Outer Hebrides

Martin Standley August 13, 2026

We have just got back from a wonderful trip to the Outer Hebrides. We were undecided as to whether we should go on an organised tour that would do all the donkey work for us or should we hire a car and do it ourselves.

Well we chose the former and what a great trip it was. We went with Brightwater tours and it involved crossing from Big to Lochmaddy on North Uist, a tour of the islands and eventually sailing back from Stornaway to Ullapool.

It wasn’t a tour dedicated to wildlife, more one of sightseeing, visiting some ancient places and taking in the breathtaking scenery. I thought I would keep a record of what I saw in any case.

My wife Joanne has always wanted to visit the Outer Hebrides so we looked forward to this trip with great excitement.

On Day 1 we set off from Edinburgh at around 9.30 and after a few stops we made our way towards the Isle of Sky-the scenery getting more dramatic for every mile we went.

There was nothing too dramatic on the way up wildlife wise, although a jay in a roadside tree was nice to add to the list.A red deer on Skye was also nice to see.

The Ferry crossing was on a very calm sea which helped when looking for cetaceans. I saw a few porpoises whilst we were eating our dinner. Looking out from the boat there were a few common seabirds and a small pod of dolphins which I believe were the ‘bottle nosed’ variety following the boat for a short while.

Our base for the first 3 nights was to be the Dark Island Hotel in Liniclate on Benbecula. We arrived at around 8pm and the first bird we saw from the bedroom window was a short-eared owl. We were only 5 minutes from the beach so we had a wander out to watch the sunset-a beautiful azure sea, white sand and a beautiful peach sunset.

Day 1- Edinburgh to Uig

Herring Gull

Common buzzard

Carrion crow

Wood pigeon

Goldfinch

Great Black- backed gull

Rook

Swallow

Swift

Jay

Common gull

Grey wagtail

House Martin

House Sparrow

Oystercatcher

Grey Heron

Pied wagtail

Starling

Hooded crow

Jackdaw

Shag

Rock pipit

Razorbill

Guillemot

Puffin

Gannet

Kittiwake

Short-eared owl

Curlew

Mammals

Porpoise

Dolphin

Red deer

Rabbit

On Day 2 we headed south through Benbecula, on to South Uist, then Eriskay and caught the ferry to Barra.

The morning started off bright and sunny but soon clouded over and stayed mainly dry.

The scenery was amazing, mainly heathland giving way to freshwater lichens and rocky inlets covered in golden seaweed.

More short-eared owls from the coach as well as a couple of ravens.

The crossing to Barra was calm and there were a few seabirds notably black guillemot and arctic tern.

Benbecula-Barra

Additions to the trip list were as follows:

Meadow pipit

Mute swan

Little grebe

Raven

Lapwing

Lesser Black-Backed Gull

Common tern

Common scoter

Linnet

Greenfinch

Wren

Black Guillemot

Arctic Tern

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Greylag goose

Mistle Thrush

Collared dove

Redshank

Day 3 started with another great sighting from the bedroom window-a male hen harrier! Very closely followed by a short eared owl.

The plan was to stay local (relatively speaking) so a trip tome couple of spots in the morning yielded mainly common birds. The afternoon involved a trip to the magnificent R.S.P.B reserve at Balranald. We arrived in pouring rain but not to be deterred, we set off on the 3 mile walk around the reserve. A snipe flew overhead, bar-tailed godwits were in nearby fields and a juvenile stonechat escorted by one of its parents made a brief appearance.It was great to see the famous Machair close up but a combination of bad weather and time of year meant that there were no corncrakes seen or heard. The beach was magnificent and it went away in the distance azure blue sea and white sand looking magnificent despite the bad weather. There were a few common waders on the beach as well as a distant diver and its youngster-from the photos it looked like black-throated. An arctic skua flew by in summer plumage but was too quick for a photo. We carried on around the headland and saw yet more spectacular scenery before heading back to the coach. A wheatear on the beach was the highlight.

It was a shame the weather was so bad but still exhilarating to be out and well worth the drenching.

