Hebridean Landscapes

WildPlace said:
We usually fly in to Houston then head to the coast (Surfside Beach) have a few days there exploring/birding then head down to Rockport for a few days (we were there in March this year and stayed right on the sea front at the Reel 'em Inn - can't believe the devastation that hurricane Harvey caused!). Then we head down to the Rio Grande Valley and stay near McAllen spending our time birding between South Padre Island and Falcon State Park, then it's off to Hill Country and then back to Houston to fly home.

Love the birds, warmth and sunshine at that time of year :thumbs: Don't like chiggers but they seem to like me :mad:
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Wonderful! You definitely are in all the right spots for birding and you're certainly here at the right time of year! I lived near downtown Houston for a number of years but have since moved about an hour northwest. My husband and I have vacationed in the Rockport/Port Aransas area. (I've been to McAllen only once, on business, years ago.) Yes, Harvey was beyond devastating for so very many people. Hopefully you will return next year. I'm sure the fine folks in that area would most appreciate your support!;)
 
lisamjw said:
Wonderful! You definitely are in all the right spots for birding and you're certainly here at the right time of year! I lived near downtown Houston for a number of years but have since moved about an hour northwest. My husband and I have vacationed in the Rockport/Port Aransas area. (I've been to McAllen only once, on business, years ago.) Yes, Harvey was beyond devastating for so very many people. Hopefully you will return next year. I'm sure the fine folks in that area would most appreciate your support!;)
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Possibly returning to Texas in 2019, next year we're heading to southern Spain for our birding break. :)
 
WildPlace said:
Possibly returning to Texas in 2019, next year we're heading to southern Spain for our birding break. :)
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Wonderful. I’m a bit of a closet twitcher. I went through a short phase where I kept lists in a database but I’ve got too many interests and I can’t dedicate enough time to it and my memory is just so bad that I can never remember the names of the birds. Now I just watch and enjoy and look up the birds as much as I can. I often organise one day birding trips on some of our holidays - my DH enjoys the photography side of birding. I have to say that many of these days stand out as special when I look back.

So what’s been your best birding trip?
 
ImageArt said:
Wonderful. I’m a bit of a closet twitcher. I went through a short phase where I kept lists in a database but I’ve got too many interests and I can’t dedicate enough time to it and my memory is just so bad that I can never remember the names of the birds. Now I just watch and enjoy and look up the birds as much as I can. I often organise one day birding trips on some of our holidays - my DH enjoys the photography side of birding. I have to say that many of these days stand out as special when I look back.

So what’s been your best birding trip?
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Absolutely nothing wrong with watching and enjoying and looking them up - let's face it here in the UK there are so many small brown streaky things that all look very similar :) - I was helping someone the other day who was unsure whether they were looking at a Dunnock/a female House sparrow/Twite/Redpoll/Tree sparrow

Best birding trip... well that's really difficult to answer. I'd probably have to say the six months I did in Canada running a bird observatory - it was paid work but you really can't beat getting paid for doing what you want to do anyway. I love north american birds and have spent quite a bit of time in Canada. A very close second would be when I spent 2 months in Goa, India - that was alternate days of birding and lying on the beach - fantastic colourful birds!
 
So today i've island hopped up to the northernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides. I had to get an inter-island ferry from Berneray across to the Isle of Harris, it takes about an hour. This is the ferry just arriving at Leverborough.

image.jpeg
 
From Harris i drove up to Lewis but had to stop at a viewpoint to take a photo of the view - one of my favourite in the world. Looking across to Luskentyre, beautiful even on a miserable wet winter day. I won't have much internet where i'm staying with friends, just during the evening and it's pretty rubbish - drops out and is slow as a slug...

image.jpeg


I ran it through DistressedFX and iColourama but the water really is that colour and that crystal clear!
 
WildPlace said:
From Harris i drove up to Lewis but had to stop at a viewpoint to take a photo of the view - one of my favourite in the world. Looking across to Luskentyre, beautiful even on a miserable wet winter day. I won't have much internet where i'm staying with friends, just during the evening and it's pretty rubbish - drops out and is slow as a slug...

