Page 24 - BBC Wildlife - August 2017 UK

OUTER HEBRIDES

1

Balranald is one of the best places in the Outer
Hebrides to take in the astonishing spectacle of the
machair. For much of the year, the western coastal lands
that back on to wild Atlantic beaches are as green as a
snooker table, if more undulating. Come June, however,
they are transformed into a riot of colour.
Machair sand is largely composed of tiny shell fragments,
which provide well-drained, lime-rich soil to sustain rich
grassland. Extreme winds blow beach sand inland to form
belts of dunes that slowly become stabilised by marram
grass. As the latter takes hold wildflowers soon follow:
millions of red and white clovers, buttercups, yellow
irises, harebells, vetches, gentians, daisies, lady’s bedstraw,
eyebright, thyme and orchids, including a species believed
to be unique to North Uist.

PRESERVING THE LANDSCAPE
As recently as the 1970s, crofters ploughed with horses and
a single-furrow plough, and today low-impact farming still 2
plays an important part in sustaining the biodiversity of
the machair. Fallow machair encourages clover and kidney
vetch, while cultivated machair under crops supports corn
marigold. This mix attracts lots of insects, already drawn
to a soil enriched with seaweed.
Head for the western coast anywhere on the Outer
Hebrides and you will hit the machair soon enough. Superb
stretches of this coastal grassland can be found at Uig in
the south-west of Lewis, where it smothers the hinterland
behind the beautiful beach of Reef, and at Northton on
South Harris, which the RSPB and others consider to be
among the best that the Outer Hebrides has to offer. 3
The machair to the west of Loch Druidibeg on South
Uist is equally glorious, the sky in spring and summer full
of lapwings and skylarks. The lapwings tumble to earth 6
in an apparent death spiral to deter predators – a casual
glance while they do this can call to mind a plunging
Arctic skua. On South Uist machair you can also, with
luck, pick out the stunning chocolate tones and white
streaks of the belted beauty (a day-flying moth) and spot
the great yellow bumblebee, now restricted to Scotland’s
4: Scotland The Big Picture/NPL; 5: David Kjaer/rspb-images.com; 6: Muriel Duhau/Biosphoto/FLPA; 7: Laurie Campbell
north coast and a handful of its western islands.
On rare occasions, rocky headlands break through. Rubha
1: Mark Hamblin/2020VISION/NPL; 2: Nigel Blake/Alamy; 3: Paul R. Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd/Alamy;
Ardvule, one of few substantial outcrops along the west
coast of South Uist, is an excellent place to spot passing
Manx shearwaters, gannets and Arctic and great skuas.
Away from the machair, the hilly hinterland and sea lochs
of the east coast teem with interest. The key on South Uist
is to get off the A865 and explore the single-track lanes that
cut deep into the fjord-like landscape lapped by the waters of
the Minch. An enchanting example of this is a minor lane
along the north bank of Loch Eynort. In a land of vast and
open moorland, the spectacle of birch and holly lining the
shores can come as a surprise; in all, more than 100,000
native trees have been planted here, thanks to the vision of
local resident Archie MacDonald.
There are several gravel paths to explore. While none is
waymarked, they thread through the gorse and either loop
back on themselves or coil upwards to vantage points on
Beinn Bheag Dheas. A small car park at the starting point
for these trails overlooks the loch and you have a sporting
chance of seeing all eight of the Outer Hebrides’ birds of
prey from this spot in a single day, as well as otters.
White-tailed eagles are thought to be pushing golden
eagles out of territories around Loch Eynort; there are
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