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WALKS AND WILDLIFE IN THE LOCH NESS
AND GLEN AFFRIC AREA FROM SHENVAL B&B December 16th. Shades of green. Another cold sunny day and an invitation to explore new ground. This time sees us on the old 18th century military road linking Fort Augustus to Glen Moriston. 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 Highlands before long to carry this green power south, only for it to be inconsiderately wasted. Green? Really? December 11th. New Glen Affric horizon. 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. Good fun. 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 9th. 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. Peanuts seem to be the only fare of interest to this coulourful bird. December 2nd. First taste of winter hill walking. Daylight is short, far too short for long walks at this time of year. For once the mountain weather forecast is quite precise and 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 indeed as the weather breaks as the broadcast had so accurately predicted... November 21st. 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 16th. Lunchtime is always the occasion to loiter by the sitting room window while having a light bite and some wildlife spectacle of one kind or another. A big first today whith a never seen before visitor : 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 9th. 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... October 12th. More of the same robin. As soon as we get out in the garden to resume our weeding work, yesterday's robin is there on a birch twig just above our heads, keeping a watchful eye on our progress. Between sweet mellow song spells, the little fellow drops down to earth, no more than 2 feet away from us and picks at unseen creatures brought to the surface. It goes on like this for hours, lightening our slow task. More sunshine and still unseasonal high temperatures. October 11. A most pleasant day in the garden. A tedious task, weeding, was made very bearable given the very favourable weather. Not a cloud in sight, the temperature reaching a very unseasonal 17°C and the company of a dedicated robin darting from the neighbouring birch trees to feast on eelworms and other garden pests unearthed by our backbreaking work, all made for a peaceful and rewarding day. September 18th. 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 4th. 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. 10th August. 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. 9th August. 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. August 4th. We have had our last crop of black currants from the garden, swiftly turned into jam for our visitors' breakfasts. 3rd August. Could this be an early hint of Autumn? Silver birches in our garden are starting to shed some leaves, some of which showing a slight tinge of yellow. 17 May. 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. Glorious sunshine on both days, 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, scanning the vast moorland below. 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! More extensive panoramic views than yesterday. 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. In the absence of guests we leave the house behind and 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". So says our Scottish Mountain Flowers book. We can only agree. Back down from the hill we spot our first swallow of the year at 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 -including Eduardo, one of our Spanish guests- 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. Pure blue skies since Friday give us a strong hint that Sunday should be a day to go out to the hills again. 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 much bigger bird they are trying and finally succeed in fending off: gliding effortlessly and suddenly falling from the sky to rest on the very edge of the intervening ridge, what could this giant be? Binoculars out reveal and confirm what we thought this bird might be: a golden eagle! Just about 300 yards away. Scanning around and displaying the golden shades of its neck and pale hooked beak this eagle behaves as though it has not spotted us. After 10 minutes, the magic is over: the bird throws itself in the void of Coire Gorm below, not to be seen again. 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 3rd. Colourful guest at our bird table. For the first time in over 20 years, a stunningly coloured great spotted woodpecker comes and feasts on our bird table feeders. Peanuts are the only item of interest. Will this visitor make it a habit of coming again? March 3rd. 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 21st. Very much like previous Sunday: dull and damp with sleet. Venture out nonetheless. Again the skies clear for our walk while 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. Easy walk indeed to recommend to young families, cyclists, joggers and anyone on a short stroll. January 14th. Bad weather in Shenval: horizontal rain and sleet, strong winds. Where do we go? Let's try somewhere east like Cromarty. Wise move: very little wind and full sunshine, most pleasant walk, with the striking sight of well over a thousand greylag geese grazing on one of the nearby fields. A little after walk gem: the Emporium in Cromarty offers very nice coffee and hot chocolate and a treasure of new and second hand books alongside a fine selection of gifts and crafts and an hilarious collection of postcards. Friends beware: you'll be getting one of these postcards some day... |
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