Sunday 21st June 2026: Ardnamurchan Peninsula

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We had a leisurely day today, driving through wonderful scenery, and pausing at lochs to scan for birds. We picked up our first Common Terns of the trip, although somewhat distant, scanned from the shore of Loch Sunart.

We stopped for a brew and a walk at RSPB Glenborrodale, where we clambered up the footpath through a typical western rainforest landscape, trees dripping with lichen and the woodland floor clothed in moss and bilberry, reminiscent of Dartmoor woodland. It was pretty quiet, apart from several families of Great Tit and Blue Tit flitting noisily amongst the branches, a silent Willow Warbler foraging in the leafy canopy and a Treecreeper spiralling up the trunk of a dead tree. 

After a drive through stunning, green landscapes, with boulder-strewn high hills silvery lochs and tumbling rivers, we took the ferry across the water, where we were treated to an impressively close fly past from an immature White-tailed Eagle, a huge and powerful bird,  before arriving at the Ardnamurchan Peninsula.

We ate our lunch by the Kilchoan ferry point, where a singing Whitethroat provided the musical entertainment from an overhead telephone wire. Later I walked along the road and discovered its partner, which quickly disappeared into a bush giving loud alarm calls. On the rocks around the bay we found a group of seven Curlew amongst the regular species.

Continuing on to Ardnamurcham lighthouse, the most westerly point of the Scottish mainland, we found our first Rock Pipit of the trip. The lighthouse was situated  in an awe-inspiring setting, with rocky bays arching outwards, surrounding glinting blue seas which faded  to distant golden beaches, all looking magnificent in the glorious sunshine.

We had driven some distance across bracken covered hills and rocky outcrops, ideal habitat for Whinchat we thought, but our scanning had failed to locate any. Finally on our way back to our overnight accommodation, Tim spotted a likely suspect on a fenceline beside a loch. Out came the scope, and result - a pair of Whinchat to round off another enjoyable day.

Views from Ardnamurchan lighthouse area

Lunch beneath the lighthouse

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse

Kilchoan


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