Tag: wildlife

Stunning videos of Islay, Jura and Colonsay from an inflatable and a drone

Islay on Video

The attribute “stunning” I often feel is overused and through that sadly devalued. But when I watched Donny Wilcox’s videos from Islay, Jura and Colonsay this evening I couldn’t think of anything else but “stunning” several times. Some really amazing views and different perspectives, views I’ve never seen that way before. Let’s start with Islay and Colonsay:

The Gurnard at Sea in 2023 Part Four ..Islay and Colonsay

Now let’s rewind to Donny’s arrival on Jura, his base for his time in the area:

The Gurnard at Sea in 2023 Part Three ..The Jura Area

And to close some more of Donny’s time on Jura, exploring Loch Tarbert:

The Gurnard at Sea in 2023 Part Five ..Loch Tarbert, Jura

I hope you enjoyed Donny’s videos as much as I did, the great views from the air, the sea and the land. Many thanks to Donny for sharing your adventures!

A variety of Islay links in May 2023

Islay Links

Over the last week or so I had a look through a large number of Islay related links which had accumulated in my newsreader. Many of them weren’t of much use, like many dozens of whiskies offers on shop pages or people and businesses named after Islay. But a few were more interesting, so here’s a collection of 12 of them:

  1. Rosemary Fletcher of Persabus writes Island Voices: From a new farm house porch to a Celtic cross in The Scottish Farmer
  2. A long running saga receives (another) mention in the Press & Journal: Royal Mail says ‘sorry’ for Dingwall and Islay delivery failures
  3. This one might need a follow up and listen, but in an article about an upcoming album release show by Tim Monger it says “He said it ties together a list of niche themes — from cranberry bogs and distilleries on the Scottish island of Islay to the flightless woodhens of New Zealand.” Oh, and his dog is named, you guessed it, Islay
  4. Any Leice photographers among my readers (I’m more of a Nikon person)? You might like Isle of Islay – A Wild Goose Chase! on the Leica Nature Blog
  5. Having skipped all the Islay whisky shop pages I decided to keep one of a beer aged in old Islay casks: Amity releases first two beers in new barrel-aged series. Just be aware it’s quite pricey…
  6. It’s quite far away, but I found the combination of the two neighbouring islands in an address in Canada quite interesting. If you’re looking for a house in Saskatchewan then 205 Islay STREET. Colonsay, SK might be of interest?
  7. I pretty confident I’ve mentioned the mobile cinema (aka Screen Machine) on this blog at some point. What I didn’t know was that its first visit to Islay 25 years ago wasn’t a success as an article From the Northern Times 25, 50 and 100 years ago mentions
  8. I would expect it is well out of the price range of almost all if not all of my readers, but as some of you might know Islay is the birth place of the Land Rover and they have just release an Islay inspired special edition: This £230k+ Defender Works V8 is inspired by a Scottish island
  9. I believe work is well under way by now (the article is from early April), but the Press & Journal writes Islay Airport gets £5 million runway upgrade
  10. I’m not sure if there will be other return visitors (I unfortunately won’t be able to be there, I took some pictures during the first edition), but Parkland County angler Jason Doucette to compete in Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships means a return to Islay for him, as he already competed in the 2009 edition
  11. Impressive: Exhibition of Islay RNLI crew portraits raises over £9,000
  12. Some news about a wind farm off Islay: Site Investigations Start for 2 GW Offshore Wind Project in Scotland

I think I’ll leave it at that and hope you found some of the links interesting. Maybe leave a comment which link you found most interesting?

Nice Islay wildlife road trip video

Islay on Video

Haven’t posted much here this year and the last post so far this year was the traditional April Fools joke. Time to change that and get going again a bit more. How about a nice Islay video with some nice wildlife shots? Some good views in this one, especially towards the end, so make sure you watch it all:

Islay | 5 Minute Road Trips EPISODE 5

Billy Heaney visits Cornabus Farm and a variety of other places on Islay’s south coast as well as on the Rhinns of Islay, spotting a good mix of wildlife, in particular birds. And as I said, the best of his spots is at the end of the video.

Nice drone video of Islay’s neighbour Gigha

Gigha Excursions

Time for a short visit to Islay’s neighbour Gigha. Most people (well, at least those who have travelled to Islay by ferry) will have seen the Twin Beaches near the northern end of the island, this drone video filmed on a beautiful bright sunny day gives you some brilliant aerial view of it. Not to mention other nice views of Gigha:

Isle of Gigha in stunning 4K

I hope you enjoyed the video and the Dolphins showing up in the second half.

Sailing, diving and wildlife at Islay, Gigha and Jura (2 videos)

Islay on Video

Found two beautiful videos tonight which I’d like to share with you. They are both from the YouTube channel DiveClyde which mainly focuses on narrated scuba dive videos. At least two of their videos (I haven’t gone through all of their videos yet) feature Islay, Jura and Gigha, the topic of this blog. The first one covers a trip from Campbeltown to the Southern Skerries of Islay with some of the wildlife including Seals and Otters:

Sailing Scotland – Campbeltown to Islay

For the second video we cross over to Gigha and then to Jura for some fascinating scuba diving views and more, including a bonus view of a Sea Eagle:

Sailing Diving Scotland – Sound of Jura

I hope you’ve enjoyed the videos, I loved the views of the Otters and the various fish under water.

Beautiful video of Dolphins off Islay

Islay on Video

Dolphins can be spotted around Islay fairly regularly, in the Sound of Islay where they sometimes play with the ferry and other ships, sometimes in Loch Indaal, or during a ferry crossing. The video I came across yesterday seems to have been filmed from a yacht and possibly also a drone flying above them. Enjoy:

Dolphins off Islay

I hope you’ve enjoyed the video, I found it very calming and relaxing, watching the Dolphins as they were swimming, jumping and playing.

Nice Islay drone video

Islay on Video

Quite tired tonight after an exhausting week, so no difficult posting tonight, just a simple video with a bunch of nice Islay views. There are plenty of drone videos out there now, I think this is one of the better ones. Nice and calm, allowing us to really enjoy the views of some of the famous sights of Islay:

I hope you enjoyed the views of the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse, Portnahaven, Bowmore (incl distillery and Round Church), Seal Bay on the south coast and the American Monument on the Oa

New video: Sanderling on an Islay beach

Islay on Video

Just a simple video this evening. A Sanderling running along the waterline on Kilchoman beach on a November afternoon on Islay. I love watching these small waders whizzing over the beach, their legs going so fast they are just a blur.

That is all. I hope to have another video ready for Christmas, if all goes to plan.

Rachel’s stained glass birds

Islay Links

This isn’t strictly speaking an Islay post, although I came across it because someone mentioned Islay in a comment to it. I’m not even sure if Rachel has ever been to Islay. Either way, Rachel makes birds from stained glass and I think they look absolutely amazing. The birds include Choughs and Hen Harriers, birds frequently spotted on Islay. If you know your birds you will spot the Chough in her tweet immediately:

For more of Rachel’s work including the already mentioned Hen Harrier and also some Greenland White-fronted Goose head over to Rachel’s website. It is being rebuilt as of writing this, but you can page through two excellent albums of her work.

Video of a stag swimming along the Islay coast

Islay on VideoSome Islay wildlife not in their usual setting on dry land, but in the water at the south coast of Islay. Deer are good swimmers, they swim across the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura quite regularly (I think someone even told me that occasionally they even swim across the Gulf of Corryvreckan, but I’m not sure of that). This stag was spotted by Jean Connor swimming near Kildalton: