Oa Orchids!

 On the way back from our damp walk, the weather began to clear and dry up, enabling a closer look at the superb roadside orchid display. 

Lesser Butterflies...I have never seen so many! 

Early Marsh.

Heath Spotted.

Northern Marsh.

A strongly marked Heath Spotted.

The first Grass of Parnassus was just coming out.

And more....

Damp on the Oa

Plan A for the day had been to walk from Kintra to Soldier's Rock, however the recent rain led to the burn that you cross, being far too high to cross safely, so we had to head back. As you park near the beach for this walk, we made Plan B: a walk along the beach, but again a deep paddle would have been required to ford the first stream that crossed the beach, so Plan C came into action: a trip to the Oa. 

A curtailed walk along the beach.

A nice Flapper Skate egg case. 

Dreich! 

Heading to the Oa ...and a decent pair of horns! 

Roadside: lots of Ragged Robin.

Probably Northern Marsh-orchid.

Lesser Butterfly Orchids - there were lots of roadside orchids, but it was raining too much to risk the camera anymore! 

Spectacular coast...

And you'll have to trust me, but it is a Golden Eagle. 

Waterfalls in full flow.

The weather was supposed to improve at midday - you can just about make out the pale blue of the incoming decent weather above the far horizon.

Goats.

The mist/cloud was coming off the sea...

Damp Hares washing and drying...

The Big Strand

Well we actually managed to stay dry, despite a wet forecast and definite areas of rain circling around! A walk along this long beach is always rewarding. 

Rocky with a rope ball he found and soon destroyed! 

There's nothing for scale, but this is a large Sting Winkle.

Patterns and textures in my beach finds. 

Sea Rocket.

Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acre) ..and below. 

A strange looking crab, that I'm awaiting an id confirmation on. 

Far end of the beach.

Flapper Skate egg case.

Barnacled stones - I love the way the sand has been eroded leaving the stones standing proud. 

Happy dog! 

Ardnave: flowers

The sheer variety of habitats on Ardnave Point gives rise to a rich and varied flora:

The Yellow Flag Iris was spectacular. 

Foxgloves too.

One of the less common plants is the Mountain Everlasting. This year we were a bit late to see it at its best and most of the flowers had been grazed off by sheep.

The orchids were spectacular and there will be an exciting (if you are into orchids) blog on these later following a second visit with Tom, who knows his stuff in regard to orchids and their hybrids. The stunning deep red colour of this Early Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata) makes it subsp. Coccinea. 

The commoner colour of the Early Marsh-orchid.

Northern Marsh-orchids but they may have a bit of the Heath Spotted-orchid in them. 

One of the last flowering Bog Bean - my favourite.

Heath Spotted-orchids.

Pyramidal Orchid - they are just coming out. 

And another stand of Yellow Flag Iris with the Paps of Jura in the distance.

Back to Islay: Ardnave Point

A fabulous week and a bit on Islay. Our first walk, as so often is the case when we visit, was round Ardnave Point. The walk is very diverse, with stunning views and lots of wildlife - just love it! The flowers were spectacular too, so they are the next blog - we hit it right for the orchids!

Walking down through the dunes.

Eider Duck creche - the females look after a group of chicks, the small ones top left are Shelduck chicks. 

Juvenile White-tailed Eagle.

Rocky snoozing, while I painted.

The classic view!

... and the sun came out.

Fabulous colours.

Seals on Nave island.

The machair was in bloom - a different assemblage of species to the machair in the Uists that we had seen a fortnight ago.

Looking over Gruinart to the Paps of Jura.

And a glimpse of a Hen Harrier.