Day trip to St Kilda

24th July 2014

With the settled weather I managed to fulfil a long held ambition to visit St Kilda, now possible on a day trip out of Uig - http://www.gotostkilda.co.uk. St Kilda is a National Nature Reserve and World Heritage Site and of course the bird interest lies in its seabirds with 140,000 pairs of Puffins, 68,000 pairs of Fulmars and the largest gannetry in the world on Boreray with an estimated 60,000 pairs. On a day trip with 4 hours ashore it is an almost surreal experience. The weather was positively benign but despite that there was a fair Atlantic swell as we circled the towering stacks of Boreray, a truly amazing experience (see image). There are also significant numbers of Great Skuas breeding as well as a few Arctic's. Although I heard a St Kilda Wren it remained out of view. Such a remote group of islands will also pick up a few migrants so a female Whinchat seemed to be well out of normal range, and some Wheatears also looked to be on the move from further north. An image of a moth was id'd by Steve Duffield as a Nettle-tap and we are waiting to find out if this is a first for St. Kilda. On the journey out and back we picked up a small pod of Common Dolphins, a couple of Minke Whale and nearer Uig, good numbers of Harbour Porpoise. Bird highlights included a few Storm Petrels but all this paled to insignificance alongside the special atmosphere which makes St Kilda a world apart. Thanks to Derek and Nicola for an extremely professional and safe trip.

Bob

THE BOOK

"A glorious little gem"

AMAZON

"A book such as this has to look backwards and the author does so succinctly, looking at the work of several of the pioneering naturalists before picking out the publications of JA Harvie-Brown and the Rev. Hugh Macpherson. I know this book fills a real gap in the information available for the Isle of Skye and it will surely sell well at local bookshops."

Andrew Currie Miscellany West Highland Free Press

"A total of 238 species have been recorded, with 14 of those 'red listed' as of high conservation concern ... another innovation has been the inclusion of Gaelic names for some birds. While this is not uncommon in a few other books, the addition of some regional Gaelic names is very unusual and very welcome."

Ray Collier Country Diary 'Up in the Skye' The Guardian

"Illustrated with beautiful photographs of current birdlife on the island, the publication also features sketches by Jean Thomas of The Little Gallery, Portnalong, stimulating the reader's interest further and allowing them to identify species they encounter on Skye."

The Hebridean