Final night in Scotland (this time around, anyway)

We drove to Glasgow today along some lochs, stopping along the way to enjoy the views (and yes, 2 more new birds for me - Lesser Redpoll and Greenfinch).

Dropped the car off at the airport with 861 miles more on the odometer than when we picked it up in Inverness. And no damages (except for a few frayed nerves now and again on our part). But really, it was fine. After the 2nd and 3rd days on the road, it was second-nature to drive on the left. The roads here for the most part have no shoulders. What you have is a narrow travel lane to keep your four wheels in. There are lots of pull-offs built into the roads though, so you can pull over (left!) to let the speedy locals pass or check the map.

Once we dumped the car and got checked into the hotel here at the airport, we jumped on the downtown bus and 15 minutes later we were roaming the streets of Glasgow. We ended up doing a walking tour for an hour or so, then hit a restaurant for early dinner and a pint.

Now back at the hotel, just hanging out for tomorrow's journey home. Glasgow - Keflavik, Iceland - Boston. Then a drive to Saxtons River.

Awesome trip overall - really enjoyed Scotland and highly recommend it as a destination for those of you looking for a new place to visit.

Birding was great too - Looks like 41 new birds for me, total species seen around 90.

That's it from this side of the Atlantic...

Hope you enjoyed the trip with us!

Ron and Chuck

Spent the day with a nasty couple...

Gail Winds and Torrence Ofreyne.

We did a 5-6 hour drive loop around the countryside in the rain and wind, but we did see some of the local seashore, lochs (lakes), mountains, villages, castles and so forth. There were places where we couldn't even get out of the car it was so torrential.

But, no complaints. We did, after all, get to see more of Scotland.

So we are back at our hotel/castle relaxing a bit before we head down the hill (10-minute walk) to town center for dinner.

Tomorrow we head to Glasgow, just a couple hour's drive from here. We'll dump the car at the airport car rental return, check into our hotel (at the airport) and then probably take the bus or train into the city to explore for our last full day here.

Pictures are in and around Oban.

In a Castle (well, a "Country Home")

Took the ferry off Skye to the mainland today and drove down to the very cool town of Oban. It's a seaside community with a semi-circular waterfront. We are staying at one end of the semi-circle, high atop the hills overlooking the bay, inner islands, and in the distance, Isle of Mull. The place we're in for 2 nights is actually a converted country home (I say castle) of the Duke of Argyll (think socks), that was built in the mid 1800's. High ceilings, lots of fireplaces, big chunky stonework, a tower, and a killer view. There still is a Duke of Argyll but he lives in a castle a few miles from here. This building was sold and converted to an inn a while ago. Posh.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to suck, so we are going to end up missing the islands of Mull & Iona -- it's just not the kind of thing to do on a rainy day. Instead, we will stay land-side and tour a couple castles and museums. No complaints. We've been so lucky with the weather so far.

And for those of you following the birds, I was surprised to get 3 more new ones today. Picked up Rock Pipits working the seaside rocks for bugs before we left Skye. Also got a Willow Warbler on Skye. It was working the thicket near the rock beach, along with scads of other birds in a nice mixed flock. Then during the crossing to the mainland, got a nice look at a small group of Manx Shearwater. So, the "new birds" tally bumped up to 38 today. (I'm smiling).

Cheers, one and all...

To the end of Skye

Today we traveled the twisty narrow roads to the westernmost point on Skye - Neist Point, where there is a lighthouse you cannot see unless you're willing to hike for 20 minutes or so down from the sea-cliffs and then up over an ocean-front mountain. We were (willing) and we did (hike it), and it provided us with arguably the best scenery we've had in all of Scotland.

The pictures do not do the place justice, believe me, but they give you a sense of it anyway. You should click on the pics (especially #2) to zoom in and see the scope of it compared to humans...

Fantastic!

En route we had a nice fly-over of a Golden Eagle, and then soon after we got a nice look at a White-tailed Eagle (called "Sea Eagle" informally, and my new bird 35 for the trip).

Enjoy...

Pictures from Skye

but first, the big news over here from the USA is that Florida preacher who wants to light some fires. kind of sad that it's getting top news billings on UK radio and TV...

Second, Rose asks about biking: the roads are very narrow and twisty on Skye and it is mountainous, so biking might be challenging, though we have seen some folks pedaling around...

OK pictures. first one is a wider view (see yesterday's) from the Uig Hotel. Gives a better sense of the size of the peninsula...

The rest are from touring about the island...

If you visit Scotland, and order Black Pudding

...just be sure you realize that what you are about to get is NOT a sweet, dark chocolate dessert. It's a breakfast sausage made from pig's blood, suet, and various other things.

This morning was rainy and windy on Skye, but the afternoon was much improved, allowing us to take a 45-minute hike across a hilltop moor to a castle on the coast. Lucky to see a pair of Grey Wagtails (ca-CHING! new bird #34).

Driving was fine, the scenery is awesome and it's all good.

It's now after 10 pm here and I'm pooped, and since this blog site is for some reason taking 6-8 minutes each time I try to load a picture, I'm sticking just one in before I hit the sack -- this is the view from our hotel in the town of Uig looking right out across the bay to the peninsula opposite us -- GORGEOUS, yes? (click it to zoom in)

On the Isle of Skye

Driving today was SO much better than day one. It's still weird to try and center the car in the lane whilst sitting in what feels like the passenger side, but yesterday (first day) was nerve-wracking. Today was more familiar and less stressful.

We put about 150 miles on the car, driving from Inverness due west to Isle of Skye. We had nice weather for the most part, just an occasional fog patch and mist to deal with mid-journey, which was about 5 hours in all. Saw another castle along the way - this one newer than the ones we've toured already. And once on Skye, we stopped in the town of Portree, the largest town at 3000 people. Had a cappuccino break and walked around the town's pier which sits on a very picturesque harbor.

Then 15 more miles onto our town of Uig (pronounced OO-eeg), where we are staying for 3 nights. It's also on a beautiful harbor that serves as the setting off point for the majority of ferries bringing people to and from the Outer Hebrides islands. Steep hills rise directly behind our hotel, and we walked up about 1.5 miles this afternoon to an area known as Fairy Glen. An interesting hilltop full of strange geologic formations, with gorgeous long views in every direction: to waterfalls, across the valley to sheep farms, to the ocean.

Along the way today we stopped at a Loch and dam, and found a perfect little black and white bird popping in and out of the water (completely submerging itself) along the shoreline looking for a snack. A Dipper, new bird #32 . I've only ever seen one other Dipper (in Colorado 20+ years ago..a relative of the European one), so this was a great sighting.

Not to be outdone, Uig delivered up a pair of Golden Eagles for us on our after-dinner walk (new bird #33). So birding is still good. The weather, however, may not continue the nice string we've enjoyed. Rain is forecast for the next couple days, so we're not sure if we'll get to take the sea eagle boat tour out of Portree.

Still, it's all good!

Pictures probably tomorrow -- having trouble loading them...(sorry)