Cycling and Birding the Outer Hebrides May 2013

We had planned a cycle trip through the Outer Hebrides for a few years but finally got round to doing it this year and I've only got round to posting a write-up now!  Many sources of info advise on doing so during May-June for the better weather and to cycle south to north with a prevailing southwesterly.  That’s the theory.  We drove up to Oban and unloaded the bikes at the port before parking the van.  There’s plenty of free parking around the town but give yourself 20-30mins extra to sort it out.  Longer if you want to pick up a sandwich or a bag of chips (a 2 min walk into town).  Booking ahead for the ferry is advisable but not essential, even for vehicles; it can be done at the port.  It is a 4½ hour crossing to Castlebay on Barra, add another hour if going to Lochmaddy from Oban.  The crossing is usually quite calm but we ploughed into a W/NW wind and it got a bit bumpy with the ship struggling for 40mins to dock at Castlebay.  The rain set in and after leaving the gear at the hostel and a quick trip to Co-op for supplies the next plan was to check out the local bar.  A piping Common Sandpiper woke me up and a quick pre-breakfast stroll around Castlebay produced calling Great Northern Diver out on the bay and two Pied Flycatchers were in the copse around the football pitch.  Must be a few megas turning up there in the autumn! 

We took a spin down to Vatersay seeing more Great Northern Diver, a big flock of Red-breasted- Merganser, an uplifting amount of Twite and 3 calling Corncrake at the southern end by the cemetery although couldn’t see them.  Cycling back onto Barra we headed round the island clockwise taking a detour to the north end passing the airport (which is the beach).  More Corncrake, Twite and Cuckoo were added to the list although there isn’t really any viewpoint at the north end but still a nice ride under the singing Skylarks.  I stopped at one calling Corncrake and spotted it among the nettles throwing its head back giving its ‘crex crex’.  

 Cycling on Barra runway

 Nunton House Hostel and B&B Benbecula

Corn Bunting at RSPB Balranald

 We stayed at Croft 183; a brand new hostel type accommodation.  It’s really a converted garage but honestly is miles better than your average hostel).  In the morning we dodged the showers to get to the ferry port from Eransay to Eriskay linked to S Uist.  Our accommodation that evening was Nunton House on Benbecula and we had a tough day into NW wind with some rain.  A café stop at the craft centre was very welcome (good lunch food) and after 50km of constant peddling we were glad to reach our final stop (it really felt like we’d done 150!).  Nunton House is a good hostel with large kitchen (with emergency supplies included), dining area, clean rooms, and covered cycle store.  After arriving and unpacking in the room I cycled back to a lough with Red-necked Phalaropes but missed them due to the strong winds and it was getting bitingly cold.  Other people had seen a one earlier.  I headed back to the coast road and watched the waders at Stinky Bay, a great place to see them up close. 

 Redshank and chick at Balranald

 Empty croft at Balranald

 New-build on N Uist

 Waders at Berneray 

 Gatliff Hostel on Berneray

Cycling off Benbecula onto North Uist we passed a bakery which hadn't yet opened but in all honesty it wasn't really worth the wait but we did pick up a couple of supplies for the day ahead.  We headed west up the coast to RSPB Balranald and had a walk out to the coast from there.  Again there were great views of drumming Snipe, Dunlin and Redshank chicks at the side of the road.  On the reserve Corn Bunting rattled from the sand dunes and I managed to approach closer to get a photo. In the coastal pools I spotted a Purple Sandpiper huddled in the rocks and a Whimbrel sat on a rock out on the beach. We had a good look along the coast as there had been a long-staying Harlequin Duck there for the previous few weeks but it disappeared during the week we where there so hopes weren't too high.  Head east along the coast we were glad to come across the co-op, there really needs to be more cafes up here! Passing Solas it was a short cycle down to the beach where a Snowy Owl had been and sure enough there was a birder there watching it on a distant fence post and we watched it fly along the fence-line occasionally dropping down on the ground.  We cycled on to Berneray and were staying that night at the Gatliffe accommodation at the east end of the island.  The accommodation is basic hostel and offers camping.  There doesn't ever appear to be a huge demand so there should be space but there is a first come-first serve approach.

 Great cafe at Northton, S.Harris.

Scarista

Back to the ferry port by the causeway and travelled over to Leverburgh (Harris) through a turquoise sea peppered with outlying rocks.  At Leverburgh you can choose to go either west or east on the A859. Scenery is pretty good whichever direction you choose but we went west with a bit of a climb out of town the road then drops to Northton. For a great café stop take the road left through Northton until the road levels and the café is on the right (stone with curved roof) with a terrific outlook over the saltmarsh with Corncrake calling in the adjacent fields.  Retracing out steps to the A589 we turned left following the road north to Scarista, Borve and Seilebost passing through some classic Harris scenery.  We climbed east across Harris and turned off the main road to follow a winding road round to Dridinshader and Hostel No'5 which was another breath of fresh air.  The climb from the hostel up to Tarbert was pretty grim in strong winds and driving rain the following morning.  A couple of bus shelters were our only solace.  We dropped into the town and found our compulsory coffee and cake stop.  The Tarbert-Uig ferry arrived and we were asked to queue allowing all of the motorised vehicles on before us and our 3 bikes.  This was made 100x worse by the fact there was torrential rain and hail.  No mercy was shown by the Calmac robot and we trudged on with our bikes and made our way up to the bustling lounge full of dry motorists. 

The crossing was pleasant despite a strong tail wind and we circled round Skye arriving into a rather damp Uig.  We climbed up to the hostel to the south of the town and we welcome of the warmth.  There was no shelter for the bikes so we locked them around the side of the building and had passed the point of caring for one day despite only cycling about 11km.  With a bit more planning we could have stretched this out a bit but accommodation was scarce in such short notice.  We had a walk back to the village and meandered back to the hostel for food and sleep.  The following day dawned wonderfully and we had book the YHA in Broadford but with a blistering tailwind, yes we had finally turned to head SE, we rolled into Portree just in time for breakfast! We moved on, the sun was out the wind was blowing what reason was there to hang around at Broadford until the morning so after some negotiation we managed to get most of our deposit refunded as we booked a B&B in Mallaig on the mainland.  We cycled on through the Cuilins to Portree and further to the south of Skye through some stunning scenery leaving Armadale to Mallaig on the second-last ferry.  There was a lot more life in Mallaig and a choice of places to eat. Wow! May Bank Holiday loomed and we had now run out of accommodation.  Could we make it back to Oban in one day? That would be quite a stretch and we wanted to avoid as much of the main Oban-Fort William road (A82-A828) as possible.  After a good breakfast we headed off through some more great scenery of broadleaf woodland with Wood Warbler and Tree Pipits singing along the way.  At Lochailort we decided to catch the first train of the day as we realised we wouldn't make it back to Oban and had no accommodation.  Cheating slightly but this took us on an very scenic loop over Rannoch Moor to Crianlarich with a short stop to get the next train to Oban for about 4pm at which we drove home to Wales. A bit of a long day!  

 Sky on Skye