2007

December 16. Shades of green. Another cold sunny day at Shenval organic B&B and an invitation to explore new ground. This time sees us on the 18th century Wade road linking Fort Augustus to Glen Moriston, just west of Loch Ness. This military road was built to make sure the Highlands of Scotland would be pacified once and for all.  Just over the summit of the road, the whole of the Glen Affric hills range come into view. Most of the snow has gone over the last few days due to very mild temperatures up to nearly 10°C. South-west of us, the Aberchalder Estate windfarm first glimpsed a few days ago is revealed in its entirety with 11 turbines nearing completion or still under construction. A diversion, on the way back down to Fort Augustus, offers fine views on the southern half of Loch Ness and to Corrieyairack Hill. The new Glen Doe hydro-electric scheme road snakes its way up the hill opposite where there used to be only a faint footpath. Green electricity, for sure, is being harnessed in this part of the world. With the ominous Beauly-Denny high voltage transmission line and its 60 metre high pylons bound to cross this patch of the Scottish Highlands before long to carry this green power south, only for it to be inconsiderately wasted. Green? Really?  

December 11 New Glen Affric horizons. Bright sunny skies, a good day for a foray in nearby Glen Affric National Nature Reserve. We have the whole glen to ourselves. Snow level down to 400m. We head for Am Meallan (662m), just above Affaric Lodge, a small hill we have never visited before. Every now and then crusty crunchy snow gives way under our steps and we have to haul ourselves out of knee deep holes. The Affric horseshoe Munros are all smothered under a thick layer of snow and Mam Sodhail and Carn Eige are their usual selves, shrouded in swirling clouds that only lift for a brief instant. Nevertheless we are basking in sunshine by Am Meallan summit cairn, despite a sharp chilling wind, a mild sunburn guaranteed for the following day... To the south west a brand new skyline is revealed: 5 giant wind turbines have appeared on Aberchalder Estate, on the south side of Glen Moriston, over the last few months. Windfarm visual intrusion is creeping closer to Affric. Last year it was Strathnairn and its 40+ new turbines. Hopefully, nothing of magnitude will come any closer. 

December 9. With Suidhe Ghuirmain, "our" local hill, covered in snow for the first time this winter, our breakfast time is highlighted by the rare visit of a great spotted woodpecker to our bird table.

December 2.  First taste of winter hill walking. We head for Glen Strathfarrar, just 20mns drive from Shenval Bed and Breakfast. Not been on that walk for years. Incredible to see how much heather has grown on what used to be a well-defined stalkers path. A dozen hinds scamper away although we must be at least 3/4 mile from them. Snow level at 600m and pleasant underfoot crunchy going to the summit of Beinn a'Bha'ach Ard (862m) reached in just 3 hours from our starting point. Bitterly cold wind on ridge. A couple of ptarmigan fly away with an angry cackle. A very quick picnic by the triangulation pillar gives us time to admire the Moray Firth waters to the east and the snow-blanketed Cairngorms in the south. No visibility north and west, just a couple of miles away: low cloud, sleet and snow showers seem to be the lot of hillwalkers who have ventured in the north west Highlands today. Within 20mns of our leaving the summit to head for the car, Beinn a'Bha'ach Ard is engulfed in cloud and sleet. Time to head home.

November 21. Eagle double. In a place which shall remain nameless, our hill walk today was highlighted by the prolonged and relatively close sighting of a pair of majestically soaring golden eagles. Every now and then they landed on rocky outcrops or in the heather, apparently oblivious to our presence. A check on the map revealed that the place has been aptly named Creag na h Iolaire, gaelic for Eagle's crag. Dozens of identical Gaelic place names dot the Highlands Ordnance Survey maps. Sad to say that few actually deserve the name nowadays.

November 16. A big first in our garden today: a woodcock chose to feed among dead leaves for well over half an hour just feet away from us. Among these dead leaves as a fitting colour match to its plumage, its protection mimicry was absolutely amazing: had it not been for the movement of its pecking into the ground, we might have never noticed its presence so close to us.

November 9. Unwelcome garden visitors. Not in the grip of winter yet, and our garden already looks enticing to hungry roe deer. Under the cover of darkness, they have come out of the nearby forest and have had a go at our kale, carrots, strawberry plants and parsley, while some beautiful pansies must been deemed suitable as a dessert, possibly adding colour -in the dark- to this varied organic menu! When we tell our visitors we are surrounded by wildlife, they never imagine we mean: in our very garden..

September 18. Reforesting even more of Corrimony RSPB Reserve. Half an hour's walk from Shenval B&B, the over 1,500 hectares Corrimony Nature Reserve is to be substantially reforested in the next few years, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds announced this week. Dan Tomes, the site manager, said  "28,000 trees, mostly aspen, rowan, Scots pine, birch and oak will be planted in the coming years in a bid to recreate habitat that was lost". This reserve which has seen increases in the numbers of spotted flycatchers, Scottish crossbills and black grouse over the last ten years the estate has been in the RSPB's ownership may eventually see the return of capercaillie and red squirrel. 

