Sea and Hills

[anteros_lmc]

Traigh na Berie / Reef Beach, Uig, Isle of Lewis

Ben Dorain	West Highlands
Buachaille Etive Mor	Bidean nam Bian
The West Highlands looked stunning when we drove up over Rannoch Moor and through Glencoe. Conditions in the hills have been treacherous this winter though, at least a dozen experienced climbers have lost their lives on Ben Nevis, Cairngorm and Glencoe this year already.
Flat calm	Minch sunset
Minch sunset	Minch sunset
Thankfully we had two gorgeous flat calm crossings. If you look carefully you can see snow on the hills of Assynt on the horizon.
Traigh Bhostadh / Bosta beach	Traigh Bhostadh / Bosta beach
Traigh Bhostadh / Bosta beach	Traigh Bhostadh / Bosta beach
Don't let the blue skies and azure seas fool you, it snowed the day we were at this beach :} It was still gorgeous though and didn't stop us building a huge sand castle with double moat.
Bronze Age house reconstruction, Bosta	Dun Barabhat, Iron Age crannog dun
Norse mill, Traigh na Berie	Norse mill stones, Traigh na Berie
Archaeology! The Bosta house is a reconstruction of a Bronze Age "jelly baby" house excavated further along the beach. They're referred to as "jelly baby" houses because of their rounded globular shape. The others sites are all original. I worked on the excavations on Dun Barabhat in 1989. It's a typical Iron Age galleried dun constructed on a small island which has been built up below the waterline to form the foundation of the dun. The site is on an upland loch and you get a spectacular view of the beach from up there.
Golden eagle, Bosta	Traigh na Berie from Loch Barabhat
This golden eagle is one of a pair that spent ages circling the beach while we were flying our kite. Sister managed to get a great pic of the kite and the two eagles all in a line.
Uig hills	Harris hills
East Loch Tarbert	Overlooking Caolas

Comments

[esmerelda-t.livejournal.com]

Looks stunning, the crystal clear cold kind of stunning mind you. :P

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Yep. That just about sums it up. Still, at least when it's this cold we don't have to worry about bloody midgies!

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

I am sitting here stripped of any useful language. Just beautiful. I feel as if walking on those beaches would make you cleaner--if colder-- than when you started.

The sailors, like Morrison, who left not knowing when they would be back, must have missed home always. Tahiti must have seemed like another world... The home island certainly does not seem to run to tropical fruits and naked lounging.

And the reconstructed house looks as if it would actually be kind of cozy. Was it dug down lower on the inside? Did they have a fire inside? Reminds me a little of a wigwam.

I have never seen a golden eagle except at the zoo. Do they eat fish? There are big raptors around here, oddly enough. they eat pigeons. And huge vultures in New Jersey. They eat roadkill. They ride the updrafts that come up from 1-95. All that asphalt. Adaption. Smart birds.

I wonder what the eagles thought of your kite? Also, what a great place for a kite!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I feel as if walking on those beaches would make you cleaner--if colder-- than when you started.
Yes, they do have a sort of cleansing effect, it's almost impossible to put it into words.

The sailors, like Morrison, who left not knowing when they would be back, must have missed home always.
Definitely. There is a huge body of Gaelic song and poetry that deals exclusively with the longing to return home. It's something I'm continually aware of myself.

The home island certainly does not seem to run to tropical fruits and naked lounging.
Actually palm trees grow rather well on the West Coast of Scotland due to the Gulf Stream! You have to be very hardy to attempt naked louging though ;)

I haven't been inside the house but it would indeed have had a sunken floor and a central hearth. It does look really sheltered and cosy doesn't it?

I have never seen a golden eagle except at the zoo. Do they eat fish?
Not as far as I know. Ospreys and sea eagles eat fish but golden eagles mainly prey on rabbits and other birds. They will also take lambs and game birds which has led to their persecution throughout the Highlands. They're stunning birds, and although they're very rare, the west coast of Lewis is one of the places you're most likely to see them

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

You know I wrote this long flaily thing, and realized that Esmerelda said it much better. Yes, what she said.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

This is so beautiful! ;__;
You don't happen to know a lonely sheep farmer on Lewis, by any chance? XD

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Plenty of lonely sheep farmers up there, but they're all a bit bonkers tbh! XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

Oh, well, so am I. ;D

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

What's stopping you then?! :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/_likimeya/]

You haven't given me an address!!!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

What, do you think I'm running a dating agency for lonely sheep farmers here?! There a plenty of them up there. Go and find one yourself! ;P

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Pretty? :)

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

:D

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Oh, beautiful. Am so jealous of the eagle!

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

We actually saw two pairs of eagles that day, plus several buzzards, a pair of merlins, various gannets, guillemots and razorbills, greylags, sandpipers and wheatears :)

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

*not listening* Any hooded crows? I like them, too.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Heh, it wouldn't have occurred to me to mention them! Plenty hoodie craws. Alas no ravens though. They do breed on the island but they're quite rare.

[kittycallum.livejournal.com]

So beautiful! I love the colour of the water in the Traigh Bhostadh pictures, the clouds in the sunset ones, and those rugged-looking hills (they really resemble Iceland!). Also, I had no idea golden eagles lived in that area, but they seem like very majestic birds.

Jelly baby house? What a very appealing name ...

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

they really resemble Iceland!
So I've been told! I hope I can visit Iceland one day so I can see for myself :)

I had no idea golden eagles lived in that area, but they seem like very majestic birds.
They're stunning creatures. They're a protected species now and there's a nationally significant breeding population in the south and west of Lewis.

Jelly baby house? What a very appealing name ...
Isn't it? Here's a plan of one, you can see where they get the name! :D

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like those. Some interesting compositional elements there too (guess what we were doing at Camera Club this week).

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Interesting compositional elements? Erm... eight of the pics here where taken out of the (rather dirty) window of a moving vehicle! :} There was actually a camera club on Reef Beach the day we were there. I bet they got some beautiful shots.

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

We had much debate on where the horizon should be. I think you got the placing right for each shot, so that the best bits appear above and below it.

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

Fabulous! The mountains, and the sunset... And huzzah for the eagle! :) The opening foto looks so serene, and the water's colour is wonderful.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Thank you :) I never tire of taking pictures of the sea at home, the colours are just amazing.

[katriona-s.livejournal.com]

Oh, how beautiful...! Thank you very much for sharing these sight with us, they are really breathtaking views!
I really have to visit Isle of Lewis in near future, I think.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I can highly recommend visiting the islands if you ever get the chance :)