Nature Diary

Previous Entries

More January trips (so far)

Thursday 19th January

Ducks have featured over the last couple of days. The usual mallards in the bay were joined by a couple of wigeon, and Loch Shiel was graced by the presence of two teal and several goldeneye. It’s meant I’ve had to add teal to the list - 5 years after moving here and we’re still clocking up new species. My colleague and I had a fine spell watching yet another golden eagle, this time working its way up and down Glen Tarbert. I’m feeling a bit spoiled at the moment. Treecreeper in the garden today was just a bonus.

January trips (so far)

Saturday 14th January

I’ve had a couple of trips down to the Point in as many days, and both were fruitful, reminding me why we live here! Yesterday gave me a large flock of greylag geese in the field at Camas nan Geall, with an otter, black-throated diver and little grebe all in the bay. A golden eagle on the way back was a bonus. Today I retraced my steps, this time with Jacqueline, and, as we left the car at Portuairk, our first bird was another goldie. A pair of goldies rounded the trip off nicely, flying south over Ardsliginish. The peninsula is very special indeed!

Happy Christmas

Sunday 26th December

A happy Christmas to all of our visitors (virtual and real world!). Our feathered friends are once again taking shelter from the rather wild weather today. Glen Tarbert has seemed busier with deer than usual. A kestrel has been seen from the house quite a lot recently, and when I got the binoculars onto him, he appears to have a collar with some sort of aerial fitted. I wonder who is monitoring him.  

Blow winds, and crack your cheeks (King Lear)

Saturday 10th December

The last couple of days have been a good example of nature versus us, with nature coming out on top! A major storm blew in on Thursday, bringing trees down all over the peninsula (and beyond) and damaging buildings. For pictures of our own experience of the strength of the wind, check out our (ex) weather station page.

The electricity came back on about 36 hours after we lost it. Thank goodness for our stoves and camping hobs. It’s a reminder of how dependent we are on technology in general, and electricity in particular.

Can’t believe it’s been so long...

Wednesday 30th November

The summer has come and gone, and we’re at the tail end of autumn without an update. Sorry. I’ve not even updated the bird spreadsheet for a few weeks - I’ll bring that back up to date soon.

Seeing an osprey last month brought it all back to life for me. I thought I’d seen one a couple of times, but the glimpses were fleeting (as glimpses tend to be). The third (and thus far final) view was a good ten minutes, which confirmed it. It wasn’t supposed to be here, either in terms of location or time of year, and I can only assume/hope it’s now much further south.

The smaller birds are hunkering down against the first blasts of winter, at the moment there’s snow visible on the tops, and all the leaves have been stripped off. The storms of late spring mean there’s very few berries to be had, so we’ve started feeding again.

And we know autumn’s nearly out when the fieldfare and redwing arrive.

What’s shaped like an eagle, and has a white tail? (Part 2)

Tuesday 19th July

Twenty four hours after the golden eagle had me briefly fooled, I was watching a juvenile white tailed eagle fishing for ducks. It repeatedly swooped over a small family of mallards, which repeatedly bobbed underwater every time it got close. Its inexperience showed. It sulked for a while at the top of a nearby oak tree until it was chased off by a couple of gulls. Magnificent, but hungry.

What’s shaped like an eagle, and has a white tail? (Part 1)

Monday 18th July

Hands up if you said “White tailed eagle”? Yeah, me too. But it was actually a juvenile golden eagle. The give-away was the black band on the tail, and the white patches on the wings. Perhaps if you’d been with me, you’d have pointed those out! Anyway, it was great to watch it sail over the house, pursued somewhat raucously by a buzzard and two hooded crows.

Chicks and Pups

Friday 8th July

Had a lovely hour at the hide tonight. No otters (this time) but there were seal pups hauled out onto the rocks, and common, herring and great black backed gulls all with chicks in tow. The herring and great black backed chicks seemed at least a couple of weeks old, but the common gull chick was very fresh indeed, tumbling as often as walking. They were all quite difficult to spot - the trick seemed to be to watch the adults for a while, and the chicks would come into view.

Grasshopper warblers

Saturday 2nd July

These birds are normally very shy, and heard far more often than seen.  However, a walk in Ariundle this evening gave us a good view of one, and then when we got home one was chirring away in a bush not far from the house, perched quite precociously at the end of a branch.  It’s not a great song for a warbler, indeed it’s quite an odd noise, but it was lovely to see two within an hour of each other.

Four legs good

Wednesday 29th June

Pine martens and otters have featured strongly in the last couple of weeks.  I saw two pine martens on a late night journey home from Inverness a week or so back, and they’ve been popping up fairly regularly at the side of the road since then.  We’ve seen otters from the hide again, and one at a regular spot near the shore at the war memorial at the east end of the village.

