My Scottish Adventure (Part 3)

Dressed up for an adventure at sea!

It was another long drive to the coast on day 3 of my week in Scotland. We left early, driving through another morning of rain, this time to catch a ride on a boat at Eastdale, near Oban. Thankfully, the sun came out in time for me to gear up to board the speedboat that was to take me around some of the islands of the Firth of Lorne. I was going to leave my parents at Eastdale to search for white-tailed eagle and to travel over the Gulf of Corryvreckan (or the 'Corry' for short), the world's third largest whirlpool.

Rock Pipit (that was at Eastdale's harbour)



White-tailed Eagle

As I was gearing up with the waterproof overalls and the lifejacket that was provided, one word was being called out across the harbour, a word that made everyone, me included, stop and look. "Sea eagle!" Sea eagle is the another name for the white-tailed eagle, the bird I was hoping to see while out on the boat. I looked up and there was indeed a sea eagle soaring above the mountain behind the old fishing village. It was huge! I could see why they are often described as flying barn doors. Those wings are just massive and as wide as one. Yet, despite it's large size, it was soaring with very little effort.

The story of Scotland's white-tailed eagles is an amazing successful one. If you tried to spot one say a hundred years ago, you would have failed. They became extinct in the UK during the early 20th century due to heavy persecution. But then in the mid 1970's, a reintroduction plan came into action on the islands of west Scotland. Since then, the population of these eagles has risen steadily and have started spreading to other parts of the Scottish west coast. They still have a long way to go to be as widespread as they used to, but who knows, maybe one day I will see a breeding pair in Norfolk at some point in the near future. One dares to dream.

Boarding my boat!

After boarding the boat, we sped on our way across the Firth of Lorne and to a few of the islands there, including Fladda, Scarba and Jura. We had some great wildlife pointed out to us as we went, too. Common and grey seals and a colony of shags were watching us from some of the smaller rocky islands, while mountain goats, fallow deer, oystercatchers and a heron were spotted on the much larger islands. I even saw a gannet flying by. However, the real highlight was a pod of common porpoises swimming metres away from our boat. They proved tricky to photograph, though as they outsmarted me every time. I was just not quick enough.

Islands of the Firth of Lorne

Fladda lighthouse

The Isle of Mull



A waterfall caused by the morning's rain 



Common Seals








Grey Seals

Shag



Mountain Goats

Fallow Deer

 

A small eddy

Once the porpoises disappeared from us, it was time to tackle the Corry. The whirlpools (or eddies if we are being technical) are formed by the strong Atlantic currents being funnelled into the narrow channel between Jura and Scarba and over the unusual underwater topography below at speed. During certain tides, this can create enormous eddies that can fit our boat inside as well as large standing waves. Thankfully, the eddies were more on a smaller scale while we were speeding over them, but it was still quite a fun experience nonetheless.

The Gulf of Corryvreckan

A standing wave heading our way!

Back on dry land, I was reunited with my parents and we drove to Oban for our evening meal, stopping to photograph Clachan Bridge along the way. As we parked the car, I discovered this orange ladybird crawling on my left hand.


Clachan Bridge

Orange Ladybird

Oban