After the lockdown earlier in the year the week’s holiday we had booked in Scotland back in April had been postponed to October. It still remained uncertain with the ever changing circumstances in the UK associated with the Covid-19. In the end it was possible to go although no visits were permitted to the home of family while there, due to the restrictions that were in place throughout Scotland.
The best of the weather turned out to be on the journey up! There was one particular point on the journey that I had wanted to stop in previous trips and took the opportunity this time in order to capture some of the autumnal colours.
It was going to be one of the wettest weeks in our history of visiting the Highlands. So I wasn’t holding out too much hope for my ‘usual’ sunrise excursions. On the Sunday however it was due to be dry, and I noticed the wind conditions were such that there might be reflections on the lochs. We therefore headed over to Loch Achilty, to the west of Strathpeffer.
It is a beautiful loch, visited when we were here back in August. With the calm conditions there were perfect opportunities to get photos that reflected the beauty of the location (excuse the pun!).
A couple of days later we were back in the area visiting a nearby hill from which I took sunrise shots back in the Summer. We had a bit of sun that afternoon but it wasn’t long before the cloud moved in again creating a moody atmosphere down some of the distant glens.
The hill has a convenient car park on the ridge, and it was while returning after this visit that a superb encounter with a sparrowhawk occurred! Pulling up at a junction on the narrow country lane I looked right for traffic and saw a female sparrowhawk sitting on the post. I consequently fumbled around getting the camera and swapping in the longer lens, at which point it flew off and I saw it alight on an old stone wall further down the road. With the camera all primed and window open I drove down and it took off again parallel to the road behind bushes. I continued to slowly drive on and discovered it on the side of the road on a post. Remaining long enough to get a few shots before being disturbed by other traffic I was well pleased with the results and the experience! A rare and special opportunity.
Despite the weather, there was another calm day during the week and another road trip! Collecting more photos of great Scottish scenery. Even with a rainbow in the mix!
On the final night of the week before leaving, we were treated to clear night skies. An opportunity to get some photos of the tail of the Milky Way. After packing up the camera, and coming inside, a phone notification went off, and my Aurora app was indicating a 13% chance of seeing the Aurora within the next 10 minutes! Grabbing the camera bag again, I headed outside. With not much visible to the human eye I continued to take photos in the direction of the expected Aurora - noticing that the in-camera photos on the camera LCD did have some green on the horizon. It was only afterwards during editing that I realised the extent of the opportunity in one particular photo. Rarely do we seem to be visiting Scotland when such Aurora activity is present! So it was an exciting moment!
Considering the weather prospects at the beginning of the week, it turned out much better than expected! Until the next time…!