Lisa G Saw • August 31, 2024

Black Guillemots In Oban

31st May 2024

This is the next post in the series about my extended holiday up north in the spring. Having had a great start in Fort William, including looking for the Chequered Skipper butterfly, we then moved on to the Isle of Mull. We travelled south to Oban, where we would be catching the ferry across to the island. We timed it such so that we would have some time to walk around the harbour and look for the Black Guillemots that are known to breed there, right in the harbour wall. We managed to park nearby and it didn't take long before we saw a black head sticking out from a hole in the wall right beneath us.

We were able to walk to a lower position, by the water's edge, to observe their comings and goings. Their bright red legs and feet are stunning against the contrast of their black bodies, which is what differentiates them from Common Guillemots. The latter species were the only ones I'd seen before that day. I was quite enthralled by the Black Guillemots. They're so striking!

We only saw about a dozen of them at most. There were some hiding in the nests within the wall and some were swimming around on the water not far away. At one time, I suddenly spotted a pair mating. The male climbed up onto the female's back, balancing rather precariously. She remained hunkered down low, whilst waiting for him to do his business. Then a few seconds later, it was all over. It really was over so quickly! He slid off as she lifted up and inched forward, looking as though she were wiping her behind along the rock. Then, she stood upright, glancing my way. I felt a little guilty I caught them in the act!

The birds would sometimes fly off just a short distance or further out, and then circle back in. Some even stayed further out, presumably to go fishing for food. It was a great opportunity for me to practice some action shots with my new mirrorless camera. With its advanced tracking capabilities, I was really impressed with the results, keeping the bird in focus as it moved.

I love these kind of action shots, especially when you can see their amazing red legs. They look like they're running on water. What's even more striking is when you see inside their beak. The red is such a surprise the first time.

It was also fun watching them have a bath in the water, semi-submerging themselves, then coming up and shaking off the water quickly. They open out their wings as they do so, lifting up out of the water more than usual, almost as though they're standing up.

It was a lot easier capturing the Black Guillemots flying, when they started off in the water and were taking off. They gradually accelerated and their direction of travel and movement was more predictable. Trying to photograph one of them as it comes in to land, either on the water or on the harbour wall was much harder. They were so quick and difficult to track. But, I had a lot of fun trying and was pleased with the next two photos.

I love how they open out their wings and widen their legs, splaying their tail feathers, all to help them slow down, just before they land in the water.

Bob and I were both sitting on a low wall that jutted out into the water. Evidently, the tide didn't submerge the part where we sat, but to the right of where we were looking, the wall was completely covered in seaweed. Our attention was focused along the base of the harbour wall, but at one point, Bob turned to look at me and saw a Black Guillemot had snuck up onto the wall without us realising. It had to be less than eight metres from me. It certainly didn't seem bothered by our presence. It sat in the amongst the seaweed, preening itself and then shaking off some water. I couldn't even extended the lens out to its full reach of 500mm or the bird would have completely filled the frame.

We also were lucky enough to witness some courtship behaviour. I often saw two birds swimming around in circles. Sometimes it looked a bit more aggresive than I was expecting, with prodding, poking and nipping at each other. I'm guessing this was mostly the male trying to get the female's attention. I can think of better ways to win over a mate! The best part about it was being able to see inside the beak again and to see the red legs underwater moving about frantically as they danced around in circles. It reminds me of synchronised swimmers! You often don't see the frantic movements below water when above it can look so calm.

After a joyful hour of watching the behaviour of the Black Guillemots, we left them to have our lunch. I had so much fun and it was a great way to break up an otherwise uneventful travel day.

Coming soon...

More adventures on the Isle of Mull.

