Firstly, apologies to anyone offended by my use of kilometres over miles, but 500km just sounds better than 310.686 miles!
Secondly, I should point out that I didn’t actually drive that distance specifically for Wren. However, on this family holiday in a landscape frequented by Eagles, Red Deer, Otters and more, it was the small but mighty Wren that really captured my imagination.
As well as spending a wonderful ten minutes or so watching the wren nest building, our stay at Seil Farm (https://obanseilfarm.com/) revealed plenty of other wild encounters from garden birds (chaffinch, dunnock, chiffchaff, song thrush etc.) actively nesting to a late night visit from a hedgehog. Have visited a number of times now, this visit offered the most numerous sea eagle encounters, three in total, one juvenile with an obliging buzzard for size reference, one hidden away in a tree during the boat trip. The third encounter was like one of those nightmares where you’re running as fast as you can but it’s like running on a treadmill and you can’t make any headway. When I reflect on the experience it replays in slow motion, a huge white-tailed eagle swoops in, diving into the shoreline’s shallows no more than 100m away and by the time I’ve thumbled around for my camera the UK’s largest bird is but a dot on the horizon.
On the water several pairs of eider stole the show, among the largest numbers of Shags (stop it) I’ve witnessed anywhere. While in the narrow channel that divides Seil from mainland Scotland I caught my first (after 5 years or so visiting) fleeting glipse of the local otters and another first sighting of a kingfisher fishing off the pontoons.
Here are some photos from that nest-building wren along with some other wildlife encounters including a boat trip from Seil to the Corryvreckan via https://sealife-adventures.com/