after we had done here we were at a loss as to what to do. we decided to go for a look at the marine no-take zone at Lamlash to see what was there. By this time the weather looked as though it was clearing up, which is always a nice sign. when we arrived at the car-park there we had lunch and whilst we ate my dad spotted some shapes moving out in the water. (although it was cold and wet, there was no wind and so the sea was dead flat). They identified them as otters and so we all rushed out of the car to go and see more otters.
When we arrived at a suitable otter-viewing bit of the Beach we stopped. I decided to go for a little look in a large rock pool that was nearby. To be frank it was more of a sand pool with rocks in it but still. My mum had just got me a pair of wellies and I was eager to make use of them. As I waded through the pool I found things bolting away in all direction. In a flash, however, they were gone. One of them was a bit slower than the rest and I managed to get quite close to it. It was easily recognizable as a flatfish but some photos would help me identify it later.
unfortunately getting the shot right was hard. In order to do this you need immaculately calm water and at the moment the rain drops were making this quite a feat. I decided to stand in front of the fish and so protect that area of water from the rain. To my surprise it worked and I was able to take some photos. Normally rock pool flatfish are dabs but this one has Orange spots on its back which are a feature only of plaice. so, that's a tick for me. There was also a non-descript blenny in the pool which I took a photo of. Now that's better than otters in my opinion.
as the weather was clearing up we decided to take a walk along the side of the no-take zone. the habitat is a gorse scrub soil hill type of habitat. and unsurprisingly the birds were no different with mipit, wheatear rock pipit and linnet. also I found my first willow warbler of the Holiday )although it was certainly not the last)
on the shore around here there was common sandpiper and oystercatcher. as well as hooded crow plus gannet and cormorant. It was a good afternoon and by the time we were finished the weather was really picking up. We decided to go home over the moors which would take longer but be a much better drive. On the way back we found a buzzard sat on the side of the road. unfortunately we didn't stop in time for me to get a really go photo but still managed to get one which was alright.
Back at the campsite, the bird feeder that we put up was heaving, with sparrows. They are the only normal garden birds frequently seen on the island although there is a family of greenfinches near to where we were staying (but if your an egg-thief too late, they all ready fledged!). never-the-less the sparrows offered me a great photo opportunity and I took ti although to be fair I only did take one photo of them on this occasion.
In the evening my dad said that we should go for a walk along the side of the village and onto the adjacent beach. the walk was not in vain. we managed to see ravens and of course some spectacular scenery coming from the cliffs. as for the ravens I couldn't really take any photos because the light was too poor and the birds too far away.
My dad said that in one of the bays there was a lot of seals. He was right of course and I was thrilled to see so many. Two of them were really close and they were the biggest there. I think that all of these are females but I am unsure of how to tell them apart so I cant be sure.
As well as the seals I found this caterpillar. It is not a cinnabar moth, although it looks similar but I don't have a book with it in and so it will remain caterpillar X!
And the last thing we saw on our walk was the so-called key hole of Arran which I suppose is a fair enough name although it looks nothing like a keyhole.
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