The Island Coming Back to Life

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.

Wagtail

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!

Mum, Dad and the dog at Shamhnan Insir

My parents arrived on the 5^th 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.

Unknown caterpillar

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.

Ruin at Shamhnan Insir

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.

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!