Starting and finishing at the Clachan Bridge, we walked through woods and then up the coast on the west side of the very narrow Seil sound, reaching the north-eastern tip of Seil where it is possible to walk across to the mainland at low tide. We then came down the Puilladobhrain coast on the other side of the peninsula, and then back overland to the Tigh an Truish for lunch and a pint.
A view up the Seil Sound from our starting point. Seil on the left, mainland on the right. In the bright sunlight Sea Bootlace was conspicuous in the water from the Clachan Bridge.
Juniper was quite common on the heathy and rocky coastline; it ranged from near-prostrate to almost tree-like. This specimen at well over 6 ft was the tallest I’ve seen on the West Coast. All round the shore Thrift is putting up its pink buds.
Looking back southwards down the Seil Sound to the Clachan Bridge. During our walk round the peninsula we saw an otter holt, with fresh spraints (but no otters seen) and a Kestrel’s nest with the owners flying above. Two lizards were seen by quick-eyed members of the party, but not by me. It looks like being a good year for lizards.
Plants seen in flower for the first time this year were Greater Stitchwort, Buckshorn Plantain and Bugle. Dog Violets are now out in great numbers.
I fell in love with this whole NE peninsula of Seil, definitely my favourite part of the island so far (but there’s a lot of it I haven’t seen yet). This is typical of the views you get on the Puilladobhrain side.
In the afternoon I explored part of the nearby mainland…
Here is Buckshorn Plantain in a natural slate crevice close to the Clachan Bridge on the mainland side. The slate is angled at about 45 degrees as is common in this area.
The Knotgrass Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina polita) was resting on dead marsh vegetation next to Loch Seil (a mainland freshwater loch). There were a pair of Mute Swans on the loch. Also saw the first Green Tiger Beetle of the year.
I then made my way to the Dubh Loch in the hills to the west of Loch Seil and stayed there some time fascinated by the liquid trilling song of the Little Grebe (of which there were at least 3 on the Loch) and the honks and barks of 3 Whooper Swans, which seem to have basically two sounds, one goose-like, the other dog-like, but combine them in an ingenious variety of ways. These birds are winter visitors and will shortly depart for somewhere more Arctic. There were also a few Tufted Duck on the loch, but they didn’t join in the concert.
