River Walks...........Day 6

 We awoke ready for a leisurely day. I pulled the curtain back a little(a great advantage being able to do this without having to get out of the bed 😉) and peered outside. I could already tell their was a chill in the air and the sparkling ground outside confirmed it. Majella turned over and hogged the duvet once more, so I decided to leave her in peace and get dressed and go out for a walk along the River Spean which winds it's way through the farmland.

 The river was lower than I expected but more exposed rocks meant for great vantage points for foraging Dippers. I had just started walking East along the river when the flash of white and brown flew in the opposite direction.I followed the flight to it's landing point and then crept closer keeping behind boulders and vegetation as to not disturb the Dipper.

 I got as close as I dare and stayed partially hidden by a large boulder watching the Dipper. It was quickly joined by a Grey Wagtail too(on the left of the 1st photo). Staying motionless I watched gleefully for around 10 minutes. Just me, the river and the birds.

 

 Both moved further downstream out of sight and my attention was turned to the loud trilling verses of a Wren. It was rapidly followed by the the song of a Robin. The Wren sang louder, appearing to try and outdo the Robin, the Robin not to be outdone once again belted out it's flutey melody.It was like listening to the battle round on The Voice, pure Heaven(not The Voice, the birds😁).

 I continued my walk up river examining the lichen and frost covered ferns. Beauty is to be found everywhere in the Natural World if you look close enough.

 Eventually starting to feel the cold I headed back to the cabin for a coffee. Majella was up as I'd unwittingly been on my walk for 2 hours. Now that she was ready to brave the cold we went for a short drive into Fort William and to Glen Nevis.

                         

 We parked up at the glen Nevis visitor centre and crossed the bridge to walk along the River Nevis. I liked how the light changed as the clear cold water ran over the pebbles in the shallows.

 The River Nevis has been a good place to spot more Dippers and Grey Wagtails in the past but not this time, we were however amazed at how many Song Thrushes were around as we rarely see them where we live. Majella's keen eye also spotted a distant Greenfinch on the river bank.

 These sheep had obviously heard the quote 'The grass is always greener on the other side' as they led a charge up and over this stone wall to get to the adjacent field.

 We arrived back at the car and decided to continue further up the Glen to the Lower Falls.

  

 Slow-mo video clip of Lower Falls, Glen Nevis.

 Leaving the Glen we parked at Morrisons in Fort William and walked across the road to the shore of Loch Linnhe. It was low tide so one of the best times to see Otters. Despite spending some good time here scanning the Loch and islands, no Otters were spotted. There were plenty of birds though with Goldeneye, Goosanders, Grey Herons, Hooded Crows, Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls all in attendance.

 Majella enjoying the view across Loch Linnhe while searching for Otters.

 Our plan for the next day meant a long day so we went back to the cabin early and spent the late afternoon watching the garden birds.Chaffinches, Coal Tits,Great Tits, Blue Tits, Dunnocks, Robins, Blackbirds all pushing for superiority of the bird table.

Photographs by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox

Tomorrow we head for the Isle of Mull, a 2 hour drive and 2 ferries to get there.

Many thanks once again for your continued support of my blog. It's great that I am getting quite a view views each day 😊 It makes it worthwhile sharing our trip and hopefully gives someone ideas of where to visit if they travel to this glorious part of the UK.

More tomorrow from Mull.

 

 

 

Scotland 2020 - Day 2 - Curiosity Caught The Cat(on Cam)

  After the 10 hour drive up yesterday we didn't go far today and just stayed in the Fort William area and on the farm. After checking for the tide times we were able to do a bit of shopping before heading to a spot on the Loch Linnhe shoreline at low tide where we have viewed Otters on numerous occasions.

  Unfortunately no mammals this time but plenty of bird life with a Rock Pipit on the stony shore and rafts of Goosanders, Goldeneye and Gulls on the water.

  Goldeneye.

  

  The wind chill meant we stayed for less time than we planned so returned to the car and headed down Glen Nevis.Due to the return of the pouring rain we decided against a walk along the river and drove down the Glen.

  Hooded Crow in the gloomy Glen Nevis.

  Glen Nevis in which Harry Potter fans may know Hagrid's Hut was located.

  We headed back to the farm and caught up with the resident animals.

  My favourite boy, Tug.

  New boy and trouble maker ;), Shadow.

  The Sheep are always welcoming too lol

  

  I had a leisurely walk along the Spean River which runs through the farmland.It had been swollen by the recent rain and snow hiding the rocks I can usually sit down on but surprisingly I still saw a Dipper fly by me heading upstream.

                             

  Back indoors I now had time to check out the trail cam I had placed in the garden the night before.The only food I had put out were apples and peanuts in hope of the local Red Deer coming into the garden again as in previous visits.

  My trail camera is getting very old so no longer immune to the Scottish weather and so the first footage was a bit mysterious.

  Name the mammal....

                             

  

  No, it wasn't this one ;)  The first clear footage of the early hours caught this curious feline checking out the food on offer.

                             

                             

  A Scottish Wildcat?? I think it may be the same individual that I also caught on film around the same time the previous year.At the time it was suggested it was most likely a Hybrid.Hybridisation with domestic Cats is one of the biggest threats to the true Scottish Wildcat population.

  You can learn more about the Scotland Tigers on the Scottish Wildcat Action website below.

http://www.scottishwildcataction.org 

  The Wildcat wasn't the only mammal to visit last night.The answer to the first mysterious footage became clear around 5.30am.The peanut fancier, a Pine Marten.

                             

                             

                             

  This was the first time I had actually seen a Pine Marten on camera at the farm in 15 years of visiting.It meant there may be some long nights ahead in hope of catching a live sighting of this elusive Mustelid.

Day 3 coming tomorrow as we head West to the Cairngorms.

Many thanks for reading and watching the clips. :) 

  

Tales From The Highlands

Day 4 - Along The Death Trail

  After a restless night with Majella not being very well I let her sleep to try and catch up some rest.It also takes longer to get ready when the reflection from the mirror we use looks like this lol

  We then popped out and just spent the morning bargain hunting in the Fort William charity shops.I then caught up with my previous blog on Aviemore while having lunch.Then we took a drive down Glen Nevis.The idea was to go all the way to the end to check out the state of the Nevis Gorge trail as there had been quite a lot of rain.

  Lets just say the waterfalls flowing down the hills and through the trail were a bit too much for me to attempt with my limited mobility and even with a walking stick.
 The waterfall/trail means slippy rocks lol

  Therefore we didn't make it through the gorge to Steall Falls this time.It was a lot easier to do 10 years ago when I could still walk okay lol Instead we had to settle for the slightly less stunning Lower Falls in Glen Nevis.

  A quick look along the river produced a Pied Wagtail, along with one of my favourite non-Raptor birds, the Grey Wagtail.Unfortunately it was a bit too mobile to get a photograph.
  Home for tea and hope that the Barn Owl would be out quartering the field outside the cabin but the constant rain soon extinguished any hope of that.Maybe I will have better luck later in the week.

Thanks for reading.Day 5 coming very shortly.