Angus MacAulay

@angusj.bsky.social

1846 Followers 1827 Following

Native Gàidhlig speaker. Gàidhlig gu leòr. I take photos for fun, mostly birds.

Phone photo of a Six-spot burnet on a dandelion flower. Out of focus grassy background
Wren standing on a wooden platform, holding a large grub in its beak. Wren side on to camera, facing to the left, tail sticking up. Blurry green background
A Meadow pipit standing on a clump of heather, breast facing camera and head turned to its left. Blurry green background.
Male Hen Harrier in flight showing white body and underwings, with black wingtips
10+ young starlings lined up on the roof bar of my car with one sitting on the roof itself just forward of the others. They’re all facing towards the left of the photo. White car roof in the foreground and blurry green background
Close up photo of curlew flying left to right. Wings in a downward position and beak slightly parted. Grey sky background.
Screenshot of “My Lightning Tracker” showing extensive lightning strikes around Uist this evening
Screenshot of weather forecast for Benbecula showing 14 deg C and rain!
A male House Sparrow standing on an escallonia branch, facing to the right with the sun shining on him. More escallonia in front of him with pink flowers. Immediately in front and underneath him is a Veronica bush with purple flowers. Out of focus grey/green background.
Male Hen Harrier flying right to left over a grassy patch. Facing straight ahead with wings raised.
Screenshot of the coming week’s (10 days, actually!) weather forecast for Benbecula. 11 degrees, feels like 7. High chance of rain every day and temperature not going above 14 degrees
A male Hen Harrier sitting on top of a clump of heather, facing towards the right and head tilted slightly towards the camera. Light blue sky with an out of focus electricity transformer on a pole in the background
Screenshot showing temperature in Benbecula. It says “Isle of Benbecula 13 degrees Feels like 6 degrees H:13 L11”
Male Hen Harrier flying low towards the camera, wings horizontal and yellow eyes appear to be looking towards the camera. Mixture of out of focus faded and green grass with a little heather in the background
Male stonechat standing on an old wooden fence post facing towards the left of the photo. Out of focus green vegetation in the background
A common linnet standing facing the camera with his head turned slightly leftward, and with a long blade of withered grass in its beak. He’s standing on a green grassy patch with some thrift starting to appear.
The Monach Isles, off the coast of North Uist appear to be floating above the horizon. The lighthouse can be seen near the centre of the photo. Blue sea foreground and blue sky background
Photo looking south east, just after sunset, from Hacklett, Benbecula, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. In the foreground is the south eastern edge of the township and its islands, looking towards the mouth of Loch Carnan. From the horizon upwards the sky changes gradually from a deep purple through the colours of the rainbow till the deep blue at the top. The moon, almost full, is seen slightly right of centre near the top. It’s just possible to make out the Cuillins of Rum left of centre on the horizon
A Willow Warbler standing on top of a broken branch, facing to the right. Very light grey sky background
Male Hen Harrier in flight with a good view of his back, right wing and distinctive tail. Grey sky background and a bit of out of focus ground in the lower third of the photo
Hen Harrier flying low over old long straw coloured grass beside a rusty wire fence complete with weathered stob/fence post. A good view is had of her underside including the tail, chest and right wing. Eyes staring at the ground.
Reed bunting standing on a grassy patch facing towards the left. Head turned slightly leftward towards the camera
Close up of the starboard bow of MV Isle of Islay
Cloudless night sky with lights from the north end of South Uist in the near foreground just beyond a small bay forming part of the South Ford. Orion higher up right of centre.
The moon about 3 quarters full. Black sky background.
Male Hen Harrier in flight, left side towards camera. Wings in downward position. Grey/blue sky.
Song thrush standing on grass, facing the camera. Avery small patch of snow to its right.
A robin standing on the top rail of a weathered wooden fence. Brownish autumnal background with some bare willow branches
A table of overnight wind speeds posted by Western Isles and Tiree Weather on Facebook with speeds ranging from 108mph on Aonach Mòr to 61 in a few places including Fair Isle. South Uist was 83 and Benbecula 74