Hen harrier

Shellduck

Mallard

Black Headed Gull

Cormorant

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Snipe

Stonechat

Dunlin

Eider

Arctic skua

Black-Throated Diver

Wheatear

Day 4 Drive up to Stornoway

Day 4 started as Day 3 finished with torrential rain. Not before we were treat to another great sighting from the bedroom window. The first sign was all of the rabbits on the football pitch and the alarm calls of gulls-then a superb white-tailed eagle flew slowly from left to right about 60m away! It landed on a high point on the dunes for a short while being mobbed by anything that flew by. What a great start to the morning.

We were on our way north heading to Stornaway in very heavy rain and a force 8 gale. This made the crossing from Bernaray to Leverburgh quite interesting. There were lots of seabirds but again nothing of particular note. The environment we wrestle crossing in was hostile to say the least but amazing to see the gannets gliding in the wind and then diving for a fish with almost no effort almost oblivious to the wind and rough sea.

The terrain changed once we got on to Lewis to a far more rugged and mountainous nature. On a better day we might have had a chance of seeing an eagle but not in those conditions.

White tailed eagle

Day 5 Standing Stones etc

Day 5 started with much better weather. Hardly and breeze and some sunshine made for a nice start. We were heading out to Calanais to see the standing stones. There has been a new visitor centre built and it was very impressive. The standing stones were just a short walk and it was here we had our first encounter with midges. Not as bad as it might have been but still uncomfortable at times. The stones were a sight to see, set in a dramatic landscape with views down to the sea. We headed further inland to Dun Carloway Broch-an ancient building made from stone that cut an imposing figure on the rugged landscape. It was here that we had some close up views of a hooded crow-something we don’t see that often at home.

On the way back we called in at Norse Mill and Kiln-a replica of ancient buildings set against a stream with a walk by a loch set in beautiful countryside. It was here that I had some good views of raven and a black darter dragonfly was sunning itself by the edge of the stream. We headed back into Stornaway for a wander round before being picked up and taken back for dinner.

Day 6 was our last day. It was an early start as wee needed to catch the 7am ferry. Again it was overcast and raining-a distinctly Autumnal feel. I managed to find a sheltered spot on the ferry but it was disappointingly quiet given the strong wind and time of year. The highlights being an arctic skua mobbing a great skua and a couple of Manx Shearwaters .

The ride to Inverness produced the last addition to the list in the form of a red kite.

Manx shearwater

Great Skua

Red kite

The trip was memorable in so many ways. The scenery and weather combined to give us a proper flavour of life on these remote islands. The ancient history, the natural history and the culture was just amazing. We were blessed to have arguably the best tour manager in Scotland, his wealthof knowledge was second to none and he wanted to ensure we missed nothing. A true professional. Our coach driver was another one arguably the best in the business getting the coach round some of those narrow roads was no mean feat-he did a marvellous job. Finally the people. We set off as strangers and finished as friends. Everyone sharing a common interest in the beautiful surroundings and enjoying the many experiences together.

Our thanks go to Brightwater, our tour manager Alistair, our bus driver Stuart and to all of the lovely people we met on this trip.

Bottle-Nosed Dolphin (Uig to Lochmaddy Ferry)

Razorbill & Chick (Eriskay to Barra Ferry)

Eider Razorbill & Chick (Eriskay to Barra Ferry)

Black Guillemot (Eriskay to Barra Ferry)

Kittiwakes & Leverburgh to Berneray Ferry

Manx Shearwater (Stornoway to Ullapool Ferry)

Arctic & Great Skua (Stornoway to Ullapool Ferry)

Summer At Spurn

Martin Standley July 30, 2026

I haven’t been out with my camera for a while as I have been distracted by my other passion of sea angling. However we had a couple of trips to the caravan just recently which gave me the perfrct opportunity to get put.

I love Spurn at this time of year, it is literally bursting with life. Waders are returning from breeding grounds in the Arctic. Terns and gull numbers are building on Beacon Ponds, mammals and their offspring abound and there are insects of all shapes and sizes.

Beacon Ponds is the place to be at this time of year and the waders didn’t disappoint. I was lucky enough to see a couple of rare waders, the star of the show was a buff-breasted sandpiper-the first at Spurn since 2018. A white rumped sandpiper was also there. Common waders are still in summer plumage and the Knot look particularly stunning. Also breeding avocet and ringed plover gave some great views.

