Callanish by NIght

We did plan to get out walking today after the day being rained off yesterday, but with gusts of wind up to and above 50mph it just didn’t make for a particularly pleasant experience. So instead we headed to the north of the island, took in the breezy Loch Stiapabhat in the (vain) hope of hearing corncrakes (it’s allegedly a hotspot); the blowy Butt of Lewis with gannets, shags and bonxies showing how to deal with the wind; and airy St Moluag’s church, a teeny old place of worship which we’ve visited before and which has a lovely feel to it.

One thing worth mentioning was the intriguing giant information board at the start of the short walk to the bird hide at Stiapabhat. It had all the usual countyside code type stuff, save for one addition. ‘Please observe the sabbath’. Ah yes, brand new this may all be, but sometimes the modern world doesn’t quite reach this spot, and watching birds is fun y’see, and fun should not be had on a Sunday. Because with all that’s going wrong with the world, all that required his attention, all that our creator could be concerned with, some people watching a few Lapwings defend their nests against Black-headed Gulls will surely annoy him to the point of not letting them into his celestial domain.

The rain arrived as we drove back south, but appearing back in our wee corner the sun came out again, so the headland was once again circumnavigated, with the sea turning out a beautiful turquoise.

Last day tomorrow. Damn. For some reason this second week has felt a lot quicker than the first.


So to stave things off it was out in the evening, with the stars making their first appearance of this holiday (every other night being blighted by cloud) to nab a shot of the Callanish Stones I’ve been after for a while (we’re staying about 40 minutes’ drive away). Slightly spooky standing there in  the pitch black, hearing the occasional Snipe drumming, and various geese and ducks whingeing about some unseen-in-the-darkness threat. But worth it I think.