Sunshine at last

Monday 20th  June

After a stunning April, May turned very wet. We’re now well into June - indeed the nights start cutting in this week! - and the sun is back. An evening walk into Ariundle rewarded us with checkered skipper, just to prove the last one wasn’t a fluke, as well as slow worm and a rather tatty buzzard.  In fact, the thought of sunshine and Ariundle rather appeals, so I’m heading there again this morning.

A bad storm, and butterflies

Monday 6th June

We had a bad storm a fortnight ago today; winds as strong as I’ve seen them, and lots of trees and branches down. The effect is now becoming apparent. Many deciduous trees and bushes are showing severe signs of windburn, almost as if they’ve been hit by a harsh frost on one side only, and this is apparent on the bracken and grass too. I know of at least one tawny owl nest that was destroyed, and the eerie of a local pair of golden eagles is also down, with the loss of a chick. The eagles haven’t been seen since.  The storm must have had a similar effect on many other nests - it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

On a happier note, I had the pleasure of joining a guided walk in the Ariundle Oakwoods looking for butterflies, particularly the checkered skipper.  We also spotted an argent and sable moth, a small argent and sable, and plenty of green-veined whites.  (Note how authoritatively I reel those names off - one walk and I’m an expert!).  And the walk in Ariundle added wood warbler to the ever growing bird list.

Waders etc

Monday 30th May

These last couple of weeks have allowed me to add dunlin to the peninsula bird list.  To be honest, it came as a surprise that they weren’t already there.  A small flock at the sandy beach next to the ferry was present on several occasions.  I also spotted a shelduck on the shore by Ard Darach - these birds always delight me.  And definitely in the “etc” category, we removed two common lizards from a woodpile in the garden which was being dismantled.  

 

Has it come to this?

Saturday 14th May

So two guests have told me where to see eagles.  It should definitely have been the other way round - local knowledge and all that.  Being keen, and having no shame, I went along there this morning, and yup, golden eagles: either two, separately, or one, twice.  I’ll be back there.  And claiming the knowledge as my own for future guests.  Thank you, K&B.  

Oh, and Jacqueline and Caitlin were watching a pine marten this evening, just along the road.

Redstart

Thursday 12th May

Pretty much the only place I see redstart is in the woodland along the western shores of Loch Linnhe, and this held true again this morning, when a beautiful male in full breeding plumage was showing off in the mixed wood just north of Kilmalieu.  

Wildcat again!

Wednesday 11th May

My turn (see post below)!  Spotted at the side of the main Strontian-Ardgour road, in a spot where I’ve seen one before, at about 08:00 this morning.

What else has been going on?  The common sandpipers are mournfully vocal now - their sad ‘peep’ travels a long way, especially in the evening.  The small colony of black guillemots (or ‘tysties’) is well established at the ferry.  I wonder just how many people drive off the ferry and straight past them at the start of their birding trips!  Look right, folk, at the pier just beside the jetty!

Red deer are everywhere, especially at twilight.  They can be magnificent, but sometimes at the expense of your no-claims bonus.

Wildcat!

Wednesday 27th April

One of the many privileges afforded by working on the local ambulance is the opportunity to see (and sometimes avoid hitting!) the local wildlife.  While transporting a patient to hospital recently, my colleague got a great view of a wildcat on the road near Dalnabreach.  Of course, I was in the back, and missed it!

Was it or Wasn’t it?

Saturday 23rd April 2011

A glimpse of an eagle from the house tonight, through the binoculars and well over a mile away.  By the time I got the telescope up and ready, well, you can guess...

A walk up Ariundle on Tuesday afternoon found me going off-piste, or at least off the beaten track, and into the forestry on the hillside.  An old estate track revealed deer wallows every few yards, one of which had a rapidly receding pool of water in it.  The pool contained some rather desperate tadpoles - I wonder if they’ve survived the recent dry spell.

Spring is in the Air!

Wednesday 20th April 2011

Spring has reached full throttle now: willow warblers arrived on 16th April, grasshopper warblers and house martins on the 17th. The first cuckoo announced his presence on the 18th, and a swallow completed the set on the 19th! The main arrivals are all here, in such a short space of time I find myself wondering if they all got the same flight!

On a separate note, we spent a fruitful 10 minutes at the hide recently, en route elsewhere. The rocks were covered in common seals, and three otter were fishing throughout the period we were there. The wild goats and their kids are a regular sight on the beach and cliffs between Kilmalieu and Kingairloch, and the red deer continue to gather in Glen Tarbert, as well as making regular appearances at the house. Curiously, we spotted a rabbit recently - not a great rarity, of course, but they used to be a common sight in the village and have all but disappeared. The ditches and ponds are thick with frog and toad spawn, but I've not spotted any tadpoles yet.

The Lists!

Bird list 2012

Bird list 2011

Bird list 2010