Handa

Most of the week 1-8 June was spent relaxing around the Aviemore and Abernethy area but one day we made a trip up to the far north-west of Scotland to Handa island. On the drive to Scourie, we found breeding Greenshank on a brief stop, followed by several Twite in breeding plumage around Tarbet where we took a small boat across to the island. Our main reason for visiting was to observe the breeding skuas, as well as the seabird colonies including Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin.

Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) resting on heather moorland.

One of the white-sand beaches with Arctic Terns breeding on the rocky islets

Despite the wind, I made some sound recordings

Cliff wall crammed with auks on every ledge