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Outer Hebrides – Harris – Lickisto Blackhouse Camping

Posted on May 20, 2024 by SteveJuly 5, 2024

20th May 2024

Sunny day. Wandering back from the loo, R saw a Red Deer doe on the hillside opposite the entrance. She shared the sight with a fellow camper, but I wasn’t around. Down at Otter Lookout I spotted a seal basking on the rocks on the opposite side of the inlet. I sat there for a long time, hoping for otters, or the seal to go for a swim. Snapped a few birds flying by, black herons.

R and I walked further down the road, but it comes to a dead end. Yes, we went on the path, but that became blocked by a fence. I hiked up the hill, but the ground was very boggy and not nice walking on. Went back down. We walked back to site and down to Otter Lookout.

R saw an Eagle being mobbed by corvids above the trees. I was in the loo. Obviously it was her day for good wildlife spots.

After lunch we went for a walk down the other road, wanted to see the other end of the loch. This was rather disappointing as it disappeared into nothing. An inland loch which I though was connected, was connected only by a meter-diameter pipe, well above water level. I left R here as I walked on round to get a view of the campsite from across the loch.

Did stop at one place where there were at least three seals, maybe four basking in the rising tide. Sat here for a while, taking photos of them and others.

Walked on further, but not a lot to see unless I hiked miles.

Back at the campsite we had drinks, and supper outdoors. Smoked salmon, with pasta, pesto and mayonnaise. Lovely quick tasty supper. R had used the campsite’s washing machine.

Faded Ginger came and nuzzed around us, very friendly. Later saw the black cat on top of the roof of one of the accommodation buildings. Later still I heard him thudding around the roof of the loo block. I bet there are.quite a few rodents there.

Sitting outside was difficult, lots of little insects had been encouraged by the warmth of the day. Minute insects with striped bodies. Can’t be midge as they were not biting, but annoying. Sitting in a spot with a breeze helped mitigate their annoyance.

Birds Photographed

Oyster Catcher
Heron
Black Heron
Cuckoo

Track

Outer Hebrides – North Uist

Posted on May 18, 2024 by SteveJuly 4, 2024

18th May 2024

Today it looked promising, the sun was shining, and we could see the local radar station. So today we drove up to said radar station where you can get a view of the islands. There is a viewing site called the Saint Kilda viewing point. Yes St Kilda was in site, 40 plus miles away. Did some bird photography. There did seem to be a race up the hill by a couple of vehicles, who were definitely birders.

We were on a sculpture tour today. First stop was at Claddach Baleshare to view a ceramic-tiled bench, called Reflections. It marks the old crossing place to Baleshare before the causeway was built. Disturbed a couple who were there, eating lunch. They soon left.

Drove on to look at nearby Trinity Temple, Carnish. R was delighted to see yellow flags coming into flower. They explained all the huge leaves we’d been seeing.

R wanted a loo break, so we stopped at Langress Lodge for a coffee and cake. Could have had their brunch for a late lunch, but we had already eaten down a picnic by the bench. R loved the wallpaper in the cloakrooms.

We then drove a short distance, parked and took a delightful walk through a pine forest. It had been set up with displays of tiny doors & scenes for children. At the end of the walk, there was a wooden carving of Hercules the Grizzly Bear. He had escaped on the island during the filming of a commercial. The bear also featured in the James Bond film Octopussy and he’d met Margaret Thatcher. The latest cuckoo was in full voice, but we actually saw him this time, accompanied by a small bird.

We drove on to Lochmaddy to see a couple more sculptures on the sea front. Saw the ferry coming towards the port.

R wanted some bubbly, stopped at a shop in Lochmaddy, no alcohol on sale. We drove back to campsite, but saw another shop a few miles from the site, and fuel station. It did have alcohol, also bought a few days of provisions. The diesel price actually was not bad, a couple of pence more than Tesco in Oban.

Back at campsite it started to cloud over and there was a little rain in the late evening when we had packed up for the night.