September 4. Wildlife watching bonanza. Alessio and Valeria, our visitors from Milan come back delighted with their day: carefully following our advice they had no trouble spotting grey seals at Loch Fleet, dolphins in the Moray Firth and finally leaping salmon on their spawning migration at Rogie Falls. And to round off a busy day they had the pleasure of joining the audience for the spell binding performance of "Kin", a new commission by local fiddler Duncan Chisholm at Glenurquhart Public Hall, Drumnadrochit. A day Alessio and Valeria will long remember.

August 10 . More delighted visitors, Brigitte and Jacques were thrilled to witness no less than 17 salmon going up river to their spawning grounds up the rivers Farrar and Glass through the Aigas fish pass, near Beauly. A hill walk in Strathfarrar offered Nicolas and Corinne the reward of superb panoramic views and their spotting of several groups of red deer on the surrounding slopes.

August 9. Our French visitors, Laurence and Sylvain, came back elated from their boat trip with Ecoventures in the Cromarty Firth: their two-hour sailing allowed them close sightings of three different groups of dolphins and close-up views of numerous seabirds on the Sutors cliffs across the bay from the picturesque village of Cromarty. See our links page for Ecoventures to organize an outing with very knowledgeable and wildlife-caring skippers.

 May 17 . The return of the swifts. Always last to arrive in Spring, always first to leave in mid-August: they have made it to Shenval at last! Our very special regular migrating guests arrived during the night and dislodged the sparrows squatting their long established summer residence under the eaves of our roof. All the way from South Africa, "our" swifts are settling down nicely. Apparently not holding a grudge, the pair of house sparrows have immediately moved to the front of the house to start their own family.

Eagle double in Sutherland. We escape to north-west Sutherland on 26th and 27th April. First day sees us atop Ben Stack with superb panoramic views all round, from Lewis to Torridon and from Orkney to Assynt. We startle a mountain hare near the summit and just before we come down the hill a golden eagle flies past us. Second day takes us to the twin bouldery summits of Cranstackie and Beinn Spionnaidh. An inquisitive eagle gives Christiane a bit of fright by gliding in very close to check if she might be a suitable prey, motionless as she is while basking in the sunshine!  We come back with a suntan!

Sunday 15 April.  The golden eagle seen last week at the Corrimony RSPB black grouse safari has been back today, at the end the guided visit, to the greatest satisfaction of our bird watching guests who were not expecting to be treated to such a superb sighting.

Saturday 14 April.  More unusual sightings at the RSPB's Corrimony black grouse safari. The current safaris led by the RSPB in their reserve at Corrimony have once again given full satisfaction to our guests: not only did they get to admire the lek but also came across two adders basking in the early sunshine. Patricia and Anne came back for breakfast thrilled to bits.

Wednesday 11 April. We make for Beinn Airigh Charr (791 m). Overlooking Loch Maree, the hill finally gets rid of its cloud cover in the late afternoon revealing the wilds of Letterewe and Fisherfield Forests, rugged places never seen from the road side. For the first time ever, at a height of over 600m, we discover several colouful carpets of purple saxifrage next to a snow drift. A check confims that "Saxifraga oppositifolia really heralds the coming of spring in our mountains. It is by far the earliest montane plant to flower and is probably enjoyed more by hill-walkers than botanists". Back down from the hill we spot our first swallow of the year in Poolewe.

April 6. Golden visitor at Corrimony black grouse safari. Guided by the RSPB during the dawn black grouse safari, visitors to Corrimony wildlife reserve were in for a big surprise. As they were engrossed in observing the lek, suddenly all the black grouse flew away in a panic. A few seconds later a powerfully gliding golden eagle provided the answer for this sudden interruption in the grouse antics...

March 25. Wildlife bonanza: golden eagle, badger and voles. To end a week of contrasts. Just a week ago, Shenval was smothered in the first real snow of winter with 5 inches (15cms) fallen overnight. All gone by Wednesday. Followed by the start of a relative heat wave for March with temperatures reaching 15°C by Saturday, prompting the first bee to forage on our garden primulas. Breakfast overlooking the garden where two voles lead a busy life darting in and out of their hole in the stone circle, feeding on seeds discarded from the bird table.

In less than 2 hours our drive takes us to Broadford, on the Isle of Skye. Just west of the village a further 2 hours' walk takes us to the summit of Beinn na Caillich, 732m, from which superb panoramas in all directions reward our efforts: views from the Five Sisters of Kintail to the mighty Cuillins, from Torridon to the Isle of Rùm. Warm picnic in the lee of the gigantic summit cairn and then on to Beinn Dearg Mhor. A mile back, noisy calls from 5 ravens attract our attention to a golden eagle they are trying and finally succeed in fending off. The drive back home at dark has another wildlife sighting surprise for us: very briefly caught in the headlights, a badger climbing up the bank of a ditch a few miles east of Cluanie. Another day to remember!

