News from the Field July 2024
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News from the Field July 2024
This month Dave has highlights from our Iceland in Summer trip, Alex tells us about his Ultimate Outer Hebrides tour, Aidan has news from our Highlands and Wester Ross tour and George shares highlights from our Shetland Wildlife in Summer holiday!
Highlands & Wester Ross
“My Highlands and Wester Ross group were treated to a week of
excellent weather!
We spent two of our six days on the scenic west coast, where we had a wonderful boat trip out in the Minch. Common Dolphins were plentiful and we had really good views of a Minke Whale. As well as the cetaceans we had Storm Petrels over our heads and even Black-throated Divers from our hotel rooms. Back in the Cairngorms, Slavonian Grebes provided lots of enjoyment still in their summer finery and we had a 2cy Golden Eagle fly very close overhead. For many of us, the highlight of the week was a Tree Pipit feeding its Cuckoo youngster in the local woodland!” Heatherlea Guide: Aidan Branch
"Our group enjoyed fantastic birding, successful whale watching trips and stunning volcanic landscapes, coupled with good food and comfortable accommodation!
Arctic Terns were everywhere, Black-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel frequently s
een and singing Redwing and breeding Whooper Swan regularly encountered. Key species included Barrow’s Goldeneye, with a flock of 51 birds on Lake Mývatn, close views of female Harlequin Duck on the river at Mývatn and a group of 43 stunning drakes on a river in the interior, with close views of at least three Brünnich’s Guillemots in the auk colonies on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Amazing birding experiences on the tour included a flock of 500+ Red-necked Phalaropes, thousands of Puffins at the massive colony on the Westman Islands seen from the ferry to Heimaey and watching two male Snow Buntings pursuing each other for several minutes over hillsides and the crater lake at Viti. Great Northern Diver, Slavonian Grebe and Long-tailed Duck were all in breeding plumage, Great Northern Diver seen with chicks on a high elevation lake as we traversed the interior of Iceland, whilst a female Ptarmigan was watched with a brood of chicks on the roadside next to the minibuses and several Glaucous Gulls and summering Iceland Gull were also seen.
There were two whale watching trips on the tour, the first off Ólafsvik into Breiðafjörður revealed several White-beaked Dolphins which came in right next to the boat plus close views of two Minke Whales, whilst the second trip on Eyjafjörður provided us with excellent views of Humpback Whale, including the ‘classic’ view of the tail fluke when the whale dived.
Visits to the spectacular raging waterfall at Gullfoss, the geothermal springs at Geysir and the erupting geyser, Strokkur, the pools of boiling mud, hot springs and mini geysers at Hverir, plus the benefit of Andy Jones boundless knowledge of the geology, volcanology and cultural history of Iceland added to the enjoyment of this cracking tour for all involved." Heatherlea Guide: Dave Pearce
“I have just come back from a superb week exploring Shetland! We enjoyed good weather, especially on Foula and Noss. The scenery was amazing everywhere we visited, with lots of dramatic cliffs crammed with sea-birds and amazing local wildlife with Otters, Puffins, Red-necked Phalaropes and Risso's Dolphins. On top of the expected stuff, we were lucky enough to find Shetland's fifth Gull-billed Tern at Virkie and things got even better when Britain's 14th Pacific Swift was discovered a stone's throw from the hotel in Sumburgh. We spent a lot of our time island hopping, managing to visit seven in total if you include mainland Shetland, the pick of the bunch being a well-spent day on Foula. It resembled Jurassic Park from the sea on our approach with its high peaks. We visited Mousa Broch on one of the evenings and watched as the Storm Petrels emerged buzzing around our heads”. Heatherlea Guide: George Gay
“We were blessed with ten days of incredible weather and the beaches on the Outer Hebrides looked positively Caribbean. Apart from regular raptors and beautiful beaches, this trip’s theme seemed to be around parents with young. We had so many examples from Merganser, Eider and Garganey down to the smaller passerines all beautifully demonstrating the responsibilities of parenthood. We had an amazing afternoon walking and paddling along Triagh na Beirigh, which is hard to beat!” Heatherlea Guide: Alex Rhodes