Loch Fyne - 29/07 - 05/08/2022
Last Christmas we were talking about our trips to Scotland. Our grandson, Daniel (then age 10 now 11), said he would like to go. Steph (our daughter-in-law) said she had no desire to go, to which Daniel replied "Grandad will take me" - which I agreed we would do. Steph's sister Danni and her family have a holiday cottage "Inverleaman" on Loch Fyne and this is where Daniel said he would like to go. The cottage and its setting are shown in the image above. It is.a lovely setting, though rather offset by the road between it and the shore, which had large lorries thundering by 2m from the kitchen window at frequent intervals all day.
Diary:
Friday 29th July: 5am departure. Arrived at Inverleaman at 3pm
Saturday 30th July: Inverary Castle and Jail
Sunday 31st July: Beinn Bhuidhe (Munro 103)
Monday 1st August: Glenbralter Forest and Benmore botanic gardens
Tuesday 2nd August: Loch Fyne oyster bar and Ardkinglass woodland garden
Wednesday 3rd August: Pucks Glen and drive around Strone Point
Thursday 4th August: Isle of Bute
Friday 5th August: long drive home
Friday 29th July: 5am departure. Arrived at Inverleaman at 3pm
Saturday 30th July: Inverary Castle and Jail
Sunday 31st July: Beinn Bhuidhe (Munro 103)
Monday 1st August: Glenbralter Forest and Benmore botanic gardens
Tuesday 2nd August: Loch Fyne oyster bar and Ardkinglass woodland garden
Wednesday 3rd August: Pucks Glen and drive around Strone Point
Thursday 4th August: Isle of Bute
Friday 5th August: long drive home
The weather was mixed with some sunny and spells, in which we took advantage of the loch for swimming, crabbing and paddle-boarding; and quite a lot of cloud and rain which we made the best of by doing woodland walks or eating out.
We found surprisingly little wildlife in this part of Scotland. We didn't see any Deer outside the deer farm at the head of the loch; no Red Squirrels or Otters. Daniel was pleased to see some Atlantic Grey Seals and a Harbour Porpoise on our drive around Strone Point. The best bird sighting for me was a Sparrowhawk tucking into a collared dove. Click on the image for a video of this. The Sparrowhawk flew off as I walked past at the end of this clip and the doomed Collared Dove was still alive - it made its way, rather painfully, under a bramble bush. After I had passed the Sparrowhawk returned to reclaim its prey.