Excerpt from westcoasttoday.co.uk Photo credit: Fieldsports via westcoasttoday.co.uk
Pasture grazed by the distinctive Luing cattle attracts large numbers of woodcock and snipe each winter and with the island seldom freezing because of the warm Gulfstream currents that flow past it, cowpats break down and become rich feeding grounds for worms and insects, drawing in migrating birds from across Europe.
The story of how traditional island farming, wildlife and rural tourism can work hand in hand is being told in a new film made for Fieldsports TV channel (www.fieldsportschannel.tv/) showing how something as ordinary as cattle dung can underpin wildlife, attract winter visitors and help sustain families on one of Scotland’s Atlantic islands.
Each winter, the Hebrides become a refuge for Britain’s migratory woodcock and snipe population, with birds pushed west by colder conditions on the continent.
On Luing, those birds concentrate on cattle-grazed land, where marks where they have dug into in the dung show just how intensively they are feeding.
Because of the birds’ hunger for insects in the dung the island’s farming family, the Cadzows, offer walked-up snipe and woodcock shooting during the quieter winter months — bringing visitors and income at a time when tourism would otherwise slow dramatically.
Luing gamekeeper Darren Smith, who manages shooting on the island, says: "You start to see a lot of snipe here. The birds are feeding hard, and the ground really works for them.”
The additional winter income has helped the farm invest in self-catering accommodation, including luxury holiday cabins, which are let to shooters in winter and holidaymakers in summer.