22) Depending on wind and tidal conditions, waves in the famous Corryvreckan whirlpool have been seen to reach 15 feet in height!
23) Tarbert is a gaelic term referring to a ‘portage’ – a (usually narrow) land crossing over which a boat could be carried.
24) One of the Sea Eagle’s Gaelic names means ‘the eagle with the sunlit eye’ (Iolaire sulaghreinne).
25) The Gaelic for otter is ‘dobhran’. They will travel big distances to access freshwater and follow rivers – there’s a ‘hill of the otter’ in the middle of the Cairngorms, which is 8km away from the nearest loch, over rough mountains. Another ‘otter hill’ is on the southern end of the Oa peninsula on Islay.
26) Greenland white fronted geese take about 4 days to migrate approx. 3000 miles between SW Scotland and Greenland, via Iceland.
27) The Exmouth Memorial is in memory of the ‘Exmouth Castle’ which was wrecked in 1847, with the loss of 108, mostly women and children Irish immigrants, bound for Canada.
28) There are less than 500 breeding pairs of chough in the UK. Farmers on Anglesey used to believe they started crop fires as they probed the soil for food, with their bright red beak.
29) Hen harriers perform a spectacular ‘sky dance’ during the breeding season. The male drops prey to the female and in mid air, she rolls upside down to catch it.
30) Short eared owls are known as the ‘cattie face’ on Orkney.
31) And one extra one, just for you…Over the last few years, SNH have paid £400 000 annually in compensation to Islay farmers for damage to crops by migrating geese.