Wednesday 29 June 2011

Andy climbing





Home to better weather

 After a wet w/end on Skye we finally drove out of the rain at Lochcarron & home to a lovely sunset

Wet weekend on Skye

 Unlike our last trip to Skye, this turned out a damp squid. An orchid, one of many helped to brighten things up.
 Honeysuckle grows wild all around the Trotternish peninsula
 Blue sky over Scalpay
Looking towards the Skye bridge from just north of Broadford.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Wild about Gairloch festival 23rd to 27th June

 To help publicise the wildlife festival, Scottish Natural Heritage invited BBC Radio Scotland to the area to see what's available. Mark Stephen who co-hosts "Out of Doors" BBC Radio 4 Scotland, Sunday 11-05am came over to try out some of the wildlife watching activities. Here he is interviewing Rick Holmes, skipper of http://www.glassbottomboat.info/ as we began a trip across the bay to see what's lurking beneath the waves.
 We saw an amazing array of life under the water, crabs, fish, squat lobsters, starfish, sea gooseberries (tiny jellyfish), a pipe fish and much more. Above the water there were lots of seabirds and the thrill of the trip was seeing a white tailed sea eagle, being mobbed by a pair of crows.
 Greylag goose & gosling close behind. Apparently, they usually have about 8-12 hatchlings which means that the rest have probably been lost to predators, otters, gulls??????
 Leaving the harbour, customers checking out the underwater life in the shallows.
Arriving back at harbour after a thrilling trip. If you want to hear what else Mark Stephen saw on his Gairloch trip, tune in to Radio 4, BBC Scotland on Sunday morning at 11-05 or catch up on iPlayer. To see what's happening go to http://www.wildaboutgairloch.com/

White tailed sea eagle

 You'll need to zoom these to appreciate them better, the eagle being mobbed by a crow
 soaring away,
 then being divebombed by another crow
By the look of the tatty feathers, this isn't the first time this bird has been hassled.

Trip on the glass bottom boat

 Cormorants
 Oystercatcher
 Greylag goose
Herons all around us at Sheildaig bay

Monday 13 June 2011

2 munro's

 Sgurr nan Ceannaichean
Moruisg

2 munro's

 Looking east from the top of Moruisg, towards Glen Affric
 The view to the north

On the second summit, Sgurr nan Ceanaichean - before the rains came.....

2 munro's today

 From the top of Moruisg, across to the Cuillin ridge.
 The A890 towards Kyle of Lochalsh.

Lucky to get a decent day for this walk. Heavy going, bog for the most part, then a long, steep slog to the summit, but worth every step for the views.

Monday 6 June 2011

Jurrasic Skye

 The Storr from below - we were at the top of it a couple of hours earlier!
Skye's Jurrasic beach
Hydro electric station, the only railway on Skye.....looking up
and down....... http://www.bearreraig.ukfossils.co.uk/

Skye w/end

 From the top of the Storr, looking north
 and south to the Cuillins, Rassay on the left
 Two happy walkers
The Old Man of Storr

Skye w/end - The Old Man of Storr

 Incredible shapes in the rock
 The Old Man himself
 Cuillins in the background

Wierd shapes on the Trotternish peninsula

Summer has finally come - a w/end on Skye

 Andy's earning our keep at a friend's house. Looking over to Kintail.
 Broadford Bay

A pleasant outlook from the dining room.
Finally back after 3 weeks of rain and a pc, viral attack. We had a w/end on Skye, Friday night at a friend's house & Saturday night, joined a friend who's up from England in a holiday cottage.