The Road Less Traveled

Nearly 20 years ago I visited Shetland and Orkney for the first time.  And fell in love with the landscape.  The windy cliffs, where you can stand and experience four seasons in an hour.  The standing stones and stone age villages, full of questions and a tangible link to people from so long ago.  It really is a magical place – one I was especially excited to revisit with my camera.

And so it was that my two good friends and I braved the threat of volcanic ash in search of birds, cliffs, and stone.  We were not disappointed.

For this post, I’ve gathered some of my favorite bird shots, to share.  Look for more photos in future posts.

Cliff Birds of Scotland

One of the amazing things about visiting the cliffs of Scotland (and Ireland, and probably many places) is how close you can get to nesting birds without disturbing them.  You get the advantage of height, a rarity in bird watching, from which to look down.

Fulmars are amazing to watch as they ride the wind currents blowing up the cliff faces.  You can watch how the shifting of their feet, the waggle of a tail helps them stay stationary relative to us landlubbers.   They’ll take a pass to look you in the eye, or hover with their butt towards you as they watch the spectacle below.

A fulmar flyby

Bird love

More birds, after the jump…

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There’s all kinds of travel and all kinds of places to travel to. For me, one of the more fun ways to travel is to just head down a side road and see where it takes me. I’m also really fond of places with cliffs and birds.

When I took off on a trip to Ireland last spring, what I was most looking forward to doing was finding cliffs to go hang out on and take photos. I stayed in B&Bs mostly, which were really more like B&B&Ls as they fed me so much I was able to pack a small lunch of toast and jam for myself to eat while sitting on the bluffs somewhere.

Anyhow, I’m working on a special project that I’m really excited about (beyond this blog, which I’m also very excited about.)

Here’s a sneak peek at a part of my project.

Stay tuned…

There are some places you visit where you just feel good, like it’s a place to stay for a while, where things are right, somehow.  The little village of Kilbaha was one of those places for me.  Not only is it near Loop Head, which I had heard was a ‘must see’ if I wanted to enjoy amazing cliffs with birds and random beauty.

Crashing waves erode tunnels through the cliffs

It’s also got one of the most comfortable places to stay I’ve ever experienced.  This was more a feeling I got from the welcome by strangers than plush accommodation.  I stayed at the Lighthouse Inn, which  fit my image of a traditional Irish Inn, a pub downstairs with rooms upstairs, but they were friendlier than one could imagine.  (more…)

Sunset near Loop Head Lighthouse, west coast of Ireland

A fulmar taking one more cruise across the setting sun, before returning to roost on the cliffs below Loop Head Lighthouse.  This part of Ireland is just one peninsula after the other, with cliffs facing west into the endless Atlantic.  A great place for a walk in the wind.