Mointeach Shearbhaig, Na Lochan Dubha, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach

San earrainn èisteachd seo, cluinnear fear-eòlais nàdair air an Eilean Sgitheanach - Anndra Currie - agus e a' bruidhinn ri Uilleam Mac na Ceàrdaich mu mhòinteach shearbhaig ann agus mu thimcheall air sgìre nan Lochan Dubha, eadar An t-Àth Leathann agus Armadal.<br /> <br /> Well, we're standing by the road that goes between Broadford and Armadale, at a small group of lochs that are known locally as the Black Lochs and one of the particular features of these lochs is the fact that there are small islands on each of the lochs with trees growing on them. The surrounding moorland is treeless because it's been burned and grazed heavily but the trees have survived on the little islands.<br /> <br /> Interviewer: How do the trees survive on an island?<br /> <br /> Mainly because the grazing animals can't get out to them and also if there's a moor burn taking place, the fire tends to stop at the edge of the loch and not reach the islands themselves. So these islands are a representation of what the countryside might have looked like more generally in earlier times when the - when it was more thickly wooded.<br /> <br /> Interviewer: Well it's not a very awe inspiring part of Skye. It's not - I wouldn't say it's the most scenic part of the - of the island, really.<br /> <br /> No, this is a bit of very acid moorland, typical of a large part of Skye and indeed a large part of the north of Scotland, and it's a loch where you'll see very, very few birds apart from occasional groups of whooper swans. This is - this is an area where you see very, very few duck or wading birds - anything of that sort. It's the climate which has created this type of situation; this is a great area of peat land which has been created by the very wetness and windiness and the wild nature of the climate and, of course, the acid nature of the rocks as well. This is what's created this sort of wilderness area. To many people this is just complete waste ground but to a naturalist, or a botanist particularly, there's still a great deal of interest in the area