My cat up on his hind legs waving his right paw at me. Grey striped cat. Right cheek, neck and tummy are white, as is his left ‘foot’. My own toes wearing black socks are seen standing on and orange and brown striped rug.
Looking SE at a dark cloudy sky with golden rays of sunshine radiating down towards a strip of calm silvery sea. Dark foreground.
The sun just disappearing over the north end of South Uist. Dark foreground with a small loch to the right reflecting the sky. A few silhouettes of houses visible against the orange sky. Moving up from the horizon the the sky changes gradually to a blue grey colour.
Phone photo of the moon with concentric halos with Jupiter quite close to it at around 7 o’clock (that’s angle, not time!). Lights from the north end of South Uist visible at bottom of photo.
In Scottish politics • Bain Principle: A convention established by Scottish Labour MP Willie Bain stating that Scottish Labour MPs should not support motions from the Scottish National Party (SNP), even if the motion is popular. This was famously revealed when Labour MPs did not oppose a Tory tax cut for millionaires, as it would have meant siding with the SNP
A wet looking Hooded Crow standing on the top bar of a galvanised gate, facing the camera. Out of focus dull grey/green grassy background
Photo taken from my front door yesterday evening before sunset. Sun in among some dark clouds with rays radiating towards the ground. Dark foreground with a small loch in the middle distance. Blue sky in the left quadrant of the photo and a few houses silhouetted on the horizon
The sun, low in the sky, hiding behind and anvil shaped cloud. Blue sky background, and the whole thing reflected in the wet sand below.
The sun just appearing from behind the Cuillins Hills of Skye with clear orange Skye immediately above and above that again thick cloud catching the orange sunlight. Zoomed photo taken from Benbecula.
Meadow pipit standing in sunshine on the corner of a galvanised gate
Red Admiral sitting on flowering ragwort with its wings spread.
A phone photo of a field of mainly rushes and rough grass covered in spiders’ webs as far as the eye can see. The webs themselves are covered in dewdrops which are catching the low, early morning sunlight. Early morning mist lifting over the sea in the background.
A grey heron standing in the sunshine on a submerged rock giving the appearance of standing on the water with its reflection below. Its neck is pulled into an S shape and it’s peering into the still water. It’s standing beside a rough stone dyke protruding into the loch (“ceann mara” in Gaidhlig) and marking the boundary between two crofts. At the far left hand end of the dyke is a fence post leaning to the right at an angle of approx 30 degrees. The fence wire that would have been attached to it is long gone. A bit of muddy bank with orangy coloured rocks and a covering of green grass in the background.
Screenshot of locked phone screen. Closeup of the face of a short eared owl. Blue sky background
Oak eggar moth in among a patch of mixed rough grasses.
A shiny black beetle about 25/30mm long with orange bandings, I believe belonging to a group known as burying beetles. I’m not up to speed with the anatomy of beetles so probably best consult a reliable source for more information.
Photo from SE Benbecula looking over the South Ford towards South Uist. High tide. Grey lichen covered rocks in the foreground. Turquoise sea with some white tops on the waves. A light mist on distant Beinn Mhòr. Blue sky with about 50% fluffy white/grey clouds.
A grey heron flying directly towards the camera. Grey/blue sky background
A hen harrier flying directly towards the camera over a grassy field with some green bracken in the background.
Male hen harrier flying left to right over a grassy field, left wing raised giving a good view of the black wing tip.
Lapwing sitting in long rough grass with just head, neck, chest and a bit of its back visible. Grassy foreground with some cotton grass and grey rocks. Blue/grey sky.
A white tailed eagle flying directly overhead. Flying right to left in the photo. Photo cropped square. Body lined roughly central and the spread out wings roughly between vertical and diagonal in the photo. Cloudless blue sky background.
A redshank facing slightly to the right, wading in almost flat calm blue water with rings of ripples around it. There’s a small rock,covered in green algae, protruding just in front of it.
A male red-breasted merganser standing on the he mud. He’s just come ashore to preen himself. Facing the camera, head tilted to the left.
A male kestrel taking off holding a vole in its left talons. Flying right to left, wings slightly raised showing some of the underside of the left wing and the upper side of the right wing. Out of focus dark green background