Our day started with a drive out to Eolaigearraidh, passing the "airfield" at Traigh Mhor consisting of a small airport and the extensive sandy bay which constitutes the runway.
We parked at Cille Barr, beside a graveyard within which sits both a runied church and chapel. The graveyard itself being the traditional burial ground of the MacNeil Clan. The sacred site was established in the 7th Century and dedicated to St Barr AKA St Finbarr (White Crown) (Canmore, ONLINE 2021; Swire, O.F. 1966).
Swire (ibid) writes of a venerated wooden image of St Barr - which through miraculous night time wanderings revealed the true location for the building of the chapel.
The open fields below the church contain wet ditches, and associated wetland flora including short stretches of phragmites from which several reed warbler sang. Corncrake called in the distance, and snipe "drummed" overhead. Sand martin and house martin, hawked alongside barn swallow. Cuckoo called it's name from the hillside behind.
Leaving Barra behind us - we caught the "puddle-jumper", sailed north to Eriskay, crossed the causeway to South Uist, and checked in to Kilbride Campsite, West Kilbride.
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| Chapel rems. Cille Barra |
Leaving Barra behind us - we caught the "puddle-jumper", sailed north to Eriskay, crossed the causeway to South Uist, and checked in to Kilbride Campsite, West Kilbride.
The campsite overlooks the Sound of Barra, and along with its stunning views also offers a variety of all-day breakfasts at the Kilbride Cafe. The meaty all-day breakfast includes the rather splendid Stornoway Black Pudding. Unfortunately, this was the the only Cafe on the whole of the road trip which we found offering the local delicacy on the menu. We were also unable to find it amongst the "local produce" in the numerous grocery stores we visited on our travels through the islands.
The campsite is a gentle stroll away from Poll Charra - a small inlet so named for the solitary standing stone on its headland (MacLeod Rivett, M. 2021). The Polochar Inn immediately overlooks the standing stone, a more than winning combination in any walking destination - by this Blogs standards!
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| Poll Charra standing stone, T-shirt by Hare and Tabor |
The night-time soundscape was dominated by the relentless "Crex crex" of the corncrake which hold breeding territories to the immediate north of the campsite. The corncrake's calls were so loud and so close, that they disturbed our entire night's sleep. In the pitch dark, I left my bunk, and the van to capture a short sound-memo on the iPhone. The nearest calling crake must have been almost at my feet, or under the van itself - such was the loudness!
A second and more notable night time call was that of an owl - a single mournful hoot, repeated infrequently - and from some distance. The most likely contender for this call being Long-eared owl - which according to the latest Outer Hebrides Bird Report (2017), is a scarce resident - and in 2017 a pair on South Uist were noted to have successfully fledged a single young.
Birdwatching
Borve AM (adds only)
Twite
Eolaigearraidh
Black-headed gull
Herring gull
Common gull
Mallard
"Cuckoo"
House martin
Sand martin
Swallow
Meadow pipit
Pied wagtail
Skylark
Blackbird
House sparrow
Starling
Reed warbler
Hooded crow
Lapwing
Redshank
Snipe
"Corncrake"
Ferry Crossing, Ard Mhor - Eriskay
Red-throated diver
Black-throated diver
Shag
Cormorant
Black guillemot
Razorbill
Common tern
Arctic tern
South Uist En route
Tufted duck
Goldeneye
Wren
West Kilbride
"Cuckoo"
Meadow pipit
Oystercatcher
Turnstone
Common sandpiper
Great northern diver
Red-breasted merganser
"Corncrake"
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| Great northen diver, West Kilbride |
Greylag goose
Wheatear
Stonechat
Starling
House sparrow
Goldfinch
Rock pipit
Pied wagtail
Skylark
Swallow
Blackbird
Common gull
Black guillemot
Twite
Long-eared owl
Other species of note
Grey seal - ferry crossing
Large white
Green-veined white
Moss carder bee (Bombus muscorum)
Bombus hortorum
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| Green-veined white |
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| Moss carder bee |
References
Canmore National Record of The Historic Monument (ONLINE) Barra, Eoligarry, Cille-bharra https://canmore.org.uk/site/9767/barra-eoligarry-cille-bharra Accessed 26th Sept 2021
MacLeod Rivett, M. (2021) The Outer Hebrides, A Historical Guide Birlinn Ltd, Edinburgh
Swire, O.F. 1966 The Outer Hebrides and Their Legends Oliver Boyd, Edinburgh and London
Outer Hebrides Birds (2021) Outer Hebrides Bird Report 2017 Outer Hebrides Birds
Swire, O.F. 1966 The Outer Hebrides and Their Legends Oliver Boyd, Edinburgh and London
Outer Hebrides Birds (2021) Outer Hebrides Bird Report 2017 Outer Hebrides Birds
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