The Patch

Seven months ago I waved farewell to Broadford and began a new job about an hour to the north-west. I am still on Skye, though in an area I am largely unfamiliar with. Skye is a bigger place than many folks realise. Despite my living and working here for the last seven months, I rarely spend much time looking at the nature to be found here. Ordinarily I blast off to other parts of Skye to seek out my natural history fix. But the hotel has now closed down for the winter, no more staff and no more guests. Just me, the owner and a handyman who pops in from time to time. I do have plenty of work ahead of me, but I also have plenty more free time on my hands. Perfect for a wee project, methinks...

The hotel and grounds

This is my new project. I'm currently in the middle of compiling a species list for the hotel grounds, henceforth known as The Patch. There are, of course, a few rules as to what constitutes a countable record. Almost all of the trees here have been planted, as have some of the shrubs, so I won't include those. The stray cat and flock of sheep that constantly break into the property also clearly don't count. But I think everything else is good to include.  

The patch boundaries are easily defined: everything within the perimeter fencing around the west, north and east sides and the sea itself along the southern boundary. I've had to do a little dogleg around the owner's cottage; I'm not sure he'd appreciate my headtorch beaming past his windows as I search for harvestmen on his walls.

I will include the full extent of exposed shoreline during the lowest tides and, if I ever get around to picking up a rod, I'll include anything I haul in from the sea.

Contentiously (for some), I'm also happy to include species seen from The Patch, encompassing such things as birds flying around the bay or dolphins, ducks and seals seen swimming in the loch. I'm also happy to include heard-only species, examples being the Barn Owls, Whooper Swans and Whimbrel I sometimes hear calling at night. 

I do need to take some more habbo shots. A tour of The Patch, if you like. Something for you to look forward to in future posts. For now, here are some pics taken at the shore earlier this afternoon. Note the astonishing lack of rain...

A pair of Otters frequent this stretch of shoreline

This will be my fishing point, I feel

Schistidium maritimum cushions, right down in the splash zone below the level tolerated by vascular plants

Today's foray has bumped the species list to a smidge over 200 species. Well over half of these are from this week, I truly have neglected to look at the hotel grounds all summer! This little project should help me concentrate my efforts far closer to home and will hopefully turn up a few pleasant surprises. I pretty much have the place to myself for the best part of five months, I wonder what the species tally will be come Spring.