The little terns numbers are peaking and whilst I was there Spurn Bird Observatory announced that the 100th chick had hatched for this year. A truly remarkable achievement.

A visit from an arctic skua livened things up arly one morning-it hung around for only a matter of minutes and was eventually seen off by a number of angry birds protecting their young.

The morning light at this time of year is superb for photography and when this coincides with high tide, it gives some great photographic opportunities. beacon ponds and the gate to Spurn are the best places.

I returned with over 7k of images so its taken a while to get through.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Spring Arrives At Spurn

Martin Standley April 20, 2026

Ive had a couple of fairly fruitless trips to Spurn just recently then at the weekend things took a turn for the better-Spring arrived at Spurn.

We arrived on friday and got a few jobs done at the caravan-its looking very smart now. The sunset was dramatic and the two hares that are visible from our caravan were most obliging as they came close in the near-darkness. The sunset was dramatic and whilst I only had woodpigeons and curlews to focus on, it made for some nice images.

One thing we do like to do is set up the trail camera and after putting out a few peanuts, it didnt take the local badger long to find them. Also a woodmouse joined in to add a little variety.

I was up early on Saturday morning. I had donated a day’s photography course at the raffle for Migfest last year and two very nice people came up from Essex to learn a little bit about wildlife photography around Spurn.

We agreed to meet at 5.30 for the sunrise so I was there a little earlier just to check it out. Immediately I saw a badger on the island at Kilnsea Wetlands but it didn’t hang around. We quickly made our way to Beacon Ponds for the sunrise. There was surprisingly few waders or wildfowl around so our subjects were limited-an almost cloudless sky made for an unimpressive sunrise so we didnt hang around.

There was a close avocet in front of the hide then we started to walk back to the car. Not before seeing our first decent bird of the day-a hooded crow heading south.

We were hoping to go on to Long Bank Marsh but there were already 4 people ahed of us so we took a quick detour up to Sammy’s Point. here wer were treated to a spanking yellow wagtail (more of that later) and at least 3 wheatears.We continued along the riverside walk flushing a few common waders from the rocks as the tide was very high. On the way we say our first whitethroat of the year and on arriving at the third paddock, this was complemented by our first lesser whitethroat.

There was plenty of birds in the bushes and it was a pleasant walk through as we were out of the wind and warned by early morning sunshine.

it was here we heard the news of a great reed warbler that had been trapped in Sykes Field we had no chance of getting there before it was due to be released so just hoped it might show later in the day.

On the walk back we saw another first for the year-a whimbrel resting on the tank blocks.

From Sammy’s we headed to Sandy beaches where a black redstart had been seen. As we walked up to the ruins of the gun emplacement it appeared briefly near the beach thenpopped back out on the cliff top where it showed obligingly for arouns half an hour.

Next stop was canal bushes and canal scrape but it was quiet there but news of a firecrest near The Blue Bell had us heading back up to the car park. The firecrest showed almost immediately and was displaying and singing for most of the time.

A walk around Sykes Field produced singing sedge warbler and the now obligatory cettis warbler, but no sign of the great reed warbler.Flowering blackthorn attracted peacock, speckled wood and red admiral butterflies.

From Sykes field we headed to our final destination-a wander around the Churchyard, Crown & Anchor car park, the observatory garden and church field-the highlight here being two very fresh orange tips.

It was here we said our goodbyes and hopefully Nidge and Nic went away happy with some nice memories of Spurn.

I was up early on Sunday and set off with the aim of getting some photos of a yello wagtail. I was in position fo 6.30 and there were a few wheatears about albeit quite distant. After 10 minutes or so a gorgeos yellow wagtail landed in front of me and this seemed to spur the wheatears on to come a bit closer. It was a lovely Springtime experience to see these birds feeding in the dew heavy grass and early morning sunshine. I only spent an hour there before looking for waders at the gate. It was quiet there so headed back for breakfast.

A lovely trip again to the UK’s premier wildlife watching venue.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Outer Hebrides

Summer At Spurn

Spring Arrives At Spurn

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