A pile of treasures discovered on our mini wildlife adventure to Uiskentuie

We scavenged the shore on Thursday for treasures - the beachcombing kind! Lots of shells were found, very big and small, things that were hard, things that were soft, things that were lived in, made a noise, smelled of the sea. 

Beachcombing along the strandline

The fascination with beachcombing is you just never know what the sea might bring you. Although most of our finds were local remains, we found the husk of a coconut (which might have travelled on the currents thousands of miles from the Caribbean!).

Not a hedgehog trying to get in...

...but a coconut husk!

Our lived-in finds were the most interesting - there were egg cases of Common Whelk, a mermaid's purse from a Ray, bivalve molluscs of all sizes and winkles and dog whelks.  There were many forms of seaweed, including the brain-like sea algae Leathesia difformis, and lots of the Eel grass (Zostera) had been washed ashore having been shed.

The brain-like sea algae Leathesia difformis

Eel grass

Some of our findings

A grand time was had by all. Join us next Thursday for our last family activity session of the season! Entitled 'Scorpions and Dragons', we'll be doing pond-dipping and mini-beast hunting at a local pond - meet us at Bruichladdich pier at 2pm on the 27th August for onward direction to the pond! See you there!