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Archived Years _2006

The Season of 2006

The end of September saw the end of yet another wonderful summer cruising around the islands of the Hebrides. As usual the company was convivial, the food excellent and the wildlife - always offering something new.

But there were some changes from previous years:

Although St Kilda remains a fabulous place to visit, things there are changing.

Boreray and the Stacs still maintain their air of being from a time aeons ago. When Boreray is shrouded in mist it seems like a world apart.

But Hirta is somewhat different being brought into the 21st century by the stark display of technology to be seen at the Radar tracking base and by the number of boats now visiting there. Things have changed since the advent of GPS (Global Positioning system). It does not require as much skill or knowledge of the sea to get to St Kilda in a small boat nowadays as it used to, and as a result visitor numbers are increasing rapidly.

Seagoing craft are being displaced by RIBs - plastic inflatable boats, which can zoom out to the island in two or three hours and deposit their load of battered and rather windswept passengers ashore for a short visit, and then leave at full speed swerving through the flocks of puffins and auks that were resting peacefully in the bay until sent scurrying for their lives. We counted six of these "pleasure" craft one day all demonstrating the same care and consideration during their visit. Some show more consideration, but sadly not many.

What lies ahead for the Archipelago is hard to say. Whether the award of World Heritage status seems to have been a good thing -? More and more people flock there after seeing the islands on the TV or in newspaper articles - one of the places to visit before you die?

Now the other secluded places are getting the same treatment - the Monachs seen on the BBC's Autumn Watch! Now I suppose the Monachs will be another place on the must see list! Soon there will be nowhere secluded and peaceful left. Still at least the weather helps to keep some sense of proportion out amongst the islands.

A year of ups and downs, both from the weather and the wildlife point of view.

Whether its due to climate change, relocation or simply having been shot by the Norwegians, there was a distinct reduction in the number of minke whales around the Small Isles and Mull this year. The best numbers were to be seen around Staffa and into Loch na Keil where we were treated to some wonderful sights of surge feeding. But elsewhere the animals were elusive, especially as the season wore on.

We are very fortunate because we are not limited to a short daily distance from a home port. We are able to go to where the whales have last been seen, and to some extent the distance we need to travel is irrelevant.

Still the appearance of lots of Basking sharks made up for the lack of minke sighting in some way. There were a lot of them around, but whether this is due to increased numbers overall I'm unsure. It was gratifying to see a lot of smaller sharks in the 2-3 metre class. However were the sharks up in the Hebrides because things have got better for them up here or because things have got worse in their more normal feeding areas?

Certainly 2005 saw very cold water temperatures here, but it was warmer this season. Most noticeable however was the lack of plankton . Normally we can expect a plankton bloom in March/April which feeds the emerging fish fry. Then another in July which fattens up the same small fish, providing food for the now fledging Auk chicks. This year - the early bloom was there but it was not intense, unfortunately the mid-season bloom just didn't happen - thus few small fish, and although the auks had successfully hatched good numbers of chicks, there simply wasn't the food to feed them as they grew up. shoal of Mackerel

Noticeable too were the huge shoals of small "joey" mackerel around which were avidly consuming the few small fish which were to be found. These fish, at about 24cms, are too big for the auks to be able to fed to their chicks. Kittimake trying to eat fishOne very hungry kittiwake can be seen here trying to down a small mackerel with no success and was forced to leave it and search elsewhere. Reports came from around the coast later in the year of large numbers of dead auks to be found washed up on the beaches. Odd how the BBC's Autumn watch never picked up on this - one of the most important developments in the Autumn of 2006.

Sea eagles have been doing extremely well this year. Bad weather put paid to a few chicks sadly, noticeably on Skye, but we were successful in seeing sea eagles on every trip, in fact some spectacular sightings were made

Among the islands, there are changes. The Small isles ferry system is now fully set up and running and it is now possible to visit them all with relative ease. The new pier at Canna is pretty good although the reef which lies within twenty feet of the slip has proved a bit of a trap for several unwary yachtsmen and on one occasion passenger RIB! The one time catholic church, now Gaelic accommodation block, is still undergoing repairs to the roof, and a publicity campaign to bring more residents to the island seems to be well underway.

Rum is as always Rum, still wet and windy although we had a superb walk from Kinloch over to Glen Harris on one wonderfully sunny day.

We had some good visits to Eigg this year, and despite my best efforts I still have no good images from inside the Massacre cave. However that was made up for by some lovely spring shots amongst the woods.

Muck is as welcoming as ever and a regular call in for us. Never to be called a secluded place it still manages to offer some of the nicest walks in the islands.

And what of the flowers this year? again perhaps due to the changes in our weather, there seemed to be discrepancies in the appearance of the various species this year. We had primroses and bluebells out together well into June, and many other early species lasted even later. the orchids were tremendous and again seemed to last much longer than normal.

Later in the year, and in fact after my sea going season finished it was very apparent that the trees were behind the times as well. I was hoping to go to Glen Affric in mid October with Gill and Brian Fuller to photograph the autumn colours, but was diverted by a yacht delivery job. However the trees seemed to take another three weeks to change and in fact I was still in France and missed this fabulous annual spectacle. I was told it was exceptional !! It was compensated for by some wonderful scenery in France but I still prefer the west of Scotland.

So now I'm home on Skye with short days, wet weather and wind! Lovely some times but there is little daylight to fully enjoy it. Walks up the hills to the snowline have been good, and I am now getting ready to prepare Guideliner for the forthcoming season. What will 2007 bring? Well I suppose more changes are a dead cert. Let us all hope that the wildlife is able to adapt quickly in order to cope with them.

I can hardly find the patience to wait for May when it all starts again. Many previous guests have signed up for next season and I look forward very much to seeing them and meeting all the new friends we will make. Meanwhile all the best to you all and thanks for looking at this site.