Wild Lochaber Blogs
The latest bleats from the sheep on the street...
Blogs (web logs) and blogspots provide a unique insight into Highland life and nature in Lochaber and The West Highlands.
We have put together a collection of Lochaber blogs to highlight the traditions, culture and wildlife in the various regions, including the West Coast Islands.
We show entries from the last 100 days, organised by region, topic and blog. The titles and text snippets give a taste of each entry with direct links to the main blog entry on the host website. We hope you will find time to explore the full articles and further information on the host blog sites.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions for blogs you would like to see here.
Going Wild on Mull and Iona
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Well it’s time for our monthly update and what a good month it’s been. Whilst the rest of the UK has been suffering flooding and gales we have survived largely unscathed. That is until last Thursday; the day started off beautifully with light winds and sunny skies. By mid afternoon the clouds were...
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Since the return of the Minke Whales over a month ago we have had some fantastic sightings with 5 different individuals seen on one very good day. Obviously the long period of calm and sunny weather has meant that as well as having more boats out looking it is much easier spot the wildlife. As well...
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Despite frequent reports of sightings from fishing boats in the area, none of the trip boats from Tobermory had managed to get a view of one of our larger summer migrants yet, however today the skipper of Silver Swift took local Wildlife photographer Nic Davies out on a trip which resulted in 2...
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We are still to get our first Whale sighting of the year from any of the trip boats, but we are having sightings reported by the fishing boats so they are definitely out there somewhere! One of the main reasons is that the island seems much quieter than at the same time in recent years, which means...
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One of our regular visitors to Mull has been posting some fantastic footage of wildlife captured on his trip to the island over the Easter weekend.Andy Tait has been a frequent visitor to the island for many years and it was seeing the wildlife here that inspired him to start making wildlife videos...
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Mull Charters had their first trip of the 2012 season aboard the Lady Jayne on Wednesday and what a trip is was. As well as the amazing sight of a Sea Eagle, the 4th largest Eagle in the world catching a fish right beside the boat they were accompanied by a group of up to 7 Bottlenose Dolphins....
Glencoe Independent Hostel
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I've had 2 good days off in a row,in tremendous weather, and it's not often I can say that. I took Samuel up to Glencoe Mountain on Sunday to watch the Scottish Downhill Association mountain bike race. We had a quick snack in the cafe then I checked it was fine to take Samuel on the chairlift...
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I mentioned in another blog that I'm doing my summer mountain leader training and I've now booked my assessment in early June. I decided to do a refresher training course at Glenmore Lodge in Aviemore and only arrived back last night (Sunday). The course was fantastic - the content was...
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Cheviot from Windy GyleI've decided to concentrate on walking and my love of the hills again and to carry on with my Summer Mountain Leader Training. I hadn't done much serious navigation practice for a while and decided to head off to a different area for a change. I chose the Cheviots...
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I had a tremendous day walking on this lesser visited peak in Glen Etive a few weeks back. I hadn't been able to make much time for walking for a while, mostly getting a few hours squeezed in here and there on the bike. I chose this hill because it's pretty much trackless and I wanted...
Rangering on Rum....
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Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few weeks or so... it's been pretty manic on here lately with plenty to record and organise; for the island, its definitely the busiest time of the year.And with such fine weather dominating things for a change, I've been out most...
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Where do I start when so much has happened over the last few weeks?There's been a beach clean up at Kilmory; lots of migrant and nesting birds; emerging butterflies; a flowering plant growing frenzy; speedy wildlife gardening; a busy campsite; international volunteers and students galore; canoeing...
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The return of Our Ocean Wanderers (SNH’s Manx shearwater promotional event) went very well on Saturday 7th April and everyone I spoke to gave very favourable reviews, and visitors went away with a lasting impression of these remarkable birds. It was really great to see that our island’s most...
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As things are surely set to change for our visiting public, there’s something very positive in the Rumic air lately. The new pier waiting room is looking swish and feels like it’s always been here, and in a strange way I suppose it has, because most of the stone came from Ferry Cottage (burnt...
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There’s been some fantastic early spring weather since the 21st and the east to southerly airflow has brought in a good number of returning bird migrants. The first greenshank was back in from warmer climes on the 21st and joined by another on the 22nd, 2 redshanks were also present around this...
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If you’ve ever wandered around the ferry terminal in the quiet of the evening or first thing in the morning (or just when the ferry isn’t coming in), you may have noticed a striking black and white bird with blood red legs & feet sitting at the bottom of the slip or just feeding offshore. ...
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After yesterdays chance encounter, you could definitely say that spring bird passage is well and truly underway. At a time when Rum was feeling a bit birdless,and nerdy birdy excitment was only to be encountered on our neighbouring islands, we well and truly pull it out the bag in style,...
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In the depths of winter it’s sometimes hard to remember what summer actually looks and feels like on Rum (like elsewhere I suppose), and after a long wait it finally feels as if the island is turning a corner. The gorse is in full flower and many alder have an unmistakable kiss of life as they’re...
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Had a nice surprise down at Kilmory today (Sunday 11th March about 2pm) in the form of not one but three Iceland gulls Larus glaucoides (2 x 1st winter plumage and 1 x 3rd winter). These are scarce winter visitors to NW Europe, but we regularly encounter them in Scotland at...
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Many have described the remaining sub-tropical rainforests in the far north of New Zealand (Northland) as the nearest thing to visiting another planet whilst still being on Earth. Indeed, they are truly amazing places of incredible diversity and beauty.Everytime I visit, it’s always an emotional...
