Taking advantage of the reasonably settled weather over the past few weeks, we set off on a camping holiday to the Hebrides on July 20th. We were booked in for five nights at Craignure on the island of Mull, but after that we were completely flexible, with the intention being to go wherever the weather looked best! In the end we used seven ferries and two boats to visit 12 Hebridean islands and had many fantastic experiences on what can only be described as the holiday of a lifetime.
We camped for 11 nights at four campsites on Mull, Skye and North Uist. On Mull we were still in the heatwave, with sunny days and temperatures in the mid 80's. When it broke, we were on the tiny island of Lunga, surrounded by hundreds of Puffins. It was the experience of a lifetime to be there in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm! When it cleared, we headed to Staffa and Fingals Cave, and heard a Corncrake calling from the top of the island! After that, the weather was generally good, typically sunny with light winds, with just the occasional morning of rain. Perfect for camping.
My favourite campsite was at Balranald on North Uist, which was right next to the RSPB reserve. We had Corncrakes calling at night right alongside our tent, and lots of other great sights, including Hen Harrier and Merlin over the campsite. It was just a few yards from miles of machair and silver sand beaches, and had the best showers I've ever experienced on a campsite. Wonderful place.
Below is a rough map of the route we took.
What a fantastic trip, I was on Mull foe 4 days 18 to 21st July, but ti wasn't strickly a birding trip, juat a chance to spend some time with my Daughter, as she works in Scolland at the mo.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Gordon.