Eilean nan Stearnain

The machair is a wonderful grassland ecosystem, that is fast getting quite rare as farming pratcises change. It houses a wide range of flowering plants and in summer is a wonderful sight.

Substantial stone house at Claddach on the west coast of North Uist - an inn and a B&B.

View across the silvery sands and shifting waters off Cladach Chirceboist towards the islet of Chirceboist / Kirkibost. Taken from the garden of a little hall which also serves as a café and nursery.

Kirkibost (Chirceboist) is a generally very flat island off the western coast of North Uist, though sand dunes at the southern end do give it some height. (see NF7664 : Eilean Chirceboist / Kirkibost Island) The tiny dark triangular structures roughly in the centre of the island as seen here, are I believe the ruins of former dwellings on the island at the subject reference I have given for the photo.

Looking towards the gap between Eilean Chircebost (Kirkibost Island), on the right, and Baile Sear (Baleshare) on the left. The map of Baleshare is littered with tiny 10m contours, though the northern tip seen here is much lower. Kirkibost has not a single 10m contour, though in this and other photos it appears to reach at least that height. One relevant factor is that the photos all seem to have been taken at low tide whereas height is measured above Mean Sea Level. However I suspect that the Ordnance Survey do not devote too much time to surveying islands like this which are hardly used and comprise mostly sand dunes which can and do shift! Perhaps at present this southern tip of Kirkibost is slightly higher than 10m.

Spume lines the sand after the storm

A small section of the western shoreline of the Uists

Fattening the calves

Old housing stock on the west side of North Uist.

Newly resurfaced single track road.

A mixture of (mainly) sand and some small shingly patches.

I think the channel has moved a little way south of its marked position on the map(s), but either way, it helps explain why there are currently several unclaimed squares just north & west of here. It may be possible to reach the island across the sands of Tràigh Leathann from the road around N Uist, but as it's a fairly long walk there & back, I suspect it would involve 'marooning' yourself on the island while the tide's in. Or just get a boat/kayak. Or wade this channel.

30-odd feet of wooden pier or spar, tossed up onto the storm bank by a good blow. It's been here a couple of years at the very least:- NF7663 : Spar on the dunes

There's not a lot of land in this square, but a photo is possible from the point where the sand spit at the north end of Baleshare turns the corner. Across the sands are crofts on North Uist.

At low tide the narrow channel between these two sandy islands looks easy enough to wade across, but only the brave or foolish would try such a crossing as the channel is probably deeper than it looks and has a strong current.

Dead sperm whale on the island of Kirkibost. August 2012