**DRAFT**

                 Part 3 of 3, Portree, Isle of Skye continues...... 

    The early afternoon was warm and sunny, perfect for spending the rest of the day relaxing onboard. We had a few hours until the ship departed Portree at 4:30 pm.  Jen and I soaked up the nice warm sun on our veranda with Tea and Coffee and sharing one of this amazing Scottish Scones from that lovely farm market square in town. We had a first hand view of  of boats tending to the Salmon enclosures in that large Salmon Farm....which was quite an interesting activity to watch.  

             There was some fishing boat and tour boat traffic moving around the harbor area. I couldn't stop thinking about how incredible it would have been if we had seen those White-tailed Sea Eagles! Next time! 

     

Puffin decoy ready to depart Portree-

       The landscape of the Isle of Skye was better than I had imagined..... it warmed your heart! 

    Precisely at 4:30, the ship's horn sounded, and we pulled away from the dock. Jen knew exactly where I would be stationed for the next two hours, so she went inside to catch up on a little reading and to get ready for our dinner reservation at 7:00 pm. Positioned up against the railing on our veranda, I was ready for the last day in the North Atlantic and this incredible opportunity for Seabirds. What a week and a half it has been...... (so far)!! 

      The Statendam hadn't traveled more than fifteen minutes before the first Seabirds starting appearing. Black-legged Kittiwake were the first. Many of the Kittiwake were nearly in full adult plumage....many still carried remnants of their classic carpal bar feathering.-

     A few European Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls were mixed with the swimming and flying Kittiwake.........

                        ........as well as a few scattered Common Murre.

                              First summer and an adult European Herring Gulls-

             

                    Soon, Gannets started appearing from the distant shoreline- 

    

                           First summer Lesser Black-backed Gull-

                  After a short period of time, Common Murre were becoming prevalent.....

        ..... at all distances from the ship, from the distant binocular views to within twenty-five yards from the ship-

                           In fact, Common Murre were everywhere, every direction I looked.....singles, pairs, trios, small groups up to large flocks!!

            Many of the Murre were adult females experiencing their typical late August moulting cycles which is clearly visible displaying their wing moulting stages-

          Many, but not most of the Common Murre groups and flocks had Razorbill swimming with them. The Razorbill were mostly adults, but did have a proportion of fledglings-

       

     The flocks of Murre which started as loosely scattered small groups and flocks suddenly developed into continual and constant Common Murre and intermittent Razorbill..... the water was covered with them like foam on the top of a Latte! The sea was literally covered with the black and white speckles as far as you could see.....hundreds of them! And what turned out to be an absolutely amazing late afternoon......it was constant Murre for the next one and a half hours! I had never seen anything like this. It reminds me of the huge rafts of thousands and thousands of Greater Scaup that used to winter in Long Island Sound in CT in January in the 1970's. The water looked like an oil slick because there were so many ducks! Although the Murre and Razorbill I was seeing here were not so densely packed, the fact that the groups of Murre on the sea were so extensive on such a vast area, and for the entire time, it had the same impact. I have no idea how many Murre and Razorbill I was seeing, and who knows how many were on the port side of the ship? All I know that this continued for nearly two hours! 

     

      Yes, I am posting many, many images of the Murre groups here.....probably way more than you want to look at! But for me, just posting a few images and trying to paint a picture for you just how incredible this was would be impossible. By posting images during the time in a rough sequence will hopefully give you a better idea. For me, it was an encounter of a life time experiencing this, especially being the Common Murre is my favorite living Alcid species. 

               Finally......a pair of Fulmar break the Murre show. These were the first Fulmars of the day. I was beginning to wonder if I would even see Fulmars here- 

 

                                       Back to the Murre........

                                                                     Razorbills.......

