Prices Valid until 04 October 08
per person.

Prices are all inclusive except for alcoholic drinks:

4 day cruise £490

6 day cruise £840

12 day cruise £1590

A 10% discount applies to all our past guests.

Photo Galleries - Birds

Photo Gallery - Birds

During our trips we are fortunate to be able to visit several of the best bird nesting colonies on the west coast of Scotland. These include the Treshnish Isles, Canna. Rum, the Shiants, St Kilda and the islands to the south of Barra.

Treshnish Isles.

While there we are able to see those most comical of birds - the puffins. During their summer breeding season they come ashore on many of the Scottish islands to raise their young before once again, in early August, they depart our shores to winter far offshore in the Atlantic.

Their principal food is small fish, particularly sandeels, and they often return to feed their young with several sandeels stacked in their mouths. The puffins rear their young underground in burrows, which may have started out as homes for rabbits! When the young are some days old they can often be heard greeting the returning parents with strange grunts and moans. Puffins are very easy to approach, especially by keeping low and moving slowly. A 200mm lens will give the best results like this one.

In the same areas we come across the razorbills. They are usually found in small groups of two or three pairs nesting above ground and often between rocks. These birds also feed on sandeels.

However the other common member of the auk family we come across is the guillemot. These nest in large very crowded groups on inaccessible isolated rock pinnacles such as Harp rock on Lunga (Treshnish Isles)

Their numbers can be in excess of 5000, and they crowd together bringing up their single chicks on the exposed rock faces.

A small proportion of the guillemots have a stripe through the eye and are known as "bridled"

Among the other birds nesting on these islands are fulmars.

Fulmars nest among the sand dunes on the Monach Isles because there are no cliffs - the maximum height of the islands is only 46ft!

Shags tend to be a lot more secretive, preferring to nest in holes between the boulders and under overhanging rocks.

Shag feeding young.

Gannets & St Kilda

We often see gannets diving and feeding whilst at sea, but the best place to see these majestic birds is St Kilda.

One of the remarkable things to be seen is the attack on gannets by great skuas. The gannets have fed, possibly up to one hundred miles away, and on their return to feed their chicks, are intercepted by the bonxies. Using their remarkable flying skills the skuas grab hold of the gannets tail and cause it to crash into the sea. Either during this action, or by forcing it underwater, the skuas make the gannets regurgitate their food, which the skuas then steal. The gannets make off, usually non the worse for wear apart from having to replenish their stolen food.

Meanwhile the skuas return to their own nest to feed their young on their ill gotten gains.

also seen on Hirta is the unique Kilda Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes hertensis

Eider

Eiders and young.Female eider.Eiders are one of the common species we see in the sheltered lochs, although at sea they feed in some of the most tumultuous waters.

White tailed Sea Eagles.

The reintroduction of the white tailed sea eagle has proved a great success. From their initial release point on Rum, they have expanded their range to include many of the offshore islands.

During the summer we saw them from a distance on several occasions.

However on one trip we were able to get really close to this young bird without any adverse reaction. He just looked mildly interested in us and allowed us to enjoy his company for over half an hour, and was still sat on his rock as we left.

Again in 2003 we were able to approach the sea eagles and enjoy their company.