Ullapool

We’ve been out and about again over the past few days and ventured over to Ullapool. The views as we drove over never fail to delight and then add the beautiful sunny weather that graced us on Saturday, what better way to spend your time! And when out of the wind it was great to feel the heat on your back. The bird life was made up of Chaffinches and Sparrows as well as the usual gulls all over the chip shop! But as we were enjoying ourselves walking along one of the streets behind the main street when we heard our first Cuckoo of the season calling from the hills. A great addition to the sunny surroundings.

On our way home we had fantastic views of a pair of Slavonian Grebes resting in a small loch. It doesn’t look like they are breeding yet, but I suspect this will come soon. On the same loch we saw a pair of Mallards with their chicks and a Little Grebe alarming at a pair of Moorhens nearby. This was the first time we had heard a Little Grebe ‘whinnying’ and what an aptly descriptive word that is! The loch also had a Coot and a Mute Swan.

One bird that was noticeably low in numbers was the Buzzard. We only saw one on the journey, where as only a few weeks ago there would be a soaring Buzzard around every corner!

Some good news from our garden; at last we have life! A couple of House Sparrows are visiting us. In the winter we had numerous callers, but spring has been very quiet as the fields have been plentiful bounty for them.

Séamus