The Wildlife of Glendale, Isle of Skye
Seals
Atlantic Grey Seals are very common in Loch Pooltiel. They are very curious of people and will come closer to investigate if you whistle or sing at the sea-shore. There are usually a few basking daily on the skerries in Loch Pooltiel at low tide.
Grey Seal at Neist Point, Isle of Skye.
Whales & Dolphins
Minke Whale at Neist Point
This area is the best place on Skye for seeing whales, porpoises and dolphins. Dolphins are often seen outside the Three Chimneys Restaurant at Colbost. Minke whales and basking sharks are regularly seen off Neist Point from late April until the end of the Summer, with June/July being the peak months.
Even Killer Whales have entered Loch Pooltiel to hunt the seals. Read More
Otters
Otters often hunt for sea urchins on the shore of Loch Pooltiel and they regularly fish for trout in the many burns that flow into the Loch.
Broken sea urchin shells at the shoreline are a sure indicator of their presence. Read More
Orchids
Heath Spotted Orchid.
Some very interesting and unusual plants are common in Milovaig including Heath Spotted Orchid, Fragrant Orchid and Early Purple Orchid.
Carnivorous butterworts and sundews use their sticky leaves to trap passing flies. Bog Asphodel, Ragged Robin, Saxifrages, Spurges, Thrift and Monkey Flower can be found.
Sea-Birds
Black Guillemots are the commonest auk and are resident all year round. Gannets plunge-dive for fish into the Loch in the long Summer evenings. Fulmars nest on the sea cliffs.
Red-breasted Merganser, Eider Ducks, Red-Throated Divers, Great Northern Divers and Black Throated Divers are all regular visitors. Read More
Shore Birds
Oystercatchers, Curlews, Snipe, Common Sandpipers and Rock Pipits are very common around the shoreline of Loch Pooltiel and breed on the heather moorland.
Whimbrels pass through on migration and Golden Plovers are common in Winter.
Bluebells flowering beside Loch Pooltiel.
Wild Flowers
Milovaig is renowned for it impressive displays of wild flowers, with the fields beside Loch Pooltiel carpetted with flowers from Spring until late Autumn.
The Primroses and Violets of Spring, give way to beautiful wild bluebells in June and, in turn, to Orchids, Wild Herbs, Vetches and Heathers in Summer.
Recent Wildlife Sightings
27th Mar 2025
There was a single lesser black-backed gull on the skerries in Loch Pooltiel and three more lesser black-backs at Hamara Parks.
26th Mar 2025
The first lesser black-backed gull of the spring was at Hamara Parks at 8am.
24th Mar 2025
There was an otter off the white beach at Upper Milovaig at 7:45am that brought a fish ashore to eat.
There was a single flock of 100+ meadow pipits moving south along the top road in Lower Milovaig. Many smaller groups of meadow pipits around Milovaig all moving south. Meadow pipits coming in off the sea, west of Meanish, and moving inland (south).
23rd Mar 2025
A single bonxie (great skua) went north past Neist Point in the morning. There were hundreds of kittiwakes heading north at Neist in the morning.
More recent wildlife sightings
Sea Eagles
Sub-Adult White-Tailed Eagle.
Both White-Tailed Eagles and Golden Eagles nest in North-West Skye.
Merlins and Sparrowhawks often flash past through cottage gardens in pursuit of bird-table visitors.
Buzzards are the commonest raptor and pose at the roadsides, to the delight of the tourists,
who leave Glendale happy to have seen an 'eagle'.
Garden Birds
Wheatears, Stonechats, Twite, Ravens, Hooded Crows, Goldcrests, Redpolls and Cuckoos are common around the Cottages and regularly come into the gardens.
Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Siskins visit bird feeders and, in Winter, redwings and fieldfares feed on lawns.
Magpie Moth in Milovaig.
Shorelife
Sea Anemones and Winkles at Milovaig.
There are fascinating rock pools near Meanish Pier containing beautiful sea anemones, winkles, crabs and sea urchins.