                                    Mixed groups, Common Murre and Razorbill- 

                               First Gannet in over an hours time-         

                                 ......... and another Gannet-

                                                   Razorbill-          

      Another Gannet. this handsome and interesting "forth year" plumage came much closer to the ship-

                  Hard to believe, the Murre flocks continued right up until it started getting too dark to see them. I was so fortunate to have been able to see and experience this! 

            Always looking for whales among the incredible bird numbers..... this was the only (possible) unknown Whale since Iceland. I only saw the splash. All I knew was that is was too large for a Porpoise, but smaller than the larger Humpbacks Jen and I had seen in Iceland. 

       Yup, the huge numbers of Common Murre and Razorbill continued. I never saw one Puffin (although I had hoped I would) and could not find one Thick-billed Murre!  Even now after reviewing all the thousands of images, couldn't find a single Thick-billed or Puffin.

                                         More Razorbill-      

              Far from shore, Black-legged Kittiwake numbers started to increase- 

                                   And the Murre and Razorbill continued.......

       Interesting concentrations and gatherings of mixed species: Gannets, Black-legged Kittiwake, Euro Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls, Razorbill and Common Murre. But where are the Fulmar? Except for the pair I saw over an hour ago, they have been absent. 

                Leaving the Gull and Kittiwake groups behind, like someone had opened a door......single Manx Shearwaters started showing up a minute apart flying alongside the ship, followed the bow,  and then flew off to the distance. The sun was at a perfect low angle now, perfect for showing off their soft brown and white plumage. The Manx Shearwaters were a prefect gift in the remaining minutes of the day.      

The low angle sun was also helpful for showcasing the Murre and Razorbill-

   

        Looking through my binoculars, I thought I might have a chance for a Thick-billed Murre! Unfortunately, another Common Murre with lightly marked side pocket feathering in a typical moult cycle transition from breeding to winter plumage. That was close though! 

       In the last minutes of daylight, the last few Gannets of the day; this one a gorgeaous adult.

          Miles from shore, a single first summer Great Black-backed Gull swims alone-

        In the shadow caused by the mighty ship, a single Common Murre pops up from a dive just a few yards from below me- 

                           A lone first summer Black-legged Kittiwake is keeping company with.......

                         ...... another single first summer Great Black-backed Gull- 

         The last small gathering of Black-legged Kittiwake in the fading light of the day-

             The last Gannet of the day...an interesting bird in its "third year" plumage. Jen and I had seen Gannets in all of their cycle year plumages.....quite a difference, but they all are beautiful in their own way. Jen's favorite bird! 

        And the final bird of the day, and the Hebrides Islands was this single Fulmar heading towards the distant Lighthouse- 

      The last image Jen and I saw together was this very distant Lighthouse......it was a perfect scene to say Good-bye to our visit to the Hebrides Islands and of course Iceland, Norway, and the NOrth Atlantic. What an adventure and amazing time!

      And we ended the day in the absolute most memorable way...... at the Restaurant, they were featuring New England roast Turkey dinner with all the fixins'!! Absolutely perfect!!

Bird List, Isle of Skye: White-tailed Sea Eagle (no), Atlantic Puffin (no), Thick-billed Murre (no), Black Guillemot (no), European Eider (disappointingly no), Great Skua (no), Parasitic Jaeger (no), Common Murre (yes), Razorbill (yes), Tufted Duck, Mallard, Graylag Geese, Fulmar, Gannet, Black-legged Kittiwake, Manx Shearwater, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Mew Gull, Black-headed Gull, Great Cormorant, European Robin, Mistle Thrush, Gray Heron, Raven, Hooded Crow, Jackdaw, Unknown Whale species

       Tomorrow, Friday, August 22..... we will be at sea all day. We will be arriving at our last destination of the cruise in the port of Dover, England, Saturday morning, August 23 at 7:00 am.

This blog report is in progress. I continue to work on it and am writing the next port destinations. I will post them when each destination page is posted. For now, I am posting them out of order. When I have completed the entire trip report, I will re-post them in order. 

   To go back to the beginning of this in progress trip report, click on "Older Posts" below right