Sgeir a' Chaisteil

Looking due south from NM2257 : Coll - Arinagour - Coll Hotel gardens over Arinagour's harbour to Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles. The green starboard buoy seen in mid distance is at NM23075566 (see NM2355 : Bogha Mor and marker buoy for a close view).

We are looking just east of north. On the left is Sgeir a' Chaisteil and smaller islands, and the largest, flat-looking island is Fladda in NM2943. More distant are part of west Mull, and Ardnamurchan Point.

The 'Hoy Lass' operated by Turus Mara at a place where they disemark and embark passengers on Lunga. Treshnish Isles are an SSSI, see Link

The Staffa tour boat threaded its way through the Treshnish Isles on its return journey to Kilchoan and Tobermory.

Of volcanic origin, the island of Lunga is the largest of the Treshnish Isles in the Inner Hebrides. During the summer, tourist boats visit Lunga; the main attraction is the many thousands of breeding puffins as well as the abundant plant life for which it has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. One such boat, operated by the Staffa Tours company can be seen moored at the southern end of the Island in this photograph.

There is no permanent pier on Lunga. The boatman has a temporary floating pier that is pushed against the shore between the boat and the rocks. Depending on the state of the tide you may have to scramble across slippery, rounded seaweed covered rocks to get to the shore proper.

One of very many Puffin that nest in burrows on Lunga. If you sit still they will approach you getting well within arms reach. This is a really exciting experience.

This cliff is crowded with Razorbills and Guillemot all trying to find a small space in which to lay their eggs. We came here two years ago just one week earlier and the only birds on the island were the Puffin and a few Shag. The Razorbills etc. had not arrived to start nesting.

As our boat threaded through the myriad islets of the Treshnish Islands this was the view back northwards. The large island in the background is Fladda while the islets associated with Bogha Ruadh are in the foreground.

There is a huge colony of guillemots (Uria aalge) and razorbills (Alca torda) nesting on Harp Rock off the western coast of the island of Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Islands. Amongst these two species are also a number of puffins, although they generally prefer the grassier slopes of the main island. There were also a variety of gulls about. Here a guillemot (I think) is coming in to land on the edge of this rock. The guillemots are slightly slenderer than the razorbills and have pointier bills. The razorbills have a distinctive diagonal stripe towards the tip of their bills as can be seen on the bird at bottom right.

One of the thousands of guillemots (Uria aalge) nesting on Harp Rock, Lunga Island, takes flight on a mission to catch fish (mainly sand eels). See also NM2742 : Coming in to Land - Harp Rock, Lunga for more information.

A head-on view of one of the very trusting - and photogenic - puffins that nest in their hundreds (probably thousands) on the little island of Lunga in the Treshnish Isles off Mull. The puffin (Fratercula arctica) shares the island with many other seabirds, in particular guillemots and razorbills which nest in their thousands on the nearby Harp Rock.

The puffins on Lunga obligingly waddled about allowing shots from every angle - here the glossy black plumage of its back is seen along with its head in profile.

A side view of one of the many photogenic little puffins on Lunga.

This puffin is resting on a ledge on the offshore "Harp Rock" just off the cost of Lunga the largest of the Treshnish Isles.

There are thousands of both razorbills (Alca torda) and guillemots (Uria aalge) on Lunga; most are on the slightly offshore Harp Rock, but a few such as this one were sharing the grassy sides of the main island with the puffins. The razorbill and guillemot are quite similar, though the former has a thicker bill with a distinctive diagonal white streak towards its tip.

These two razorbills (Alca torda) on Lunga were away from the main colony which was on nearby Harp Rock. See NM2742 : Razorbill (Alca torda) on Lunga for more information.

A shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) seen on its nest in a cleft of the rocks beside the path that leads from the north of the island to Harp Rock.