(Story continued from part 3)
25th
A Greylag Goose
A Foxglove
Today Rona, Mairi, Abby, Laura, Ellie and I went south to a wood near Loch Inver
while Dad and Peter went fishing
while Dad and Peter went fishing
A partially toppled tree
Anyone see the spider?
A mushroom or toadstool
A mushroom or toadstool
Bat houses
A view of Scourie from across the bay
After visiting the woods, Rona took us to a bookshop/cafe
And afterwards we went to Loch Inver and it's visitors centre.
The 26th
A Chiffchaff, one of several outside the caravan
A Chaffinch
Today we went to the Durness Highland games
Marsh Ragwort
The pipe band
The boys egg and spoon race (with me on the far right)
I took part in three events: the pillow fight (you have to knock someone of a log with a pillow),
the egg and spoon race and the sack race.
The hammer throw
When we left the games it started hammering down with rain and we could see the lightning about a mile in front of us.
The 27th
A Buzzard flying over the caravan
A Wasp
Badcall bay
This morning Peter took some of us out on his boat for a trip around some of the nearby islands
Peter's boat
A Red-throated Diver
A Shalder
Another Red-throated Diver, the closer you get the more stunning they become
See the crack the Black Guillemots are in, that's where they have their nests
A Scorpion Fish and a crab
This Butterfish ended up in the crap pot (It was thrown back in the sea)
Close-up
A Lumpsucker caught in the crab pot, I think it was about a centimetre long
Shags
Badcall
Handa Island
A "Bridled" Guillemot
Common Guillemots or Longvi
One of two bonxies that were swimming around our boat
Handa's western side
Guillemot with a fish
A bit of the cliff which has come down
A Lion's mane Jellyfish
The biggest fish I caught
A good catch
Scourie from the west
A very shallow channel (any see the head at the end?)
After we'd gotten ashore we walked up a hill towards Edith's and had a speak with her for a while
At 7.00pm we went to Rona and Peter's since it was our last day
28th
A panoramic of Badcall bay
Early morning mist over the mountain
A Daddy-long legs
The view out the caravan
Thyme and Tormentil
Just before we left to go to Scrabster we went and said goodbye to Rona and Peter
Two of a kind
A Robin
On our way to Srabster we stopped at a cafe in Durness
Durness
We arrived in Tongue and went to a Cafe on the edge of the village
A spinning wheel
The Tongue Cafe
At half five we arrived at the ferry terminal, while everyone else waited in the car I went along a path leading to a lighthouse to see what I could find
A stripy Snail
St Johns Wort
While I was out walking I spotted two Sand Martins.
We arrived in Orkeny at about 8.30pm and then we drove up to Kirkwall
A calender in a shop on the Kirkwall high street
At 11.00pm we got on the Northlink boat to Shetland.
The 29th
When we arrived back in Shetland, I went to the South Mainland with my grannie to try and see a Two-barred Crossbill, A Gull-billed Tern and a Rosete Tern.
We went to Scatness to try and see the Gull-billed and Rosete Tern, but when I went to look for the Roseate it was no-where to be found so I spoke to a birder from south who had come on the Northlink the same night as me to come and see the two terns and the T-b Crossbills, he showed me where he had seen the Gull-billed 15 minutes before but it had disappeared somewhere.
So instead we went to Sumburgh Head to find the Two-barred Crossbill
A Common Gull and some Sanderlings at Grutness
Ponies at Grutness
When we got to Sumburgh Head, my grannie had decided that she would stay and look at the puffins at the bottom of the cliffs while I went to the lighthouse to see the Two-barred Crossbill
My first Two-barred Crossbill on top of a storage container at Sumburgh Head.
(Thanks to Gary Bell for pointing out the bird)
It alighted itself several metres in front of us.
A very handsome bird
After spending about half an hour looking at the Two-barred Crossbill, I went back down to the car park to get my grannie and we then headed back north to Brae
On the way we saw this foal.
And this is the end of my Netherlands/Scotland Holiday, I hope who ever has read this has enjoyed it.
And here is the list of species I saw in the Netherlands/Scotland
(Du=Names in Dutch)
Birds
New species= Egyptian Goose, Jay
Total seen species=71
Great Crested Grebe (Du=Fuut)
Egyptian Goose (Du=)
Black-headed Gull (Du=Nillgans)
Wren (Du=Winterkoninkje)
Blackbird (Du=Merel)
Robin (Du=Roodborstje)
Mute Swan (Du=Knobbelzwaan)
Swallow (Du=Boerenzwaluw)
Chaffinch (Du=Vink)
Great-white Egret
Blue Tit (Du=Pimpelmees)
Little Grebe (Du=Dodaars)
Marsh Harrier (Du=Bruine kiekendief)
White Stork (Du=Ooievaar)
Meadow Pipit (Du=Graspieper)
Great Black-backed Gull (Du=Grote Mantelmeeuw)
Comorant (Du=Aalscholver)
Nuthatch (Du=Boomklever)
Great Tit (Du=Koolmees)
House Sparrow (Du=Huismus)
Chiffchaff (Du=Tjiftjaf)
Common Crane (Du=Kraanvogel)
Black-tailed Godwit (Du=Grutto)
Oystercatcher (Du=Scholekster)
Lapwing (Du=Kievit)
White Wagtail (Du=Witte Kwikstaart)
Rook (Du=Roek)
Woodpigeon (Du=Houtduif)
Magpie (Du=Ekster)
Jackdaw (Du=Kauw)
Eurasian Jay (Du=Vlaamse Gaai)
Common Pheasant (Du=Fasant)
Tree Sparrow (Du=Ringmus)
Song Thrush (Du=Zanglijster)
Arctic Tern (Du=Stormvogel)
Common Tern (Du=Visdief)
Grey Heron (Du=Blauwe Reiger)
Swift (Du=Gierzwaluw)
Spoonbill (Du=Lepelaar)
Goldfinch (Du=Distelvink)
Black Redstart (Du=Zwarte Roodstart)
Herring Gull (Du=Zilvermeeuw)
Starling (Du=Spreeuwen)
Bluethroat (Du=Blauwborst)
Buzzard (Du=Buizerd)
Kestrel (Du=Torenvalk)
House Martin (Du=Huiszwaluw)
Mallard (Du=Wilde Eend)
Stonechat (Du=Roodborsttapuit)
Coal Tit
Dunnock
Red-throated Diver
Coot
Greenfinch
Whinchat
Hooded Crow
heard Goldcrest
Common Redpoll
Common Sandpiper
heard Blackcap
Great Skua
Pied Wagtail
Siskin
Shag
Common Guillemot
Atlantic Puffin
Sandwich Tern
Sedge Warbler
Kittiwake
Gannet
Black Guillemot
Raven
Carrion Crow
Sand Martin
(The birds from Shetland have not been counted in this list)
And this is the end of my Netherlands/Scotland Holiday, I hope who ever has read this has enjoyed it.
