This panorama is of the town of Portpatrick on the western coast of the south-western part of Scotland. It is a very small town which has a protected harbor and a small lighthouse (to the left) – more on it below.
Mull of Galloway Lighthouse: There were quite a few lighthouses in the area of Scotland where I worked. This one is on the Mull of Galloway on the extreme southwestern tip of Scotland. It was first lit in 1830. This peninsula has 300 ft cliffs and the lighthouse is 85 ft high. I climbed the 114 steps to get the view from the top. Unfortunately it was somewhat overcast so I couldn’t see more than a mile or so.
This is not a lighthouse, but it is a photo of the Mull of Galloway cliffs. I took this in the opposite direction from the previous photo of the Mull of Galloway lighthouse. It was good the sign was there because I hadn’t noticed the dangerous cliff. : )
Portpatrick Lighthouse: This lighthouse is a small one in the town of Portpatrick on the south-west coast nearest to Ireland. The town rings a small harbor. We explored the town for a little while and then got chased away by rain. The sea was very rough this day and the waves were crashing on the rocky coast.
Corsewall Lighthouse: This lighthouse is located on the northern tip of the peninsula northwest of Stranraer. I had to take this narrow, single lane road to get to the remote lighthouse, which is now a luxury hotel. It was built in 1817 by Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of the famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Visits with his father to remote lighthouses are thought to have inspired his books “Kidnapped” and “Treasure Island.”
This shot of Corsewall lighthouse was taken as the clouds broke up and the sun came out right before it set. It was one of the few times I saw the sun during my two week visit to Scotland.
Southerness Lighthouse: This “square” lighthouse is located on the southern coast of Scotland on the Solway Firth (A firth is kind of like a bay or river estuary). The “beach” was a wide expanse of tilted sedimentary rocky layers. I could only take photos from this angle since the wind was at my back and I was trying to protect my camera from the rain that was falling/blowing.
BIRDS
While in Scotland I got to see a few bird species I had never seen before. I’m still not entirely sure what these are, but I think they are immature kittiwakes. I shot these on the sea wall in Stranraer.
This is a pied wagtail. It would bob its tail up and down, hence the name. I saw this bird in Stranraer in a park by the shore of Loch Ryan.
I shot these oystercatchers along the western shore of Loch Ryan.
These barnacle geese spend the winter at several locations in Scotland. I visited the Mersehead Nature Reserve which is administered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The geese had just started returning about a week before I visited the reserve.
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