Forthcoming events

An Exhibition of Paintings and Photographs From The Outer Hebrides

Reflecting the beauty and light of these
remote island communities

Join us from 6.30-9.30pm on
Monday 20th September
For a true taste of the Outer Hebrides
Art • Music • Smoked Salmon • Oatcakes • Chocolate • Ale • Whisky

Exhibition dates:
20th September - 29th October 2010


William Neill
Watercolours, Acrylics & Prints


Oyster Catchers © William Neill

Steve Duffield
Photographs


January Otter © Steve Duffield

To accompany the exhibition on
Wednesday 22nd September
we are holding a poetry reading
Hebridean & Landscape Poems
Poets: Henry Marsh & Angela Kirby

Wednesday 27th October we are holding a talk
Bees, Oil Beetles & Dung Beetles
Speaker: Darren J. Mann, FRES, FLS

All money from ticket sales will go to
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
www.bumblebeeconservation.org

William Neill      www.william-neill.co.uk

William Neill is an artist of enormous skill and experience, whose light and intricate paintings capture the real essence of the Hebridean landscape and wildlife. He has been interested in natural history since about the age of eight, when his family moved from town to country, and has been painting for even longer. He taught art in Britain and Australia before moving to South Uist in 1980 and since then has been happily combining his two main interests.

'Moving to South Uist in 1980, initially I concentrated on drawing but, I began to consider that water colour might be a more appropriate medium to capture the transient nature of light and the 'watery' landscape of the Uists. The landscape and wildlife of the Hebrides are a constant inspiration, and as often as possible I work in the field.

What is so special about the working life of a wild life and landscape painter living in Uist? Many people would say the light, the atmosphere, the open landscape. For me it is all these factors and more. It involves the history and culture of the islands and their remoteness. The birds I am looking at have Gaelic names that are often lyrical and sometimes have ancient stories and sayings attached to them.

I never go out to draw or paint a specific species because I never know what is likely to arrive or what out of the ordinary combinations of species I will see. My back ground 'music' is the birds, the wind, the water on rocks or pure silence.'

He still teaches occasionally, running courses on watercolour painting and wildlife art, and sometimes on the further education and degree courses at Taigh Chearsabhagh, the award winning arts centre in North Uist.

His drawings have appeared in numerous natural history publications and he also illustrated the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Discovery book of the Western Isles.

He was elected as a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists in 1990 and exhibits at their autumn exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London. Through this he has also worked with other wildlife artists, for example the Aig an Oir project enabled members of the Society to work with children and local artists. The aim was to promote and raise awareness of Scotland's Atlantic Oak Woodlands and resulted in an exhibition at the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh and the publication of 'At the Edge'.www.swla.co.uk

Last year he had a successful exhibition at the Scottish Ornithologist's Centre at Aberlady

For some years now he has become interested in insects and particularly bumblebees and has been involved in the development of the biodiversity action plan for the Western Isles, including monitoring the success of the great yellow bumblebee.

Steve Duffield      www.western-isles-wildlife.co.uk

Steve Duffield is an all round naturalist, whose amazing wildlife photography has grown out of his work in the field. He has studied birds for many years, first starting birding 29 years ago at age 8. Steve also has a passion for many other aspects of natural history and is currently the county moth and butterfly recorder, as well as running Western Isles Wildlife, which specialises in bird tours and wildlife holidays. He has travelled widely in Asia, Europe, The Americas and once to Africa, but loves the wilds of Scotland. Before settling in the Outer Hebrides he spent two and a half years in Shetland working for both Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB. He has also worked as warden, seabird surveyor, seal warden and most recently as goose officer. He is also an enthusiastic mountaineer and rock climber, when time permits.

Many thanks to:

The Hebridean Smokehouse on North Uist www.hebrideansmokehouse.com

Salar Smokehouse on South Uist
www.salar.co.uk

Uig Lodge Smokehouse on Lewis
www.uiglodge.co.uk

Macleans Bakery on Benbecula 01870 602659

Hebridean Chocolates on Lewis
www.hebrideanchocolates.co.uk

Hebridean Brewery on Lewis
www.hebridean-brewery.co.uk

Abhainn Dearg Distillery on Lewis
www.abhainndearg.co.uk

for providing a taste of the Outer Hebrides.

Wednesday 27th September 7pm
Bees, Oil Beetles & Dung Beetles
Speaker: Darren J. Mann, FRES, FLS
Venue: Apothecary 33 Greyhound Road W6 8NH
Ticket prices: £15 or £25 for two, Concessions £10 or £17 for two (includes a drink and entry to the exhibition)

The small things that make the world go around are often neglected by conservationists. Apart from their intrinsic beauty, these insects play an important role in ecosystems, without bees there would be fewer flowers, without dung beetles there would be too much dung.

