Country diary: The awful relief of seeing gannets in flight

The Minch, the Hebrides: One comes so close to our ferry I can see its eggshell-blue eye. But how many more should there be?It's the change of season, and everything is in flux, including us. Lured by reports of great shearwater migrations and storm petrel sightings, we take the CalMac ferry across the Minch and back again all in the same day, purely for the possibilities.The journey out - from Ullapool on the Scottish mainland to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides - starts quietly for birds, but the views towards the great mountains of Assynt and the Summer Isles do not disappoint. As the ferry goes into more open water, kittiwakes swirl to the north, and auks, now in their winter plumage, dot the water. Continue reading...