UKC

Supposed to be going to Mull in 2 weeks time with my girlfriend, walking, cycling, lazing about type stuff, but I saw something on the news about the midges being particularly bad this year in Scotland. Is this true and would I be better heading elsewhere e.g. Pembroke, as I hate the little buggers!
Thanks
Tony

In reply to tmawer:

Which part of Mull are you heading for?

Midgies on Mull are generally not bad because most areas are pretty windy. I you're planning to go otter-watching around loch spelve or slogging around some of the more trackless moorland you might have an issue but nearer the coast I've never been that bothered by them.

Nothing like the bloody midgerigars on Skye any time of year! (shudder)

In reply to niggle:
We have a week so will probably explore the Island, perhaps visiting some of the crags in the selected guide as they look like nice places to spend an hour or two even if not climbing.

In reply to niggle: 'Nothing like the bloody midgerigars on Skye any time of year! (shudder)'

eerrmmmm...I'm off to Skye in late september....am I going to get mullered??

In reply to SGD:

shouldn't be toooo bad that late on especially not near the coast or high up but they are tenacious buggers so you never know, but don't worry too much shouldn't be so bad to ruin your trip!

In reply to tmawer:
For what it's worth I was there a couple of weeks ago, and as people have said it was ok in wind and/or sun, but they were pretty hellish in the evenings (down on the coast in a sheltered area) and we got swarmed when eagle-watching in a forested area on a cloudy day.

In reply to tmawer:


A lot of the good crags are right on the coast, like Scoor, Kilvikeon and Raven's Crag. They'll be pretty much free of midgies most of the day and are right by some spectacular beaches. If you go to the granite quarries or inland crags near open oorland there might be more.

In reply to MaxR: Phew *wipes brow*

ta muchley

In reply to tmawer:

That's not been my experience. 10 days in the Torridon area at the end of May/beginning of June were notable by their complete absence, and last weekend at Glen Fyne there were also far fewer than usual.

I may of course have been exceptionally lucky this year

In reply to Toreador:
Yes, I was in Glen Etive in late May with no midges but the news item, from Glen Coe, was suggesting there had been a very sudden increase which has surprised people as they thought the cold winter may have reduced numbers, but no such luck!

In reply to tmawer: No there are fewer its the big biter strong ones that have survived

In reply to tmawer: a mate and me did a tour of the west coast from the mull of kintyre up to durness and I got bitten to death every time the leathers and lids came off.
A lot of the locals were saying it was particularly bad this year

In reply to tmawer: A few years ago as part of my degree i did a six week geological mapping project on the ross of mull, sometimes on the coast around busessan, but often on the moorland ploghing through the heather. somehow i managed to only get bitten on the last day when i left the repellent in the car.

In reply to tmawer:

I was on Skye late May/early June, nr Sligachan. Midge numbers were low, then around 4th/5th June they just soared, problems mostly early am and evening. The cold winter certainly made little difference there.

In reply to RussMills:
If the midges didn't arrive at Sligachan until early June then the cold winter made a huge difference - they're usually unbearable several weeks before then!

In reply to Toreador:
Aye. They're getting generally pretty bad now, but they started very late.
Hopefully this will have consequences for their breeding success.

In reply to Charkit:


Really? I don't suppose there's any chance I could see that work could I? I'm fascinated by the geology of the area but I've not come across anyone doing such a localised study. My dad would be very excited to see it too.

In reply to tmawer:

Have spent a few weeks on Iona in the past (can recommend you take a day or two to visit, very special place) and only remember getting swarmed once.

In reply to tmawer: Several years ago, I camped by a bridge next to the A849 after walking over the Ben from Killiechronan. Most of the day there were no midges at all, but it was fairly breezy. We'd just pitched the tents and were starting dinner when the wind dropped and a thick, black cloud of midges descended. Half an hour later (after watching the lads thrash around madly on the ground when their midge nets turned out to be totally ineffectual), the breeze came back and they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

In reply to Toreador:

What a load of tripe. As has been said already, the same week you didn't report many in torridon I reported quite a lot in MULL. I've been getting steadily more frequently midged since mid april in Scotland. East Scotland has been worse early on than many of the other years and the East is generally colder than the west. BTW about a week after you left I heard torridon was unbearable on the free campsite (as long as the wind was down). Also several weeks before early June is 1-2 week in may and in my experience the midgies are rarely getting bad at that stage, the usualy bad time for midgies west coast is June - September and more like mid July - september on the east, with the midge numbers increasing steadily for about 4 weeks before that.

In reply to CurlyStevo:
Calm down, it's Friday