Spectacular Shiants

The debate was whether to head for Rona or Loch Dunvegan on Skye, so we went to the Shiant Islands!  In NW Scotland, we are surrounded by beauty and horribly spoilt for choice but the Shiants need reasonably fair weather and there are now signs of change.  Although the barometer is still high, there are real cumulus clouds overhead and the winds are beginning to come from the west.

Rapport seen from Arch Through Garbh Eilean, Shiant Islands

Incidentally, the pronunciation of Shiant is “Shant” (silent i, something to do withGaelic, except that in “Gaelic”, you do pronounce the i – very confusing).

The Shiants are owned by the Nicolson family, who are quite happy for considerate visitors to come to the islands.  There were quite a few bird watchers there, two sea kayakers (which was impressive, there’s a lot of sea out there; known as the Minch) and a few yachts.  Oh, and thousands of sea birds.

Great Skua or Bonxie

Puffin Returning From Fishing

Puffin Perfect

Razorbill In Flight

Rosie rowed me up to the north of Garbh Eilean and dropped me off to walk back over the island.

Rosie Paddling, Mainland Scotland In Distance

My attempt to climb over the top of the island failed when I chose the wrong route, which became ever more precipitous, ending up with spectacular views and me being covered in guano.  Sensibly I gave up at a reasonable point and carefully descended again, to avoid becoming stuck on a crag.  The puffins watched me, seemingly amused, but offered no useful advice.

Anchorage From Puffin Covered Cliffs