Tales from the Trail: Glengorm
Headland watches at Glengorm
Our Tails from the Trail blog is back! We’re definitely still in winter’s grip here off the west coast of Scotland, so our minds are wandering to warmer months and time spent outdoors watching for wildlife. Here, Chloe - the Glengorm Wildlife Ranger - shares what makes this Hebridean Whale Trail site so special.
Whenever I’m out as Glengorm’s Wildlife Ranger, or under my own steam, I’ll look along Glengorm’s coastline and further out to sea. When I do, I like to think of Glengorm as a compass…
I know that if I look north from one of Mull’s most northerly points, I’ll see the waves crashing along Ardnamurchan’s sheer cliffs, and beyond that I’ll see the Isle of Rum, and Skye on a good day.
If I span west I know that if it’s a clear day and reflections from the sea don’t play tricks on me, I’ll spot the peaks of Barra – if I’m really lucky I’ll see the sun set directly behind them in the summer, bathing them in a myriad of pink and orange hues.
If I keep going I’ll come to Coll, where I know there’ll be seals hauled out on its smaller islands, the ‘cairns’. Heading further southwest is Tiree, visible on most days but not always, although there’s the constant of knowing it’s there.
Back east and I’ll see Kilchoan’s white cottages, bright in the sun or the gloom, and beyond the mainland I’ll make out some of Skye’s peaks, in winter shining with snow.
South is the Isle of Mull, with its fascinating coastline and wealth of wildlife, all of which can be found at Glengorm, the center of my compass.
Chloe scans the seas in search of wildlife
From here I can hug the coastline, looking for the bottlenose dolphins that frequently pass through. Or I can look further out to sea, towards Coll where I might, just might, spot a basking shark (still on my ‘To Spot’ list!). Or down the Sound of Mull where last summer I watched as three minke whales took part in a feeding frenzy, made all the more incredible by the hordes of gulls & Manx shearwaters circling above them. On a beautiful, not a cloud in the sky day, the rolling tire of their backs reflecting the sun, and finishing with their short dorsal fins before vanishing beneath the waves is a memory to hold, and I am made all the more ecstatic that this moment was shared by those who joined us for our weekly Headland Watch – many of whom will have never seen a cetacean before.
It’s not just marine wildlife on show at Glengorm!
Thanks to Glengorm’s natural compass, I know just where to cast my eye – whether it’s white tailed eagles riding on thermals along Glengorm’s shoreline, otters resting on seaweed rocks, seals bobbing in the waves, dolphins bow riding on the CalMac ferries or whales travelling down the Sound, I can trust that I’ll be rewarded for my short walk to the Headland with an amazing diversity of wildlife. But even if I don’t spot anything that day? Man, what a view.
Looking out in anticipation over to the Ardnamurchan penisula