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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Neil has re-found Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern) in NG42, the first record there since 1992, plus Vicia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) and Viburnum opulus (Guelder-rose) in NG41, the first records there since 1968. Vicia sylvatica Image N Roberts Viburnum opulus Image N Roberts When Mark was...
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Over three weeks in September, I was fortunate to visit ten islands. The weather at the beginning and end of those weeks was brilliant sunshine. The weather in the middle was less brilliant: lashing gale-force winds laced with cold, Arctic air. That meant my planned itinerary for a ten-day cruise...
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To finish off the Skye Botany Group season Joanna arranged two loch visits. Firstly, we went to Loch Cleap in the north of Skye to try and re-find Elatine hexandra (Six-stamened Waterwort), last seen there in 1974, and to re-visit a Sparganium that I had put down as S. emersum (Unbranched Bur-reed...
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I have been away but there are things to report: Skye Botany Group went to Ord in search of uncommon plants not recorded in the 10 km square NG61 since before 2000: Atriplex praecox (Early Orache), Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) and Orobanche alba (Thyme Broomrape). There was...
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During my visit to Lewis and Harris in May I set out one Sunday to revisit the stellar beehive cell of Sron Smearasmal. Eleven years had passed since I was last there, and I was curious to see if it was still intact. Another site I wanted to visit was the North Harris Eagle Observatory.The walk...
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A fine day and low water at 1 pm meant that I could undertake the Fladday trip I had been planning for weeks. I wanted to check for Sparganium emersum (Unbranched Bur-reed), but found only S. angustifolium (Floating Bur-reed). I also had the vain hope that I might find Utricularia minor (Lesser...
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There are still a few spots available on our cruise around the Western Isles that departs from Oban on September 11. See the following link for more information:https://www.hebrideanadventures.co.uk/products/adventures-in-search-of-the-past-cruise
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Monday was the only dry day in living memory, at least up until the evening, so I had a look at another patch of the Trottenish Ridge, hoping to re-find old records of Koenigia islandica (Iceland-purslane) and Orobanche alba (Thyme Broomrape). I didn’t manage either of those, but did make new...
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The weather has been almost uniformly wet and windy for weeks, but I managed to make the late-season return visit to a Raasay croft that I had promised. I added thirteen plants to my June list, including a couple that I must simply have failed to tick off before. The total now stands at 205. The...
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I have driven across the Lewis/Harris bridge many times over the past 30 years. The bridge, on the A859, links the two islands as it crosses over Abhainn a' Mhuil. Next to the highway bridge is the old bridge, which is no longer used for vehicle traffic. The last time I passed this way, I did...
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We weren't showing the Herdwicks at Bunessan or Salen this year, but Farmer was helping Rhoda with her Blackface ewe lambs. And she came away with several rosettes and one of them, a Champion! The Salen Show is a friendly sociable event, a chance for the farming community to catch up...
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Joanna has been busy spotting aliens with the highlight being Erica ciliaris (Dorset Heath), new to Scotland – a garden escape in a Harlosh ditch. Erica ciliaris (Dorset Heath) Images: J. Walmisley In Portree, she has found Knautia arvensis (Field Scabious), new to VC104 apart from two...
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If you ever find yourself staying at the Rhenigidale Hostel, be sure to wander a mile up the west shore of Loch Seaforth to the deserted croft at Nostar (NB 226 033). To get there, you start by following the path that leaves the Rhenigidale road 150 feet SE of the hostel. If you are...
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I have dealt with moths elsewhere, so here are a few other finds from July not already reported. Actually, a couple were in the first day or two of August, but who’s counting? Sawflies: I found Athalia circularis (Ringed Tigress) and one of the Tenthredo arcuata group at home, the latter...
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Joanna and Julian re-found Chaffweed (Lysimachia minima) in the 10 km square NG14, a SHARPP target and the first record there since 1971. I am told that it was present in profusion. Chaffweed (Lysimachia minima) Image: J Walmisley Neil has found Ervilia sylvatica (Wood Vetch) in NG41, the...
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I added fourteen to the July list for West Suisnish (home and immediate surroundings), two of which were completely new to the site: Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) and the micromoth Eucosma cana (Hoary Tortrix). Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata) Eucosma cana (Hoary Tortrix...
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A few spots are still available on our 10-day cruise out of Oban that departs on September 11. For details see the Hebridean Adventures website:https://www.hebrideanadventures.co.uk/products/adventures-in-search-of-the-past-cruise
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I went to see a single flowering plant of Galeopsis speciosa (Large-flowered Hemp-nettle) at Torrin – only the seventh record in the vice-county since 1995 – and in a nearby pond there were Nymphoides peltata (Fringed Water-lily) and Elodea nuttallii (Nuttall’s Waterweed), both...
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I've only had the pleasure of making the sands sing on three Scottish beaches: Camas Sgiotaig of Eigg (first photo), Traign Bhàn of Islay (second photo), and Camas an Lighe near Kentra Bay (third and fourth photos). Be careful if you walk across Camas an Lighe, as you may stumble upon...
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Joanna has found Dactylorhiza x venusta (D. fuchsii x purpurella) at Fiskavaig, a hybrid orchid with rather few records locally – though probably overlooked. Dactylorhiza x venusta Photo: J Walmisley I checked up on the Portree Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) and found...