Highland Insider

We were back up at the loch the other day, looking out for the osprey, which still seems to be visiting regularly. There was no sign of it that afternoon, but we had a fair bonanza of other feathered locals, including a pair of ravens and a fine display from the resident buzzard family. The one that made the hike worthwhile, though, was a female crossbill, sheltering from the rain in a pine tree.

 We used to see these chunky wee finches a lot; in fact when we first moved here, we regularly watched them from the kitchen window, feeding on the pine cones in the woods that border the garden. They looked like flocks of miniature parrots, with the brick red colouring of the males interspersed with the green of the females; quite exotic against the backdrop of a conifer plantation and grey Scottish skies. Then the trees were harvested a couple of summers ago, and we haven’t seen the crossbills since. (The red squirrels had to flit too. It was a sad price to pay for having more light in the garden.)

I’m hoping it was a Scottish crossbill we saw, although they’re hard to distinguish from the common variety. They’re the only bird to be found in Britain and nowhere else in the world, and they’re on the RSPB’s red list for endangered species. They’re confined to the Highlands and these pine-rich woodlands are perfect for them, so the odds are it was the real thing cheeping away in the tree. Apparently birds have regional accents, but I couldn’t tell if this one was Scottish or not.

Posted by Karen under Highland wildlife and nature & trees and woodland | No Comments »

Those darn swallows are back outside the bedroom. Three weeks ago we waved the wee ones goodbye as they popped out of the nest and edged their way in stages from the beams to the shed roof, then  to the nearby telegraph pole. It was great to see them fly and the experience came with the bonus of quieter mornings and being able to finally scrape the great mound of swallow-poo off the front path.

We moaned about the poo, but in fact it contributed, for one weekend only, to our amazing designer compost heap. We have all the usual stuff on the heaps (there are three behind a living willow screen at the bottom of the garden): teabags, veg peelings, grass-clippings. Our secret ingredient is the litter from the hen house which activates it all nicely – essential when the weather stays so cool all year round.

Three weekends ago though, we added not only the guano of baby swallows, but a generous contribution from a long-eared bunny called Cuddles, who had come to us for his holidays while his owners went to Orkney for a week. We grinned as we turned the heap over, imagining the richest black gold ever next spring, but we were definitely relieved that the swallows wouldn’t be depositing it on the front path for another year.

Then, blow me, I came home one day last week and had to re-learn my automatic ducking manouevre pretty quickly, as I turned onto the path and nearly had my hair parted by a swooping swallow. The adults are back on the nest, and on Sunday Lee got a had a discreet peep in. They’ve got a clutch of new eggs, which must surely be their third this year. I’m not sure they’ll have time to rear them properly before the rest of the local swallows gang up on the telegraph wires to plan their trip south. But one thing’s sure: if they do manage to hatch the little punks agan, we’ll be ready with a plastic sheet.

Posted by Karen under birds | No Comments »

We have a visitor. The first I knew of it was yesterday morning when Lee dived out of the French windows, grabbing his binoculars on the way, and stood out in the rain, scanning the sky. His binoculars are an old Russian Navy pair that he picked up in a junk shop in Whitby, and they don’t miss much. After a few seconds he was jigging up and down, and not just because he had no shoes on. Circling overhead was an osprey.

 We’ve never seen one up here before, although they are regularly sighted a few miles away at Findhorn. Its crossbow-shaped white wings were hard to spot against the pale grey sky, especially as it was soaring high, much higher than the resident buzzards usually go. We saw it again in the afternoon when we walked up to the loch at the top of the hill behind our house. It was just taking off from a tree and circled around a few times before disappearing over the hills. Lee went up again late in the evening and it was back, fishing for its supper in the loch.

Is it just passing through, or could we have a resident osprey settling here? It appears to be a young bird, so it’s possible it is looking for its own territory. If so I hope it decides to stay. It’s beautiful to watch and makes our patch of countryside feel that wee bit wilder.

Posted by Karen under Highland wildlife and nature & birds | 4 Comments »

My main reason for visiting the Moy Fieldsports Fair was to meet the dedicated folk who run BADA -UK, the Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Association. This is a voluntary organisation that campaigns to raise awareness about ticks and the diseases that can be contracted from their bites. I came across them while researching an article on Lyme Disease, which Lee has been treated for twice following tick bites. Anyone who spends time out of doors, whether it’s stalking deer in remote glens or walking the poodle in the park, should have a look at the BADA-UK website and familiarise themselves with the dangers posed by ticks and the simple ways to avoid them. The website is at http://www.bada-uk.org/.

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Posted by Karen under Highland wildlife and nature & insects and creepy-crawlies | No Comments »