Glendale, Skye - Tourist Guide

Glendale Tourist Guide

Friday October 11th, 2024

The Wildlife of Glendale, Isle of Skye


Seals

Atlantic Grey Seals are very common in Loch Pooltiel. They are very curious of people and will come closer to investigate if you whistle or sing at the sea-shore. There are usually a few basking daily on the skerries in Loch Pooltiel at low tide.

Atlantic Grey Seal
Grey Seal at Neist Point, Isle of Skye.

Whales & Dolphins


Minke Whale at Neist Point

This area is the best place on Skye for seeing whales, porpoises and dolphins. Dolphins are often seen outside the Three Chimneys Restaurant at Colbost. Minke whales and basking sharks are regularly seen off Neist Point from late April until the end of the Summer, with June/July being the peak months.

Even Killer Whales have entered Loch Pooltiel to hunt the seals. Read More

Otters

Otters often hunt for sea urchins on the shore of Loch Pooltiel and they regularly fish for trout in the many burns that flow into the Loch.

Broken sea urchin shells at the shoreline are a sure indicator of their presence. Read More

Orchids

Heath Spotted Orchid
Heath Spotted Orchid.

Some very interesting and unusual plants are common in Milovaig including Heath Spotted Orchid, Fragrant Orchid and Early Purple Orchid.

Carnivorous butterworts and sundews use their sticky leaves to trap passing flies. Bog Asphodel, Ragged Robin, Saxifrages, Spurges, Thrift and Monkey Flower can be found.

Sea-Birds

Black Guillemots are the commonest auk and are resident all year round. Gannets plunge-dive for fish into the Loch in the long Summer evenings. Fulmars nest on the sea cliffs.

Red-breasted Merganser, Eider Ducks, Red-Throated Divers, Great Northern Divers and Black Throated Divers are all regular visitors. Read More

Shore Birds

Oystercatchers, Curlews, Snipe, Common Sandpipers and Rock Pipits are very common around the shoreline of Loch Pooltiel and breed on the heather moorland.

Whimbrels pass through on migration and Golden Plovers are common in Winter.

Bluebells beside Loch Pooltiel
Bluebells flowering beside Loch Pooltiel.

Wild Flowers

Milovaig is renowned for it impressive displays of wild flowers, with the fields beside Loch Pooltiel carpetted with flowers from Spring until late Autumn.

The Primroses and Violets of Spring, give way to beautiful wild bluebells in June and, in turn, to Orchids, Wild Herbs, Vetches and Heathers in Summer.



Recent Wildlife Sightings

7th Oct 2024

A minke whale spent all morning close in at Neist Point, giving some good close passes.

There were three leucorhoa wheatears at Neist Point car park at 10am. There was a single golden plover on the point.

2nd Oct 2024

A small pod of common dolphins went north past Pooltiel Fish Farm, early evening and, at the same time, there were two larger dolphins off Dunvegan Head, probably bottlenose dolphins.

30th Sep 2024

There was a pod of c.20 common dolphins between the big waterfall and pier in Loch Pooltiel at 6pm.

28th Sep 2024

There was an otter fishing off the white beach at Lower Milovaig at 9:15am.

More recent wildlife sightings

Sea Eagles


Sub-Adult White-Tailed Eagle.

Both White-Tailed Eagles and Golden Eagles nest in North-West Skye. Merlins and Sparrowhawks often flash past through cottage gardens in pursuit of bird-table visitors.
Buzzards are the commonest raptor and pose at the roadsides, to the delight of the tourists, who leave Glendale happy to have seen an 'eagle'.

Garden Birds

Wheatears, Stonechats, Twite, Ravens, Hooded Crows, Goldcrests, Redpolls and Cuckoos are common around the Cottages and regularly come into the gardens.

Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Siskins visit bird feeders and, in Winter, redwings and fieldfares feed on lawns.

Magpie Moth at Milovaig
Magpie Moth in Milovaig.

Shorelife

Sea Anemones and Winkles
Sea Anemones and Winkles at Milovaig.

There are fascinating rock pools near Meanish Pier containing beautiful sea anemones, winkles, crabs and sea urchins.

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