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| Cully |
It’s
been a very busy time since my last post, and a lot of this is only in
preparation for the even busier next few weeks! The antler total is now up to
20 after a good day to Guirdil and back saw us bring home 10 and a few more
being found every few days (We got another 7 today! - 11/04/13). The start of
such a busy new month has meant Martyn has endeavoured to get the 5 monthly
censuses out of the way early. However last week SNH decided to do their annual
deer count of the island, using a helicopter, which scared all the deer and
meant that a days work was scrapped halfway through. While Martyn is walking
his census routes I generally have been staying out his road and going the
opposite direction, heading west over Sgaorishal on the hunt for carcasses,
antlers and any sightings of the rarer visitors to the research site. Sgaorishal,
although quite pretty in its own right, really is a challenge because of its
countless rises and deep stream gullies. There have been many occasions over
the past few weeks where a hind or stag I’m trying to ID has vanished into the
maze. It’s been on a couple of my days up Sgaorishal and into Glen Shellesder
that I wish I had my camera with me, especially when I encounter a decent group
of stags or when the bigger mountains of Askival and Hallival are visible and
free from the cloud.
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| Wagtail |
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| Hind at sunset (taken beside the house) |
The weather is still very good, in March we had only 28mm
of rain at Kilmory, which is tiny compared to what previous months have been, hopefully
means the midges won’t be in such massive abundance this year as a result. Today
(11/4/13) the first rain in a month fell in a few prolonged showers in the
afternoon. This should just be enough to kick start the rejuvenation of the island,
the brown landscape beginning to turn green and alive!
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| Mum, Dad and the dog at Shamhnan Insir |
My parents arrived on the 5th to visit me and see
‘the office’. They brought Cully (our youngest Labrador) and it was great to
see them all as they stepped off the ferry, although they didn’t recognise me
as I pulled away one of the local Labradors as it hassled Cully! The journey
along the Kilmory road isn’t exactly pleasant, but they seemed to survive it
ok. As we arrived at Kilmory, the ponies that were feeding on the greens ran up
expecting to be fed from the Landrover, as they are in winter months. So the
welcoming committee consisted on a lot of hungry ponies surrounding the
landrover and trying to steal the shopping from the village out the back door.
All in all I think they enjoyed their stay, although it was quite short leaving
on the Sunday ferry. My dad got to do some fishing and test out his new walking
boots, my mum got to sit in the sunshine at the beach, read her books and
paddle in the sea, and Cully got to run about Shamhnan Insir beach and do
plenty of swimming.
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| Unknown caterpillar |
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| Hind and calf |
This week I’ve had another good day up Sgaorishal on Monday,
but again I wish I had taken the camera! Tuesday was spent helping out a joiner
brought in by SNH to finish the new bridge across the Kilmory burn and mostly
involved carrying heavy bits of wood from where they had been dumped at the
roadside, to the bridge. We have also been doing more preparation for the
calving season and also for next week when a vet arrives to teach Martyn about
darting the deer. Hopefully I’ll learn some bits and pieces too, especially in
monitoring the animals condition when it has been subdued.
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| Ruin at Shamhnan Insir |
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| High speed Labrador! |
The real signs of spring are beginning to show with numerous
bird species such as Red Throated Divers, Wheatear, and Heather Pipits starting
to become noisy in the glen and the upper lochs (I’ll try to get some photos of
each of these but it’s really just luck!). The daffodils are trying to flower
in the village but they have been massively outdone by the yellow from the
gorse bushes. Although the wind is still from the east at the moment it is a
little warmer, in the mornings especially, so some of the winter gear can be
put aside.
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| Cully just out the sea |
As I’ve said already the next few weeks are looking busy but
I should be in the village every so often, and my camera will be making more
trips with me!
