A panoramic image of the stacks of Storr in Skye. Shot over three frames and stitched in photoshop.

Dramatic conditions over this famous Skye monolith.

Latinskt namn:

Dendrocopos major - vilket betyder, större trädhuggare.

Typiska kännetecken:

23 cm. Våran vanligaste hackspett. Har en iögonfallande vit fläck på var vinge. Hannen har svart hjässa med röd nacke, honan saknar röd nackfläck och ungfåglarna har röd hjässa. Samtliga har röda undre stjärttäckare.

Finnes:

Den mest spridda av våra hackspettar. Förekommer allmänt i hela landet norrut till Lycksele Lappmark och södra Norrbotten. Längre norrut blir den mer sällsynt och saknas helt som häckfågel i fjällbjörkskogen.

Större hackspetten är inte specialiserad på någon viss sorts föda. Under sommarhalvåret söker den mest efter insekter och andra smådjur i trädstammar och under vintern lever den framför allt av frön som den hackar ur barrträdens kottar. Det är för detta ändamål som den använder de ”hackspettsmedjor” som man ofta träffar på i skogen. De består av en barkspringa där hackspetten kilar fast kottarna och sedan hackar upp fjällen och plockar fram fröna. En engelsk undersökning har visat att en hackspett under en vintersäsong konsumerar upp till över tre tusen kottar. Under vissa vintrar med dålig tillgång på kottar flyttar större hackspetten invasionsartat söderut och kan då nå långt ner i Europa.

Nice evening light over the Sound of Raasay and Storr Lochs from the Old Man Of Storr

Trotternish, Isle of Skye

The Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye

I wanted to know if it was viable to do a day out in Skye from my home in Acharacle. So I went this morning, the road way. It took over four hours to get to the top of Skye, me wary of hitting deer or ice on the road. The scenery was absolutely stunning with sunlit white mountain tops everywhere , except I didn't see them at all on the way up...only coming home, as I spent four hours driving through a black tunnel this morning.

Isle of Skye

The unmistakable Old Man of storr reflected in the beautifully calm Loch Fada on the Isle of Skye.

Sometimes in life things just feel a little better. I was a bit slow to get up there, but I got there eventually. And then things came good. And I'm now in a better place than I was, Covid and all. And perhaps it was Covid that helped me get there. It seems some good came out of it after all.

Shot at the end of a morning shoot at the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye.

The Storr on Skye, taken just before sunrise from the summit of Ben Tianavaig

So after a catastrophic HDD failure all my photos are now back where they should be and I'm able to process and post some new ones (thank goodness for backups).

This one taken on the way up to the old man of storr on the isle of Skye Scotland

The road to Storr, and onwards to the Quiraing. Isle of Skye

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Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Trotternish, Scotland, Great Britain, UK

Större hackspett Dendrocopos major - vilket betyder, större trädhuggare.

Typiska kännetecken:

23 cm. Våran vanligaste hackspett. Har en iögonfallande vit fläck på var vinge. Hannen har svart hjässa med röd nacke, honan saknar röd nackfläck och ungfåglarna har röd hjässa. Samtliga har röda undre stjärttäckare.

Finnes:

Den mest spridda av våra hackspettar. Förekommer allmänt i hela landet norrut till Lycksele Lappmark och södra Norrbotten. Längre norrut blir den mer sällsynt och saknas helt som häckfågel i fjällbjörkskogen.

I'm losing track of which of these I've posted.

Pretty sure I haven't posted this version.

View On Black

Always a pleasure

Looking across to the Old Man of Storr after an amazing hailstorm

Old man of Storr Isle of Skye.

Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye, Scotland

Shot on Sony A7rII + Zeiss Loxia 35mm 2.0 + NiSi Filters 70mm System GND 0.9 Soft + Polarizer

CUTE AS A BUTTON

Portrait of a beautiful little Varanus ocreatus. Specimen found sheltering under a rock in the stony, hummock grass clad, sub-tropical foothills of the spectacular Selwyn Range in far NW Qld.

A real quick shot during my early morning hike up the path to Stòrr. Taken at approx 5:30am I could barely see the Old Man Pinnacle so decided to attempt a 30 second exposure with my wide angle lens just to see how it would look. Just as the shutter opened the clouds and mist cleared a small patch above needle rock and it was caught on camera! The light from the stars helped outline the silhouettes. It was like a portal opening from a sci-fi movie :-)

With me out of action for some time yet, I can at least now sit at the computer for long enough to edit some old, previously overlooked images. This one is from last winter; a dawn trek up to the Old Man of Storr in some pretty challenging conditions started the day but the wind dropped to a light breeze as we passed Loch Fada allowing for a different aspect on the Storr and some half decent reflections in the loch.

Looking over Storr Lochs and Raasay as the sun sets.

Trotternish peninsula, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Looking down on the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye.

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