FEBRUARY

Thursday 25th. Winter not quite over yet. Just when we were sort of thinking that winter might be on the wane, snow started to fall quite heavily this morning and had hardly ever stopped when night fell. And a sizeable dump it was on Friday morning with cars half-buried for the umpteenth time since 19th December when the first snow came and never thawed. Shovel work required for anyone in Shenval planning to get anywhere. Like our guest Stephen Whitehorne, stranded in Shenval, who took these pictures. Could this be the final dump? Definitely a winter to remember!

MARCH

Sunday 14th. First primrose of spring seen today during our 2 1/2hour walk above Loch Ness in Abriachan Wood, a place noted for its natural woodland -mostly of hazel, silver birch, aspen, wych elm, juniper, holly and oak -and cared for by the Woodland Trust. Sharp contrast between the Loch Ness side greenery at a mere 15m above sea level and the shieling still smothered in deep snow up in Abriachan Forest Trust at about 350m. Still no sign of any frog spawn which is always a good sign of spring being round the corner though. The woods in Abriachan gave hidden routes for smugglers to move goods to and from Loch Ness. It is said that whisky was an important commodity in such undercover operations at Abriachan. Actually, there is a mock whisky still up amongst the woods of Abriachan Forest Trust. And you need keen eyes to spot it. We have spotted it. And we are not telling where it is...

Friday 19th. We went to "A wildlife evening with Roy Dennis" at Cannich Village Hall, only 5 minutes drive from your accommodation base at Shenval organic B&B. Roy Dennis is one of Scotland's leading naturalists and conservationists and he gave an illustrated talk on some of his most recent studies and work with wildlife in the Highlands, including sattelite tracking ospreys to Africa and golden eagles in the Cairngorms, tracking woodcock to Russia, restoring red squirrel to Wester Ross and other reintroduction projects such as that of beavers in Argyll. A fascinating evening indeed.
If you wish to follow the progress of Talisman the male osprey who has just left his winter quarters in Guinea Bissau on 17th March on his way back to Scotland to breed, go to THIS LINK

Only minutes away from Shenval B&B, the Corrimony black grouse safaris will be held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 2nd to 25th April. Join RSPB staff for an early morning trip by minibus through Corrimony nature reserve to see one of Scotland's most rare and beautiful birds. Visit a lek, where male black grouse posture and call, competing to win the sought after position of top bird as the sun rises. More details from our OUTDOOR EVENTS page.

Thursday 22nd. Sure enough it has come : the lambing snow was covering the ground in Shenval early this morning.

Wednesday 21st. One swallow does not make a summer, and even less so a spring. Despite the cold weather, the first swallow and first two house martins have had us look up in the skies with their calls above Shenval B&B today. One way of cheering us up, as we found two blackbird chicks near the house this morning : they had fallen from their nest in the strong overnight winds. Nothing could be done to try and rescue them.

Monday 12th. First lamb born in Glenurquhart : a mixed blessing as it announces better, warmer days to come and is also heralding the notorious lambing snow that still has to come.

Sunday 11th. First daffodil in bloom in the garden today. Highest temperature also recorded so far this year in the garden of Shenval B&B with 21°C in the shade at 5pm.

Wednesday 7th. Rising sap. Went for a lower hill walk with two friends to nearby Glenstrathfarrar and had a mixed bag of weather. Sunny mostly, pleasantly warm to start with, squelchy underfoot with a lot of frantic activity in the pond world of mating frogs and toads. And freezing cold in the bitter winds on the summit of Beinn a'Bha'ach Ard (862m) with the surrounding slopes still hard frozen, concrete like.
Beautiful panoramic views from the shores of the Moray Firth in the east to the alpine looking snow-covered summits of Glen Affric and the Torridon hills in the west. Very little wildlife to report, apart from the calling amphibians : just one newt and two ptarmigan, but this was more than enough to delight Sabrina and Daniela, who had never seen the latter before.
Heavily pared and amputated after the winter snow damage they have had to endure, silver birches were showing signs of recovery although they were "bleeding" profusely with rising sap dripping from every fresh cut. Quite impressive.

Sunday 4th. Our guests from Germany have been rewarded for their early rise out of bed. On their guided outing with the RSPB ranger at Corrimony bird reserve they did observe several lots of black grouse lekking  and they were amused to witness how grey hens looked apparently indifferent to their antics.

MAY
31st TGO Challenge : from Friday 14th till  Friday 28th, this well established entirely non-competitive event aims to foster good fellowship among walkers within the framework of a challenging expedition. It takes 300 long distance walkers on a self-supported trek on a variety of routes over an average 180 miles across the Highlands from the West Coast between Ardrishaig and Torridon to the North Sea shores between Arbroath and Fraserburgh. Some participants on one of the favourite routes through Glen Affric will be stopping over at Shenval B&B once more. We extend a very warm welcome to them! 

Close to your accommodation at Shenval organic B&B the 7th Glen Affric Walking Festival "Outta Affric" has taken place on 28th-31st May.