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.

Whales & Dolphins

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

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.

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.