  Birds seen included Red Throated Diver, Great Northern Diver (we were to see 30+ today), Fulmar, Gannet, Shag, Red breasted Merganser, Great Skua, Arctic Skua (with some fine displays of kleptoparasitism), Kittiwake and other gulls, Arctic Tern, Puffin, Black Guillemot 50+, Guillemot, and Razorbill.  We also had a close sighting of White Tailed Sea Eagle as it rested on a small rocky islet.   As we neared Leverburgh Common Dolphins and Grey Seals were seen and Sam had a distant view of Basking Sharks, a lifer for him.  We ate lunch at Leverburgh and noted a cash point inside the shop which on reflection I should have used.  You’ll understand why later, in blog 6!

Interior of St Clements Church

We were in no rush to get to our next accommodation so took a drive around areas of Harris.  We initially found St Clements Church that we looked around.  A very old building with a very interesting graveyard.  Next it was into high ground where we stopped to take photographs and got talking to a Swiss couple who I seem to remember were moving through the islands in a southerly direction.  The gentleman described parts of Harris and Lewis as being like the surface of the moon’.  I don’t think he meant that as a compliment but did explain that he thought the coastline beautiful.  The couple had visited the Shiant Islands and had really enjoyed the visit.  We explained that we hoped to visit St Kilda and simply didn’t have the time to visit the Shiants too, although it was somewhere we had considered and would like to go to one day.  We all stood and watched a close by Cuckoo before going our separate ways.

Harris Upland

I think it was Hobrgodost Bay where we next stopped to take in the sounds and view of the turquoise waters washing into the rocky and sandy bay, whilst we were being careful not to fall off the edge of the cliff which was in places covered in Thrift.  We stayed there sometime and had good sightings of two wonderfully plumaged Great Northern Divers which showed really well, but just a little too far away to produce good photographs.  We saw our first and only Whimbrel of the trip at another bay where the bird called as it flew low across the sands in front of us.  Our bird list was doing OK today and included several other waders in Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Common Sandpiper and Snipe.  There was also the now expected Common Buzzards, Hooded Crows and Ravens along with the likes of Wheatear and Twite.

Bay

We arrived at our accommodation at Spinners Cottage, Geocrab by early evening and we were warmly greeted by our hosts Karen and Mac.  We watched an Otter and Common Seal from the dining room window and took a walk around the bay this evening before completing our bird list for the day and having an early night.  As my head hit the pillow I didn’t have much time to ponder on fact that the geology surrounding us had its origins 3,000 million years ago!

Inlet at Geocrab

1^st June.  It was going to be quite a long drive today as we headed for the Butt of Lewis, the most northerly point of the Outer Hebrides.  We planned to take in a little culture and history on the way but first we enjoyed the scenic route through Harris and the mountains and into Lewis.  One of our first stops was at the Standing Stones of Calanais.  This site is 5,000 years old and is the centre of several smaller sites around similar age.  The stones are impressive, and we found a real live middle-aged Druid with drum etc doing her thing.  This lady seemed quite determined to get into any photograph I was taking but she misjudged the level of my determination to make sure she didn’t!  The centre and restraunt ensures this is a busy site, a little too busy for my liking although I enjoyed my cup of tea.  We enjoyed much more our next stop at dun Charlabhaigh, the Iron Age Broch where we had the site to ourselves.  However, the best site of all was The Blackhouse at Arnol.  I had just read about Blackhouses on The Shiants in Adam Nicolson’s book Sea Room.  The Blackhouse we entered was still inhabited in the 1960s and I think we were both able to appreciate the more recent history, much more than the ancient monuments that we had seen earlier.  This is a very authentic site, with peat fire and smoke which stayed on my chest the rest of the afternoon.  I laughed when I read a critical comment from a visitor who expressed the opinion that there wasn’t much to see in the Blackhouse.  They must have expected fitted carpets, hi fi and TV!  The site includes the new house built to replace the old Blackhouse.  I understand that it was very damp and in any case the family packed up and returned to the Blackhouse to live!  We took a short walk to the nearby RSPB reserve at Loch na Muilne which holds Red Necked Phalarope.  It was bleak even in the sunshine, but Sam managed to spot one Red Necked Phalarope before it disappeared into loch growth.

A section of the standing stones

Broch

Blackhouse interior

We eventually arrived at the Butt of Lewis and its ancient cliffs.  We spoke to a guy from Liverpool who said it was the windiest place in Europe.  Now I’m not at all sure that is the case, but I understand it was once in the Guinness Book of Records as the windiest place in the UK.  In any event it was sunny and warm today with not a breath of wind in the air, just as well as we were perilously close to the edge of the cliffs at times.  Fulmars nested amongst the Thrift.  We watched at least 6 Harbour Porpoise below us and Grey Seals.  Birds seen included Red Throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Shag, Eider, Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Kittiwake and other gulls, Arctic Tern, Black Guillemot, Guillemot, Razorbill and Rock Dove.  Well if true Rock Doves do still exist I guess this is a spot to see them!  We were so wrapped up in the wildlife we gave the Lighthouse only a cursory glance.  Anyway, we had made it to the northern tip of the Outer Hebrides.

Rock formation at Butt of Lewis

Grey Seal

Fulmar amongst the Thrift

The return drive brought us Red Deer at a stop in the mountainous area and birds once again included Common Buzzard, Raven, Hooded Crow and Cuckoo.  Merlin was also seen again, along with numbers of waders.

A return via the mountains

In the evening we once again watched from the dining room a dog Otter in the bay as it fed and then marked its territory.  One of the best sightings of Otter I’ve ever had.  We watched for about twenty minutes.  The Common Sandpiper called as it flew around the bay.  I learned tonight too that the name Spinners Cottage stems from the fact that years ago the place was used for accommodating the female spinners in the area.  Geocrab is pronounced with a hard G and geo means cleft /chasm in a cliff, whilst the area was once re-nouwned for its crabs.

We went off to bed quite early again as tomorrow was our day for St Kilda, and yes it was definitely on!  I’d left all the details at home, but Karen had kindly sorted it all out for us on our arrival so all we had to do tomorrow was turn up at Leverburgh with our gear and packed lunches.  The weather was set fair and I gave an inward sigh of relief having heard about some difficult crossings to St Kilda!