View attachment 102858

I ran it through DistressedFX and iColourama but the water really is that colour and that crystal clear!
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Beautiful!
 
WildPlace said:
From Harris i drove up to Lewis but had to stop at a viewpoint to take a photo of the view - one of my favourite in the world. Looking across to Luskentyre, beautiful even on a miserable wet winter day. I won't have much internet where i'm staying with friends, just during the evening and it's pretty rubbish - drops out and is slow as a slug...

View attachment 102858

I ran it through DistressedFX and iColourama but the water really is that colour and that crystal clear!
Click to expand...

This looked so familiar (in particular that amazing sea colour) that I had to Google to try to find the place I’d stayed in many years ago - it was Scarista House. It wasn’t as posh as it is now. I remember they had a black laborador that used to grin when guests arrived back to the b&b and he used to see you off in the morning. It was the most adorable dog. The scenery is stunning.
 
WildPlace said:
From Harris i drove up to Lewis but had to stop at a viewpoint to take a photo of the view - one of my favourite in the world. Looking across to Luskentyre, beautiful even on a miserable wet winter day. I won't have much internet where i'm staying with friends, just during the evening and it's pretty rubbish - drops out and is slow as a slug...

View attachment 102858

I ran it through DistressedFX and iColourama but the water really is that colour and that crystal clear!
Click to expand...
Wow. That water!! And those low lying clouds... just beautiful. :inlove:
 
WildPlace said:
So today i've island hopped up to the northernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides. I had to get an inter-island ferry from Berneray across to the Isle of Harris, it takes about an hour. This is the ferry just arriving at Leverborough.

View attachment 102857
Click to expand...
WildPlace said:
From Harris i drove up to Lewis but had to stop at a viewpoint to take a photo of the view - one of my favourite in the world. Looking across to Luskentyre, beautiful even on a miserable wet winter day. I won't have much internet where i'm staying with friends, just during the evening and it's pretty rubbish - drops out and is slow as a slug...

View attachment 102858

I ran it through DistressedFX and iColourama but the water really is that colour and that crystal clear!
Click to expand...
I love both these images! Well done!
 
JillyG said:
This looked so familiar (in particular that amazing sea colour) that I had to Google to try to find the place I’d stayed in many years ago - it was Scarista House. It wasn’t as posh as it is now. I remember they had a black laborador that used to grin when guests arrived back to the b&b and he used to see you off in the morning. It was the most adorable dog. The scenery is stunning.
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Ah yes, not too far from Scarista House :)
 
I'm still in the Isle of Lewis but hopefully heading back home tomorrow, weather and ferries permitting.

image.jpeg


Looking across the crofts, Carloway, Isle of Lewis this morning. Very cold, about -10C with the windchill. A sprinkling of snow overnight.
Hipstamatic, then DistressedFX and iColorama
 
WildPlace said:
Absolutely nothing wrong with watching and enjoying and looking them up - let's face it here in the UK there are so many small brown streaky things that all look very similar :) - I was helping someone the other day who was unsure whether they were looking at a Dunnock/a female House sparrow/Twite/Redpoll/Tree sparrow

Best birding trip... well that's really difficult to answer. I'd probably have to say the six months I did in Canada running a bird observatory - it was paid work but you really can't beat getting paid for doing what you want to do anyway. I love north american birds and have spent quite a bit of time in Canada. A very close second would be when I spent 2 months in Goa, India - that was alternate days of birding and lying on the beach - fantastic colourful birds!
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Fantastic! I got interested in birds properly after studying for a year in the US when I was 30. I had a spare subject I needed to take so I did Ornothology. We studied the birds in a forest on the banks of the Mississippi - we must have got to know about 40 birds and most of their calls too which I am now hopeless at. I studied the pileated woodpecker for my oral talk, a wonderful bird, and was lucky to see their courtship. The course made it so much easier for me to identify birds in the future knowing the classification.

Funnily enough I’ve done hardly any birding in the UK even though I’m a member of the RSPB - too busy with life. My favourite is probably South Africa. Costa Rica was a little disappointing only because I felt we should have seen more. Goa sounds right up my street!
 
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