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.
wondering wanderers
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We had a three night trip off Rum back to the mainland over the weekend. The purpose was an orthodontist visit for Scarlett – usually about a ten minute exercise which unfortunately necessitates a three night trip off the island with all the expense and upheaval that entails. We are into...
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I have always been scared of dogs for as long as I can remember. My Dad tells me I was nipped at by a terrier as a toddler and I can certainly recall being snapped at by a German Shepherd as I ran past it in a park aged about ten although I was already scared of dogs by then. It has definitely been...
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The weather is classic April – sunshine and showers. T shirts and hot water bottles! It does feel like spring is definitely on the horizon though and the days are certainly much longer. The birds definitely feel the season is upon us – we have been gathering chicken, duck and goose...
Scottish Islands Explorer
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Digital subscribers received their copies last weekend; print-versions to subscribers started arriving from Monday; all retail outlets had been stocked by yesterday. So the May / June 2018 edition of Scottish Islands Explorer is out and there to be enjoyed. Do join in.Scottish Islands Explorer -...
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The atmospheric conditions at Uig Beach, Isle of Lewis, are captured here by Diane Scott and published in the BBC's Your Pictures of Scotland series. There is, as ever, an interesting range of photographs in the gallery.Scottish Islands Explorer - the BBC series always incorporates island...
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Yesterday saw the re-introduction of a service, last seen in 2013, for the residents of Benbecula and the Uists - daily newspapers on sale in the morning. Loganair's 07.15 flight from Glasgow to Benbecula brought newspaper supplies ahead of the times linked to ferry services. See the Stornoway...
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The Norwegian wartime vessel, the recently-restored Hitra arrived at Scalloway on Friday morning as part of the anniversary of going into service, 75 years ago, with the Shetland Bus operations. Full details are in Shetland News.Scottish Islands Explorer - in service for a quarter of that...
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The MBA bothy at Dibidil, Isle of Rum, was the destination of a backpacker whose blog is particularly well-illustrated. It also features on the cover and in the contents of the new Scottish Islands Explorer magazine. Copies will be in the shops on Wednesday 18 April, but digital subscribers have...
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In a recent competition to identify the world's most iconic / scenic airport, Barra was a leading contender. In the poll it came ... second. The winner was Donegal, pictured both above and from above. The details are in The Press and Journal.Scottish Islands Explorer - where would it come among...
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First came the concept of a distillery on Raasay, then came the reality. Now there is a visitor centre, with tours available, a private members' club and ... luxury accommodation. The last feature is something of an ultimate and well worth seeing by simply clicking here.Scottish Islands Explorer -...
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When a rare bird, a Hooded Merganser, finds one of the only two ponds on St Kilda, there's bound to be excitement. Go to Jill Pilkington's account in BirdGuides. You will not be disappointed.Scottish Islands Explorer - this bird appears to be a seasoned explorerDigital Edition: the new issue in...
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Watch Danny MacAskill, from Skye, performing his cycling stunts in Switzerland. It's here on YouTube.Scottish Islands Explorer - occasionally goes abroadDigital Edition: comes from on high
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CalMac's MV Eigg started service, albeit in different Scottish waters, when the last residents of Swona were living on their Orkney island. (See yesterday's blog). The ferry-ship, the oldest in the company's fleet, has served small island communities on the West-coast routes for some 45 years...
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When Neil Oliver had an article published about Swona, one of the smallest Orkney islands, it was August 2016. He looked back to the last residents sailing out of The Haven (above) for a new life on South Ronaldsay in 1974. The house where he stayed for a night was last occupied in 1927. His...
Treshnish Farm
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The Ensay Burn from above.Traigh na cille beach with Ben More in the background.The Magnolia in full flower, before a storm blew all her flowers away. The Ensay Burn beach.Looking beyond the Point towards Calgary and Rum.Sunset.Over the headland towards Calgary.Sheltering from the wind.Putting...
The Rum Ranger Diaries
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Rum’s Red Deer, Walks & Talks, 2018 A summer walk to look for deer calves, and the usual October rut walks are running again this year on the Isle of Rum: Saturday 23rd June: Meet the Locals: A guided walk to Kilmory to learn about the Rum Deer Project and see the deer Meet outside the...
Plants of Skye, Raasay & The Small Isles
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The moth trap a few days ago attracted 28 moths including this micro that I have not had before: Agonopterix ocellana which has been given the name Red-letter Flat-body. Names for micro-moths do not seem to have caught on – I think I can see why…. This spider is, I think, Tegenaria...
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Geary Ravine is a plant-rich SSSI that I have not visited since 2008. This time I was hoping to find Saxifraga oppositifolia (Purple Saxifrage), recorded there in 1972 and 1982. I failed on this but did find Carlina vulgaris (Carline Thistle), also 1972 and 1982, and Hymenophyllum wilsonii (Wilson...
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Skye Nature Group walked the Two Churches Walk at Dunvegan on Wednesday. We recorded various invertebrates – molluscs, insects, arachnids, myriapods – plus some birds, a frog plus many tadpoles and of course I made plant lists. The pondskater Gerris costae Image S. Gibson The...
Marc Calhoun
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Since 2016 it has been my privilege to guide an annual 10 day cruise on the ship Hjalmar Bjorge, operated by Northern Light Cruising Company. The itinerary for the 2019 cruise has now been set. Departing Oban on July 10, the primary destination will be Rona, which lies 40 nautical miles north of...