West Coast Islands Blogs
Blogs (web logs) provide an ideal opportunity to explore the traditions, culture and wildlife of Wild Lochaber. We have put together a collection of local blogs and provide the titles and text snippets to 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.
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The latest issue of Scottish Islands Explorer marks the end of an era, and the beginning of another. After 10 years as editor and owner, John Humphries has announced his retirement. John was the third proprietor of the magazine, and has been at its helm since May of 2010. John acquired...
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I stopped updating the Flora of Raasay & Rona some time ago but I have decided that additions to the Raasay list should be added. So Leycesteria formosa (Himalayan Honeysuckle or Pheasant Berry) and Crocosmia pottsii (Potts’ Montbretia) have been added. There has been wildflower seed...
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As Skye Nature Group, we went back to Dorothy’s croft at Tokavaig on Tuesday and added quite a few tetrad records to NG61A and B including Ilex x altaclerensis (Highclere Holly). Reputedly this hybrid was developed at Highclere Castle (Hampshire) in about 1835, by hybridising the Madeiran...
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Occasionally I learn something from my blog stats. It's a page that shows how many views each post receives over time. During the past week it indicated that there had been a lot of views of a post I did on the Puff Inn (the St Kilda bar) in 2016 (see this link). Why the sudden interest in the Puff...
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The Continuing Adventures of Hjalmar BjorgeSeason 4 - Episode 5 of 5 - Gale Riding to Canna and Return to ObanExploring the Isles of the West Cruise July 10-19, 2019After our visit to the Flannans we made an uneventful sail through the Sound of Harris. After passing the low lying isles...
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The Melilot from Lower Breakish has survived well in water and continues to develop: Melilotus from Lower Breakish I noted these long stipules Stipules and looking at the illustrations by Sybil Roles that accompanied Clapham, Tutin & Warburg (1965) this clearly suggested Melilotus altissimus (...
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I flew over a croft at Langamull to record the results of several years of hard graft, preparing a growing area in the middle of a devastated patch of felled forest.The Heather is in full flower as seedheads of earlier flowers turn.We catch the 8pm ferry from Oban back to Mull, as the MV Isle of...
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In no particular order…. Following on from my last post Seth has toured the north of Skye recording Crocosmias, adding records for C. pottsii (Potts’ Montbretia) and sowing confusion about some other specimens. See his blog post. With an addition of my own, Potts’ is now recorded...
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A student, Karen Fleming, has reconstructed the head of a female druid, Hilda, who lived in Stornoway at some time between 55BC and 400AD. It's certainly worth turning to The Press and Journal to find out more and to discover where you, too, can virtually encounter the 60-year-old.Scottish Islands...
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The latest edition of the magazine should soon be in the shops and it's the last one, his 57th, to be produced by John Humphries, who has decided to retire. The publication started in Shetland, moved down to Sussex, up to Suffolk and should soon be in Stornoway, to be published by Fred Silver....
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A Liberal Democrat MEP has declared that 'a mackerel war' with Iceland is imminent . There have been three 'cod wars' since 1958 involving the UK and its northern neighbour. I recall that The Guardian sent a staff reporter to cover one of the occasions. Apparently nothing was happening, but he...
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The Continuing Adventures of Hjalmar BjorgeSeason 4 - Episode 4 - The FlannansExploring the Isles of the West Cruise July 10-19, 2019Tuesday morning (July 16) the forecast looked good for the Flannans. So we left Carloway and set a course to the west. After three hours of steaming...
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Now this electric motor-home is the first of its type on Orkney, where motorists are leading the way in purchasing vehicles that need charging more than filling. If you want a figure for the number on the roads there - 200 or 2% of the total, a high uptake. Take in the report on the BBC website....
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It took me a long time to register that some of the Montbretia in my patch is not Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora (C. aurea x pottsii) but one of the parents – Crocosmia pottsii (Pott’s Montbretia). Duncan told me a couple of years ago that the latter was frequent in the southern part of...
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Cameras and binoculars were probably safely in hand when a driver went to observe the otters at Kylerhea Pier, Skye. Unfortunately the car's handbrake failed to grip and the Volkswagen ran away. The details of this car 'escaping' is on the BBC website.Scottish Islands Explorer - likes to explore in...
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Leathad Beithe forms the south side of Talisker Bay, the western half lying in tetrad NG32E where, apart from a handful of records, the only plants recorded were from a day in June 2013 when I looked at the sea cliffs from below having walked around the point from Talisker Bay. This meant there...
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There is something appealing about islands where people, within living memory of others, spent their lives. Gordon and Ina Watters were residents of Fara in Scapa Flow, Orkney, until the 1960s. Nearby is Cava, or Calf, Island where the last two residents remained until the 1980s. ...
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The Continuing Adventures of Hjalmar BjorgeSeason 4 - Episode 3 - Rona, Sula & CarlowayExploring the Isles of the West Cruise July 10-19, 2019Thursday morning saw us bid goodbye to Ness as we set a course north to Rona. It was a grey, overcast day, but the sea was calm, which made...
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If there's one photograph that I cherish, it's the rare view of Muckle Flugga, Shetland, from the north, on the very difficult-to-access, Out Stack or Ootsta an ultimate part of Scotland. The photographer? - of course, that venturer to the remote, Andy Strangeway.Scottish Islands Explorer - much to...
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Farmer and Daughter took some Herdwicks to the Salen Show. They brought home a few rosettes. Unfortunately I missed the judging so didn't get any photographs of them in the ring.
