Islands – Where do we go?

…On a clear day the outer isles of Barra, South and North Uist appear as distant triangles on the horizon, tempting us on. Closer the small isles of Rhum, Canna, Eigg and Muck appear, lying very low, just above the waves…………..

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Muck

As we head north from Croig and around the Ardnamurchan Headland, the Island of Muck appears like the giant head of a crocodile. The highest point is 138m (451 feet) and it is less than 2 miles by 1 mile in size. Its name comes from the Gaelic ’Eilean a muic’ – the island of the pig. During the Napoleonic wars 280 people lived here and worked in the kelp industry, but this collapsed in 1826 along with their economy. At the village ’Port Mor’ there is a small population with a very "delicious" home-baking teashop, which is a good place to start exploring. A walk across the land along farm tracks brings you to the west coast with incredible views of Rhum and Eigg. Many birds are to be seen, puffins nest here as well as manx shearwater. A stop here is very relaxing and gives just a glimpse of the islanders remote lifestyle.

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Eigg

We often motor along close to the shore here. The ’sgurr’ of Eigg is its most distinctive feature – a ridge of columnar pitchstone reaching a height of 393m (1290feet). Here are occupied shearwater burrows and the unoccupied townships of Upper and Lower Grulin. The island now has a small but strong population who bought the island outright a few years ago.

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Rum

With its impressive peaks that befriend the skyline Rum is now a SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) reserve. The red deer have been studied here for years to try and improve venison production on the mainland . Thousands of birds nest here, Manx shearwater numbers are still huge but there used to be over 100 000 pairs. 60 million years ago this island was a volcano. From 6000 BC signs of early man were left such as flint and bloodstone flakes. Its huge cliffs are daunting and can offer some amazing views of eagles flying. Canna we see as two low patches of land to the very west. It is owned by the National Trust and with a small farming community it is very remote, with a tiny post office and pier.

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Coll

As we leave Croig and head North this island is the first to stand out opposite us, long and low on the horizon, its highest point is 104m (341feet). It is about 13 miles long and 4 wide and is famous for its beaches. We do visit some of the beaches that harbour the grey and common seals in exotic– blue waters. We also visit the village ’Arnagour’ which is welcome sight after a long day at sea. The village high street with its beautiful white houses and flower frenzied gardens leads you up to the shop, coffee house and pub. From the garden of the latter the view across to Mull and the Treshnish Isles is just one of the best in the world! On Coll too the corncrakes have a sanctuary and can sometimes be heard from the village itself.

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The Treshnish Isles

These are a small group of islands, lying off the west coast of Mull and are just full of birds at nesting time, especially on the bigger island called Lunga. Here the auks gather in there thousands, ’Dun Cruit’, sanctuary or otherewise known as ’Harp Rock’ supports thousands of egg-layers every spring – razorbills and guillemots compete for a rock ledge to balance on. Apart from the huge black-backed gulls and skuas the birds are safe here on the rock stack. The puffins nest in burrows on the cliffs and if you lie down quietly they whizz over your head like clockwork toys. Photogenic? These puffins have personal traits that make it very easy to speed through film– humorous in their landings and sometimes dignified in their take offs but very respectable as they greet each other. The blue shallow waters amongst these islands provide kelp beds with tasty crabs for seals to eat along with handy rocks to lie on. The isle of Fladda has a natural harbour where the grey seals have pups in autumn. Their singing can be heard in the wind sometimes, some say they are moaning, but they have an ideal place to shelter from the Atlantic. Seals also hang about the ’Cairn na ’burghs’, two small rocky islands with remains of a garrison. A narrow channel separates them and from here one can see the remains of buildings, one was a chapel and protective walls between a small gorge. The garrison was once owned by Lord of Lorn and was besieged by Royal Forces in 1505, later to be retaken by MacLean of Duart. As late as 1715 Cairnburg was garrisoned by the MacLeans.