On Sunday I became a grandfather again, with very limited effort on my part. In fact I was in the middle of Skye walking from Glenmore to Crossal through three tetrads with zero records. Amusingly, while I was away I was sent a chart for the whole of Scotland illustrating tetrad numbers by colour codes – the darker the more records. The three tetrads I was walking through are shown as a white vertical strip:
A look at the map had suggested that Lon na Steill near Glenmore was likely to be the most interesting and so it proved. I contemplated this water bubbling out of the ground as a drinking fountain but with sheep around I decided against it:
The gorge of the burn had Saxifraga hypnoides (Mossy Saxifrage) which is new to the 10 km square and a red moss that Nick Hodgetts says is probably Bryum weigelii:
Up above, Stroc-bheinn was uninteresting but had good views:
Most of the rest of the journey was through fairly dull with lots of burned moor and other Molinia-dominated areas. However, I found a new site for Equisetum pratense (Shady Horsetail) – a plant new to the 10 km square, Neottia cordata (Lesser Twayblade) and quite a lot of Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Cowberry).
Loch Dearg was not looking particularly red (dearg) but made a good view with snow on the Cuillin Hills behind:
and I am wondering what inhabits this hole:




