March 5th. Shenval B&B hits the headlines in Japan! Sei and Keiko, our delightful Xmas visitors, have sent us copies of their glossy magazine, Mr Partner. Our B&B is the main feature in the February issue of Mr Partner.  Not only do we make the full page cover but a further 5 pages of photographs and comments extol the virtues of our accommodation, gourmet organic food, service and genuine friendly welcome. If only we could read Japanese!…

March 3.  Copper red moon over Shenval: just before midnight, with clear star-lit skies, the full moon just went on the blink for a few moments of its full eclipse. A memorable sight!

January 21.  We explore a new aboslutely flat and easy route: the Caledonian Canal tow path between Dorgarroch (where Loch Ness sheds its swollen waters into the river Ness) and Inverness and back on the other side. Picturesque on the river Ness side with whooper swan, red-breasted mergansers, fine oak and beech woodland and rushing water.

January 14.  Most pleasant walk in Cromarty, with the striking sight of well over a thousand greylag geese grazing on one of the nearby fields.

2006
September 30. Glen Affric hill walking. We are off to our favourite local ridge walk: first up Sgurr na Lapaich, above Affric Lodge. By the summit cairn, the first burst of roaring rutting stags reached us from the far side of Gleann nam Fiadh. Close examination of the distant slopes revealed about 50 deer making the most of the still plentiful grazing and warm sun. A sweep round with binoculars was soon stopped by a new sight: trees. In a spot we had never seen them before in all these years. At a height of about 750m, at the foot a small waterfall a single healthy rowan(?) still survives the greedy appetites of deer and further down in a small gorge, a further four or five trees -unidentified because of the distance- testify to the former presence of woodlands way up in the Affric hills.

Sweeping further to the north-east, the Cromarty, Beauly and Moray Firths were basking in sunshine too. The excellent visibility revealed our first ever sighting of the Lossiemouth RAF hangars followed to the east by faraway Ben Rinnes, over 70 miles (115kms) away. Unexpected, to the right of Ben Rinnes, in the middle distance, a new, somewhat disturbing, landmark: a cluster of over 40 wind turbines, probably belonging to Dunmaglass windfarm built since our last visit to the Sgurr...
South eastwards, the Cairngorm massif was so clear we could make out an other man-made intrusion in the shape of the Caingorm funicular railway upper station. The skyline then revealed the whole Grey Corries range followed by the ever towering Ben Nevis, its summit cloud-free for once. To its right, Beinn a'Bheithir preceded a number of unidentified Glenfinnan hills until the unmistakable steep cone of Knoydart's Sgurr na Ciche broke the skyline. On westward, the Saddle brought the horizon closer before the focus got drawn further to Ladhar Bheinn and Glen Shiel's Sgurr Fhuaran. Just over 3 1/2 kms away, to the west, Mam Sodhail beckoned. Too tempting to resist the invitation to go there.

One hour and ten minutes later found us there for yet more panoramic views. Ladhar Bheinn led westwards on to new hills: Beinn Sgritheall, a wee chunk of the isle of Egg, some of Rum and then the whole of the Isle of Skye and far away over the Minch the Harris hills well over 80 miles (130kms) distant with the low lying Lewis even further, just to the right of the Applecross hills. On an on the shapely hills fill the northern skyline: Ben Damph, Beinn Alligin, Liathach, Beinn Eighe, Ben Lair, Slioch, A' Mhaighdean, An Teallach, Benn More Coigach, Sgurr Mor Fannaich, Beinn Dearg, Seanna Braigh (?), Ben Wyvis. Full circle. Wow!

July 19. Shenval heatwave: 30°C. This was the hottest day of the year, just 1°C short of the record witnessed here over 15 years ago. Even our continental guests find it a bit much as they were looking for somewhere cool for their summer hols!

July 14. Spanish bird connection. Five Scottish osprey chicks were flown to Spain as part of a programme to reintroduce the species to Andalucia in southern Spain. Ospreys have now become a relatively common sight for us when we travel around Shenval B&B. And it is heartening to learn that some of their offspring may soon help repopulate this majestic bird's former sites in southern Europe.

The Scottish chicks have been collected from different nests, containing two or more young, in Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey and Inverness-shire. The last two were taken from a secret location in a Forestry Commission Scotland forest near Fort Augustus on 13th July, not far from Shenval B&B. The five were put on an early morning flight from Inverness to Gatwick from where they were flown to Malaga. The chicks were then taken to a release site at a water reservoir near Cadiz. They will be joined by 16 other young ospreys from Germany and Finland until they are ready for release.
The reintroduction project, organised by the Andalucian government and the Highland Foundation for Wildlife, is part of an international conservation partnership, now in its fourth year, to restore the species to its once extensive breeding range in continental Europe.
Already a pair of ospreys has been encouraged to breed near the release area in southern Spain and are rearing two young this year - the first breeding pair in 60 years on mainland Spain.
A reintroduction programme of the type being tried in Spain has been used in Scotland for other species, including sea eagles brought from Norway and red kites from Germany, Sweden and Spain, to help re-establish the birds in this country.