Monday 1st August 2022
We packed up from the self-catering flat in Campbeltown, drove to West Tarbert and then caught the bus back to Rhunahaorine where we finished last night. It meant we didn’t start walking until nearly 10.00. We walked back down to the coast and then along the sandy beach to Rhunahaorine Point before walking back up to the A83 along the north side of the point. On our way we saw a lot of wildlife and rather more of one sort than we would have liked.
It was a desperately sad walk because there were so many sea birds, almost all guillemots, washed up having died from Avian Flu. In our two mile walk along the shore I estimated we passed about 3000 dead birds. There was roughly one bird every pace we took.
A lighter moment on that part of the walk happened just as we were approaching the end of the beach; Jill spotted an otter swimming in the bay. I was ahead of her and didn’t hear her call so was nearly up on the top of the dunes when I turned to see her gesturing with her binoculars. I managed to spot the otter – Jill said that through the binoculars she could see it rolling on its back and lifting its tail vertically up out of the water before its characteristic arched dive and the wait for it to re-emerge nearby.
I have never seen a piece of driftwood encrusted with goose barnacles. Apparently the “foot” can be from 4-6 inches long and the barnacle itself has five plates instead of the six plates of other barnacles.
Our wildlife encounters did not end there. We could hear a plaintive bird call and I asked Jill if she knew what it was. Jill wondered if it was coming from the single black bird out at sea which she felt didn’t look like any of “the usual suspects”. She wondered if it could be a diver of some kind and looking through her binoculars could see it had distinctive markings but didn’t know what it was. It was swimming away from us but Jill managed to get a couple of very distant photos for identification purposes and later confirmed it was a great northern diver. This is usually a winter visitor to the UK as their main summer breeding grounds are in N.America (where they are known as common loons), Iceland and Greenland but this bird was definitely in its summer breeding plumage (in winter the neck and back lose the striped patch on the neck and the chequered pattern on the back) so it is just possible that this bird might be one of the few that are known to breed in Scotland – or it was a very early arrival for the winter. Their plaintive call is much-loved by film producers as a sound effect indicative of eerie wilderness.
Back on the A83 we verge-hopped and lorry-dodged for mile after mile. We did have some good views across to Islay and Jura.
There was a paucity of suitable places to perch and have some coffee and so in the end we just kept going and came to Clachan at 12.45. As there was bench by the bus stop, I suggested to Jill that we should stop and have an early lunch. A bench under the bum is worth two down the road.
Whilst sitting on the bench a woman came out to put something in her bin and saw us on the bench eating our rolls. She asked if we would like a cup of tea and said to knock on her door if we would like to use her loo. Such unexpected kindness!
Whilst eating lunch this willow warbler was bouncing around.
When we moved on after lunch we found there were two benches 150 yards down the road.
From Clachan we followed what I imagine was the old road for 1½ miles before it joined the A83 once more.
Now we were a little further from the loch-side and so we couldn’t really see the water most of the time. The intermittent traffic speeding in both direction kept us on our toes and on and off the verges.
Just over a mile from West Tarbert there is a track which the OS maps show joins the B road at the West Tarbert jetty. We were looking forward to getting off the main road for the last couple of miles of the walk. As we started along the track a dog walker stopped to chat and he told us that the track was impassable having been blocked off by the owner of a bungalow. So, after further chat about footpaths in Scotland and the presence of ospreys on the loch, (we will look for them tomorrow) we followed an alternative path that brought us back to the main A83 rather sooner than we would have liked.
Fortunately the last half mile or so the A83 to West Tarbert has a footpath. As we were passing the cemetery a few big drops of rain appeared on our shirts and in the few minutes it took to reach the car we were entirely wet.
Just Coasting 