This talk will focus on the unique ecosystem of the Hebridean machair and the vital role that bees and beetle play in its existence. In spring and early summer the machair is a wonderful blaze of colour as a multitude of flowers bloom, through out the year it provides rich grazing for livestock; both features occur because of the intricate work of beetles and bees and their intriguing relationship to each other.

Darren J. Mann, FRES, FLS is Assistant Curator, Hope Entomology Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History. President of the British Entomological & Natural History Society and National Recording Scheme Organiser for Scarabaeoidea (dung beetles and chafers)

The OUMNH is the second largest insect collection in the UK with over 5 million specimens. In addition to running Hope Entomological collections, Darren has a research interests in dung beetle ecology, taxonomy and conservation.

'Following a chance encounter with an oil beetle some ten years ago, I have been hooked on understanding their distribution and decline in the UK. In the late 19th century the UK was home to 10 species, six of these are now extinct.'

All money from ticket sales from both events will go to
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust

The Outer Hebrides

Also known as the Western Isles, The Outer Hebrides are a remote string of islands lying off the north-west coast of Scotland. Of the many islands in the group around 15 are still inhabited

Landscape and Wildlife: The further north and west you get in the UK the more limited the diversity of wildlife becomes. Combine that with the effect of being on an island then you would expect the flora and fauna to show even further limitations. Despite the position, the isolation and challenging environment of the Outer Hebrides these islands are in fact very rich in wildlife throughout the year.

Two very different and contrasting environments can be found adjacent to each in the Uists; the low-lying coastal plain known as the machair and the rugged moorland and hills.

Machair covers the western side of the Uists (which hold around 50% of all the world's machair) and parts of Lewis and Harris. This low lying coastal plain is created by wind blown shell-sand and is cultivated on a rotational basis in the Uists. In full flower from late spring to summer - the machair is simply stunning.

Not only are these two habitats stunningly beautiful but in combination they create a Mecca for wildlife enthusiasts. The acidic moorlands to the east support an amazing number of birds of prey with eight species of diurnal raptors present year round: over 20 pairs of Golden Eagle nest along with 4 pairs of White-tailed Eagle; 30+ pairs of Hen Harrier and Merlin along with Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. Short-eared Owls are common during the summer and Snowy Owls have become an annual, if rare visitor. If the health of an environment is reflected by the numbers of top predators living in it then the Uists really are special. The moors also support a very different flora to the alkaline machair with specialised, insectivorous plants such as the sundews and butterworts on the boggy ground whilst masses of Heath Spotted Orchids cover the drier areas.

As you move from the moor to the machair you cross an area termed the 'Blacklands' where the two habitats meet. These areas also hold a rich flora with thousands of butterfly orchids in bloom in June / July whilst in the spring, with the early growth of Yellow Flag Iris, the endangered Corncrake take up territory. Although very scarce throughout most of the UK, here Corncrake could still be described as common and can be heard announcing their presence loudly during late April and early May.

As the summer progresses these same birds may well move onto the machair where they find shelter in the flower-rich meadows and crops. These birds still thrive here due to the low-intensity crofting and cultivation still practiced. Due to the nature of the ground and the climate, this challenging environment does not lend itself to intensive agricultural methods. The use of herbicides and insecticides is rare so many flowers grow amongst the crops, which themselves are also very special as many are old varieties that have been bred for their adaptations over thousands of years. In amongst these cereal crops are areas of fallow land where you find different communities of flowers that in turn support a rich variety of insects and birds. Rare insects with a restricted range, such as the Great Yellow Bumblebee, are commoner here than anywhere else in the UK due to the sheer volume of flowers whilst waders such as Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Lapwing all occur in nationally important numbers during the breeding season. In the winter this same land holds thousands of wintering finches and larks as well as a good variety of wildfowl and waders including Greenland Barnacle Geese, White-fronted Geese and Whooper Swans. Other species of ducks such as Wigeon and Teal use some of the freshwater lochs adjacent to the machair during the winter but also to breed. Tufted Ducks also occur in large numbers and can be found breeding on many of the inland lochs. The landscape is actually inundated with lochs and if you come in by air or climb one of the peaks the amount of water in the landscape is quite staggering. The combination of both sea and fresh water is ideal habitat to one of the UK's most prized species, the Otter. The Uists hold a very healthy population of Otters and although they may be unobtrusive, at times they can occur very close to human habitation. It's safe to say that wildlife is just about everywhere you go in the islands and still found in abundance.

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