One of the first walks we usually do on arrival back here
each trip is our favourite circuit around the RSPB Reserve at Balranald, over
on the west coast of North Uist. After
some light rain early on Monday developed into a lovely bright sunny day,
albeit with a stiff wind, and as this is perfect conditions for the walk, off
we went! The waymarkers start off by leading you along a track across the
machair – the fertile sandy soil that backs onto the beaches that run most of
the way down the west coast. You can see the high content of the silvery
shell-sand just by looking at the colour of it…
The walk hugs the coastline – initially the white sandy
beach, and then, as you continue, you come across a far more rocky, rugged area
– which can be spectacular in wilder weather, and this time was no exception…
It’s a bit of a haven for anyone who likes rockpooling, look…
Although this looks completely inhospitable, it supports a
mass of wildlife – Arctic Terns nest quite happily here – there were lots of
those about – with so few natural predators ground nesting birds are mostly
pretty safe here, Oystercatchers and Lapwings are also nesting not far from
where those shots were taken. Also a
good range of flowers – here you can see great drifts of Thrift just coming
into flower…
It’s not just the wildlife having fun either – some folk
before us had been indulging a passion for rock-balancing by the look of it…
You don’t have to tramp much further before you come back
into sight of the visitors centre and the nearby crofting township of Hougharry…
Of all the Hebridean
Reserves Balranald has the best facilities by miles – the visitors centre has
toilets and now that a small campsite has opened nearby there is even a van
selling tea, coffee, sandwiches and home baking during the summer season – very
welcome at the end of a walk! Before that though there is a last stretch of
beautiful sandy beach to be walked along – sometimes you can pick up little
tiny pink shells here – I think they’re like baby conch shells – we didn’t find
any this time but we’ll keep going back and looking!
Robyn
1 comment:
It is so beautiful. I think J and I would love it there. Thankyou for taking us on your walk!
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