Cairngorms 2019

RSPB Loch Garten

Returning to the highlands of Scotland with its beautiful mountains and lichen clad trees is always a breath of fresh air, quite literally. Not long after we passed the sign welcoming us to Scotland, a red squirrel dashed across the A-road we were driving on, a little ginger harbinger of the days to come.

A bold little red squirrel also welcomed us to RSPB Loch Garten, a literal manifestation of the term ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’. Much more agile than the chunkier grey squirrels that preside back home, this lithe individual seemed perfectly at home feasting on the peanuts provided at the Osprey Centre before taking up the spiral tree trunk chase with another. The best view I’ve ever had of this species, it gave me time to study his features and expressions in more detail; the luscious ear tufts, the flecks of ginger, red, grey, blond, white in his coat, the unspoilt creamy white of his underside, the slender but strong ‘fingers’ and toes’ for grasping and the long strands of fur making up a magnificent tail.

Other visitors here included an endless stream of chaffinches alongside a few siskins and great tits. We followed the ‘Two lochs trail’ in the hope of seeing crossbills and cresties, but neither decided to show themselves. A male goldeneye out on Loch Garten showed off its markings above and below by rolling in the still water to clean.

CairnGorm

The base station at CairGorm has been a brilliant location for spotting wildlife in the past, and, although we saw fewer species here this time, the ring ouzels did not disappoint. The male in particular was very showy, sporting his white bib against ebony feathers, each outlined in white, giving a scalloped appearance to his plumage.

As we ascended higher, our attention was caught by the motor-sounding call of a red grouse that landed amongst the heather lower down. The higher we walked, the more snow appeared under foot. Another ring ouzel appeared, and, as we were looking at him, we heard tiny footsteps on the snow behind us. As we turned, we were met with a pair of ptarmigan scurrying across the snow on their fluffy feet, softly calling to each other. Another pair, slightly closer this time, were outside the ‘Ptarmigan café’. These two really let us appreciate their markings. The male, having lost most of his winter plumage, was still white below with almost-black tortoiseshell feathers above, dappled black and white head and neck and large red ‘eyebrow’. The female still retained some of her winter plumage with a few tortoiseshell feathers coming through and a generally daintier build, especially around the head and beak. This is the first time we have seen these birds properly, rather than just a far off flying bird.

As the day drew on, and the mountain got busier, the wildlife got less, but the constant sounds to the walk were the calls of meadow pipits at all levels, alighting on the heather or wires of the ski lifts. 

#30DaysWild - Days 18-21

 Bus stop wildlife

This morning I had to wait, sheltering from persistent rain (the sort that gets you soaked no matter how long you stay out in it), at our local bus stop. I amused myself by watching a slightly soggy song thrush foraging in the damp grass. The thrush must have chosen a successful patch, as it was soon joined by a female blackbird before it decided to take flight.

 Cinnabar surprise

Two mornings in a row at the bus stop. Only one morning sat in the rain though, today was quite pleasant with some cloud and sunshine. The bus never did arrive, but we enjoyed listening to the prolific birdsong from the surrounding trees. A carrion crow also decided to display to apparently thin air, arching and shouting as it did so. As the weather was being surprisingly cooperative, we decided to BBQ for lunch, and were equally surprised by the showy pink flashes of the hind-wings of a cinnabar moth who decided to join us.

 Strawberry moon

A day of very heavy rain showers, whipping the pupils up into a frenzy and creating a small lake on the tennis courts. We watched the lake form from the fat rain drops hitting every-which-way in awe during our department meeting. I was then equally stunned at the visible evaporation of the puddles on my drive home in the sun not long afterwards. The evening was filled with natural phenomena and wildlife surprises. The sky had completely cleared by moon rise, leading to astonishing views of the intensely bright moon, the likes of which I may be lucky enough to see once more (the next is in 46 years' time). Picking up my binoculars, so much detail was visible, the impact craters and scars marking the surface were apparent in such clarity that I've never before achieved through binoculars. Looking out into the night caused us to notice something else - our first bat above our garden. Apparently rather small, I would guess at a pipistrelle. Having windows open also meant we heard more than usual; tonight, a baby tawny owl calling from the large trees in the nearby park.

A school orchid

A barn owl gliding on its broad wings accompanied me on a short stretch of my drive this morning, presumably making the most of the drier weather before the next wet spell. A wonderful way to start the day. On my arrival at work, I bumped into a fellow wildlife enthusiast who pointed out that an orchid was on flower in the middle of a small patch of lawn on the school site. I went, armed with my phone, to try to figure out what it might be... it looks to me like it could be a common spotted orchid. A dainty and sweet smelling pyramidal bloom, not something we've noticed at school before.

#30DaysWild - Days 13-17

RSPB Norwich Local Group Meeting

The first Monday of every month is when our local group meets for an indoor talk. This month's talk was by Mark Thomas from the RSPB, he is part of their investigations team for wildlife crime. He told us of some shocking stories with appalling outcomes. I genuinely thought that harsher punishments would be handed out to wildlife criminals rather than what many would see as trivial fines or prison sentences of only a few months. Especially when, as per one of the examples he used, an entire population of nightjars and nightingales were wiped out at a county level due to successive egg collecting across several breeding seasons. Certainly food for thought which left me feeling quite angry about the whole situation. The key thing is, if you see a wildlife crime taking place, whatever it may be, always note down the vehicle number plate to report to the RSPB or the police.

Moroccan mint

After moving house, I decided I would try something different with my hanging baskets this spring. I wanted to make two hanging herb baskets. In each, I planted a Moroccan mint in the centre, surrounded by a dwarf lavender, a creeping rosemary, variegated oregano and lemon thyme. All had the 'perfect for pollinators' logo and smelled delicious - a treat for the pollinators as well as us. Never having grown herbs in containers before, I didn't realise quite how prolific the mint plant would become... It has started to (somehow) escape the bottom of the hanging basket and was greatly over shadowing the lavender and rosemary. I decided to prune it, but rather than waste so much mint, I looked up ways of storing it - freezing roughly chopped mint cubes in ice cubes seems to be the convention, and it appears to work rather well. It certainly went down nicely in a glass of Pimms... 

Moroccan mint leaves

Lemon thyme flowers

An evening walk

Today was slightly less wet than we've become used to. When I arrived home from work, I attempted to rearrange our bird feeders to make them less of an easy target for the wood pigeon and to encourage our small birds to come back. All have disappeared over the last week, except our reliable and loud male chaffinch. We also took a walk through the park and got caught in a short downpour - the delicious feel and small of cool summer rain. Throughout it all, the birds kept singing. We heard the songs of blackbirds, robins and chaffinches as well as the monotonous cooing of a stock dove well hidden amongst the branches.

Honeysuckle and bird song

I always try to take advantage of the fact we now have a garden, even if only a small one. Before I went to work, I took five minutes to stand in the morning sunshine, close my eyes and listen. There were birds everywhere around me: chiff chaff calling from the park; a chaffinch or maybe two, trilling seemingly at varying distances; a small charm of goldfinches flying overhead; a pair of house martins chattering to each other above, alongside a few silent swifts gravely soaring side by side; jackdaws accusing 'Jack' as they flew.

The English honeysuckle is opening up and living up to its name of 'Heaven Scent'.

Oxeyes

As a last ditch attempt at growing some wildflowers from seed, I scattered a great number of oxeye daisy seeds in a tray. It seems they have all germinated and are doing rather well. I started pricking out seedlings this evening, 30 of them, but there are many more to go!