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In Search of the Heath Fritillary

By Lisa G Saw • June 22, 2025

When Bob and I returned from our Isle of Wight trip to see the Glanville Fritillary for the first time, I was eager for the next challenge - seeing the Heath Fritillary butterfly in Kent. However, the weather wasn't quite ideal and I had to sit tight for another week before there was a good opportunity for us to head over for the day. Thankfully, it was a Friday, which meant there would be fewer people around, which we both prefer as it's more peaceful. It was still very early in the flight season with only a few sightings having been posted on social media, and this meant we might have a good chance of seeing some fresh butterflies, which is always lovely when they look pristine and fresh. Thankfully, we both don't mind the early starts when there is a good reason for it and it wasn't too ridiculously early on this occasion! It took us just over two hours to reach East Blean Woods car park, after a few detours and delays. We arrived just after 9am and only a few other vehicles were parked there. It was still slightly cool and cloudy, which meant the butterflies wouldn't be too active yet. This was ideal for us, so we could take plenty of photos. When we began the walk, I felt fairly oprtimistic we'd see some during the day, but I was prepared that we might need to look at various different sites in the area. I didn't expect that within 5 minutes of leaving the car park and having only walked 50 metres, I would spot the first one of the day, roosting on a bracken fern in the cool shade of the woods. It was a lovely fresh specimen and a wonderful start to the day. Within moments of me spotting this one, Bob saw another one roosting nearby. Fabulous!

Glanville Fritillary

By Lisa G Saw • June 7, 2025

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that after I completed the challenge of seeing all the butterfly species we have in Sussex , I began a follow-up quest to see all the species of butterfly found in the UK. Last year, in 2024, a few trips north to Cumbria and Scotland gave me the opportunity to see many of the species not found in the south, including the Chequered Skipper , Large Heath and Scotch Argus . This meant I had only three more species left to see as we headed into 2025 - the Glanville Fritillary, Heath Fritillary and Swallowtail, all of which are either rare or scarce localised species. Since they all emerge around May and June, I took time off from work so Bob and I could be spontaneous about when we'd try and see each of these species. The weather would impact us to a large extent, and so too when each butterfly species would start to emerge. My first target for the year was the Glanville Fritillary on the Isle of Wight. DAY 1 Since most butterfly species this year have been early on account of the warm dry spring we've had, we ended up booking a few nights on the island in mid-May, as soon as we knew there was a good chance of some fairly nice weather. Booking the ferry and finding a lovely B&B in Ventnor at fairly short notice was thankfully easy. We got up at the crack of dawn on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend. After having a fairly straightforward drive to Portsmouth and smooth ferry crossing, we reached Compton Beach on the south west of the island by mid-morning. It was cloudy when we arrived and Bob was eager to find some roosting Glanville Fritillaries. I was just eager to see my first one. We slowly ambled along the clifftop path, our eyes scouring the flowers along the way, hoping for that first flash of orange. As luck would have it, our first Glanville Fritillary was nectaring on a thistle right beside the path. It was a lovely fresh female. Her shorter, more rounded abdomen, was very apparent.

The Return Journey

By Lisa G Saw • May 1, 2025

THE DRAKE PASSAGE After spending over two weeks living on board the Plancius, I was used to the constant movement of the ship. The early bouts of sea sickness were a thing of the past and I seldom needed to take any medication. I put my wristbands on occasionally and ate some ginger chews at times too, but I felt like I'd found my sea legs. However, we were yet to cross the Drake Passage. It is infamous for its strong winds, powerful currents and giant waves, making it potentially very challenging and dangerous for ships! I just hoped it wouldn't be that bad for us, on our final leg of our sea journey. I'd been concerned about it before we left, and I knew Bob was worried too, which was why we had all sorts of medication to hand if needed. So, you can imagine our surprise when the next two days at sea passed by uneventfully. One member of staff had said the Drake Passage was a mill pond and they'd never seen it like that before. What a relief! In fact, I was amazed that during our entire journey we'd managed to avoid all the nasty weather systems that seemed either to be ahead of or behind us. Amazing! This was something I was truly grateful for! It was wonderful to experience some beautiful blue skies and to be out on deck again, enjoying the sunshine. But, it was cold! The temperature was about 1°C! I welcomed the sight of Cape Petrels flying close to us and seeing a large number of them too. These attractive birds had been our constant companions virtually throughout the trip.