It Started with an Egg

Tuesday May 2 

I was expecting a parcel at mid-day, then Heather arrived with some salted caramel shortbread and a Hotel Chocolat Egg Sandwich. 

 

This was probably a replacement for the welcome hamper smoked salmon and pot of salmon pate that we returned, as we do not eat fish. I am allergic and Pam is ambivalent. My money transfer had not been completed either. I soon fixed that.

The croft has a pair of turkeys. The male does not like people and attacks all who go near - except for husband Ian. Then, recently, Ian fell over in the pen and the bird had a good go at him. I don't think he has a long life expectancy.

Whilst Pam was opening my bedroom curtains, she noticed a Wren preening under the hedge before flying across the patch of grass. The first time I've actually been able to view this sub species, known as the Hebridean Wren.

APPEARANCE AND GENERAL BEHAVIOUR.
T. t. hebridensis I found to be less readily distinguishable from
the European Wren (T. t. troglodytes) than the other races which I
have had the opportunity to observe carefully in the field—islandi-
cus, zetlandicus and hirtensis. The upper-parts appear darker than
in T. t. troglodytes (Meinertzhagen, 1934), the breast rather more
buff and the barring on the flanks somewhat more conspicuous.
The tails of two or three seemed long relative to the size of the bird,
but presumably this impression was due to some peculiarity in
their attitudes as it is not borne out by skin measurements. The
Hebridean Wren has not the robust, stocky appearance of the
Shetland Wren. It is no less spry and lively than the European
Wren and is constantly on the move here and there, poking into
crannies in turf banks, piled boulders, heather tufts and so forth.

Although Hebridean Wrens can scarcely be called shy they are
wary and less tolerant than Shetland Wrens of the presence of
human beings whether at the nest or away from it.  Best, Turner and Haviland (1914)
exaggerate their timidity, remarking that they found them " much
shyer than the mainland wren." Beveridge (1918) is even more
emphatic, calling it " the shyest of creatures."  

British Birds 

 

Eventually, we left for Committee Road where we immediately had a displaying male Hen Harrier. His display flight is often called 'sky dancing'. This particular male rose vertically very rapidly, when reaching the maximum height, he closed his wings and plummeted earthwise even faster, rising upwards again when he seemed to inevitably dive head first into the ground. Amazing. I tried to follow his flight fairly successfully, the resulting photos are awful. This is the least bad!

 

After this exhilarating experience, Pam put the moth pheromone lure out on the ground beside the car. Within five minutes there were four Emperor moths fluttering madly around the lure.  We didn't allow them to suffer frustration for long, we returned to park in the Raptor Watchpoint. A car containing two women, two others standing outside . was already there. They struck up a conversation during which the moths were mentioned and they seemed very interested. Out went the lure again. In even less time, two males appeared, much to the women's joy. That was good to witness too.

A lane-side field had a lone Whooper Swan making its ungainly way across it - until it sank to the ground, Injured? Didn't look injured ..... maybe unwell? Such a graceful and elegant bird in flight and on water. So laboured and clumsy looking when walking. Those big paddle feet set well back on the body are not built for walking.

We then drove the Paible circuit, ending our drive where there is a notice warning of a Corncrake breeding area. No sight nor sound of any today,

 

Maybe the island of Baleshare would be worth a visit. The bay looked lovely, white sand glistening in the sun, most of the small parking area taken up by motorhomes. We didn't stay long. A small group of Golden Plover were flighting around from time to time, a Whimbrel called, Lapwing aggressively saw off any bird which came near their nesting area. We stopped to view some iris beds where I had seen Corncrake in the past. In response to a tape, we saw one Corncrake in flight from one iris bed to another - still no calls. Odd.

Maybe Committee Road was worth another quick visit. Six Ravens flew ahead of us into the hills, the Hen Harrier made a rapid flypast again. Time to retire for the day.