I had a walk on the Bunnahabhain road early this morning to practice my "wildlife photographing skills" when somebody stopped their car and lowered the window..... It was Gordon Yates and his wife, a lovely surprise. Later in the morning we left for Port Ellen and had a lovely time at the beach and around the village. The Port Ellen Hotel is progressing really well. Projected opening time is June, as in next month!! Port Ellen is quiet without the ferries coming in but lovely as ever. The afternoon was spent around the cottage and I went for a wee walk to my "favourite tree" near Ardnahoe. We had some more clouds in the afternoon but the weather is still gorgeous. If all goes well we will be heading for Jura tomorrow. Have a nice evening!
Today was another very beautiful day on Islay. Late in the morning we caught up with brian palmer, Jez Hastings and family and the Mighty Dave T at Debbies where we enjoyed an excellent coffee and a nice conversation with our friends. Later in the afternoon it was Saligo Bay and for a very good reason.....
Earlier I wrote that the wind was still quite strong and blowing from an Easterly direction. This meant that the spray from the waves coming in from the Atlantic at Saligo Bay was blown back to the west which gave a stunning effect. I took a lot of pictures with the new lens and I've used a few of them for the blog to give you an idea of the stunning wave action we experienced this afternoon. On our way back I tried to capture some of the wildlife, a Hen Harrier, a Lapwing and chick, some Geese and a Wagtail. All in all a very special afternoon on Islay, one I won't forget easily! Oh and on our way home we met James Deane and his family who were going to Saligo Bay for a picnic. I wonder what his pictures will look like!
Goodmorning! Although still a bit windy the weather was great this morning. Yesterday evening we had a walk at Uiskentuie and took some pictures of a nice sunset. This morning the skies were clear and blue and I went out rather early with the new 400mm lens to catch some wildlife. Well that proved to be quite difficult. First you have the spot the wildlife, get the camera ready, make the right settings for speed aperture etc. and then... They take off... Well not in all cases they did. I spotted a lot of wildlife such as a beautiful Grouse, three Buzzards, many song birds and a couple of Pheasants, these were the ones I could "trick" with my tele lens. I guess there is room for improvement! I also had a look at Bunnahabhain where I took the image of the barrel and Rhuvaal lighthouse. Have a nice day!
Welcome here on the "Islay Holiday Blog". We arrived today on Islay on the morning ferry. The weather was beautiful and there was a strong wind blowing, getting stronger by the hour. The crossing was nice, the ferry almost empty and we had the wind in the back which carried us to Port Askaig in 1 1/2 hour. After the Jura Ferry was back in position we docked at Port Askaig. Back on Islay, a great feeling and the prospect of staying three weeks on Islay is wonderful! Off to Bowmore first to get the first necessary groceries and then a picnic at Loch Indaal, in one of the few sheltered places I know and no, I don't tell you where it is :-)
After we'd dropped off our luggage at the cottage I went back to Port Askaig to meet Gordon Homer, for the first time. It was great to finally catch up with him after reading about him and emailing with him so much. We had a nice chat and Gordon left on the Hebridean Isles at 15:30, just after the Isle of Arran left empty for Kennacraig. You can see the two ferries in the Sound of Islay in one of the pictures. At that same moment when the Hebridean Isles arrived the Islay Lifeboat came back from what I think was a rescue mission to secure a sailing boat in the Sound of Islay. Like I said, the wind was very strong and I wouldn't be surprised if more light vessels would experience problems on the west coast of Scotland.
I'm signing off now, I'll probably be back tomorrow with more images and the highlights of the day. Have a nice weekend and I hope you enjoyed the images!
In a couple of days from now, Saturday 30th April to be precise, I'll be on the Isle of Islay for three weeks. This means hopefully many images, videos and other snippets from the Isle of Islay posted here on this blog. This time I'm aiming to take a lot of pictures of the wildlife on Islay due to a new telelens I'm using, a 400mm, but there will be plenty of landscapes and other interesting bits to share with you all!
I've added a nice gallery of images from Islay to get you in the mood :-)
Hope to meet you here soon!