Donald Mitchell
High Life Highland Countryside Ranger for North West Sutherland
Meet Donald Mitchell, High Life Highland countryside ranger for North West Sutherland. Find out what makes this area so unique and what wildlife, flora and fauna you can see when visiting the area..
About me
I have lived for over 30 years in the northwest of Scotland and am now living in and based in the crofting village of Durness on the tip of the northwest corner of the UK mainland. It is a very beautiful, relatively quiet if rugged place to be; surrounded by sky, sea and air, walking on some of the oldest rocks on the earth [the 3,000 million year old Lewisian gneiss].
Visiting the area
This is an area on the NC 500 which can inspire the spirit or calm the soul, one of the least inhabited regions of Europe per square kilometre. We have many beautiful beaches such as Balnakeil and Sandwood bay, glorious mountains; Foinaven, Arkle, Ben Hope, wild sea cliffs and mysterious misty moorlands.
The internationally famous geological diversity also gives us an amazing biological diversity, most of the area I cover as a ranger lies within the Northwest Highland UNESCO Geopark, an area known as ‘the cradle of geology’ which is visited by many students from across the globe.
Others travel far to see our notable wildlife; the special protection mountain area for golden eagles, the free ranging herds of red deer or the more diminutive unique wild flowers such as the Scottish primrose, a flower indigenous to Scotland at Durness on the NC500 . Yet another special species which may be found or heard only around Durness is the Corncrake, a secretive migrant bird with a quite unmistakably distinct loud rasping call, a sound singularly evocative of the Scottish coastal crofting communities and the Hebrides. Otters are common on the west coast and with patience and perseverance can sometimes be seen by the seashore. The great Smoo cave is a must see and a visit to Cape Wrath – the most north westerly point on the UK mainland, is worth a trip.
As a High Life Highland Countryside Ranger in this superb northwest ‘corner’ I value each day and take great pleasure in introducing this part of the Scottish Highlands to our visitors, so please take time to stop, to look and to listen, we will welcome you on our tours.
For more information about the High Life Highlands Ranger Service or if you want to get in touch to find out about guided walks or events or report wildlife sightings please find our details at our website https://www.highlifehighland.com/rangers/
