Berneray wildlife · Wildlife in Berneray
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Wildlife in Berneray
Wildlife in Berneray
The machair, which forms a large part of the west of the island, is a "must see" for visitors. The machair is ploughed in rotation, giving a patchwork of crops and fallow of different ages which supports a wide range of flowers. Berneray has a particularly fine machair, a result of careful stewardship by the island’s crofters... and helped by the absence of rabbits.
The crofting practices also encourage a wide array of wildlife on Berneray. On early summer evenings you can sometimes hear snipe drumming and even the rasp of a corncrake. Mute swans can be seen on Loch Brusda and greylag geese are common. In the winter they are joined by barnacle and a few brent geese. Ravens and buzzards are often seen.
Golden eagles and hen harriers are rarer sights, usually in the winter. Wading birds on the shore include redshanks, sanderlings, turnstones, oyster catchers, dunlin, curlews, whimbrels, ringed plovers and herons.
Further out, around the shores of Berneray, are mallards, eiders, red-breasted mergansers, and, more rarely, black-throated and great northern divers. Shags and cormorants fish in the seas around Berneray throughout the year, and in summer you can see gannets diving. Common seals often congregate at low tide on the rocks in Bays Loch and can often be seen from the parking area a little way beyond the Post Office or by taking a boat trip out into the bay.
Grey seals, which are larger and can be distinguished by the long 'roman' noses, also haul out there occasionally, but are more common off the West Beach. Though the otters of Berneray are out during the day more often than on the mainland they are still elusive, and it takes patience and luck to see one.
Crotal, or lichen, growing on the rocks was used to dye wool for the Harris Tweed industry, giving a rich brown or tan colour. Many hues were made from other plants, some growing wild on Berneray, before the advent of bought dyes.
There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that Great White Sharks sometimes visit these waters. The temperatures are similar to those of Cape Town and South Australia and in seals they have a preferred food source.
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Berneray Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.