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| Golden Eagle with what remains of a hooded crow. |
Thought I’d make a small mention of some history as the
island had quite a colourful past.
There have been many owners of Rum in the past, changing
hand between family lines and gentry. The Bullochs are one of the more famous
owners of the island. When they took over in 1888, they built a rather
impressive house for themselves in the form of Kinloch Castle in 1897. The red
sandstone used to build the whole thing was quarried and shipped here from the
Isle of Arran to the south at what must have been immense expense! The
materials aside, Kinloch Castle was the first place outside Glasgow to have
electricity, generated amazingly through a hydroelectric system. But that isn’t the only thing that money was
invested in. The island became their private holiday resort, it is reported
that the roads to Kilmory and Harris Glens were once so well maintained that a
racecar could be driven to the beach of Harris in 15 minutes, which considering
the condition of the roads today is quite a feat! The island became known as
the “Forbidden Isle” during the ruling of the Bullochs, with outsiders not
allowed to set foot on the private estate. Rum was retitled “Rhum” at this time
also, to move away from any connotations associated with alcohol. Hard times
eventually settled upon the Bullochs and the life of grandeur and private
excess fell into the history of mixed fortunes, but not without leaving a few
large marks on the island.
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| The north west coastline, looking east. |
The coastline of the island also adds some perspective to
the title of “Forbidden Isle”. Much of the coastline of the island is in the
form of impressive cliffs rising like barrier walls above the sea. This
provides great sanctuary for many nesting seabirds, including shearwaters, as
well as a home for the population of feral goats that seem to be getting
everywhere at the moment.
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| The Jack Abry II, a French fishing boat that ran aground only 2 years ago |
The Jack Abry II is a little spooky to come across. When it ran aground it was a relatively new vessel, which is partly why it has survived in such good condition. At first glance it almost looks like it was wrecked yesterday.
This week we have been pressing on with work in spite of the
weather. The task themselves vary greatly in time consumption and weather
dependency but we are already working into the weekend days. I’m very much enjoying
being part of all this, seeing tasks completed, and getting out into the
research site. As I’ve said before, where has the time gone? The first calf of
2013 could be born within the next week! This heralds the arrival and madness
of calving season, where the day lengths permit us to be working until midnight
(There have been calves caught after midnight!). Your body clock adjusts to the
weird timings of things, breakfast at 08:00, lunch (on the hill) around
15-17:00, and dinner when you come back off the hill at anything between 22-01:00.
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| Feral goat |
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| Belle08, a rather habituated stag |
This week also saw the decision on new hind names for the
next year (starting from May). Hinds once they reach 3 years of age receive and
name and code sequence for future reference as they are capable of having
calves of their own. Names generally try to follow on to a theme set with their
mothers name. As a result there are certain groups of related animals that all
share a common theme in their names, such as American Indian tribes, nuts,
gemstones, tree species, wave forms, musical instruments etc. Joining the hind list this year are such names as Boomslang, Areca, Bouzouki, Zion and Kelpie.
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| Looking at Canna over Kilmory Bay |
The weather lately has been pretty damn poor, which has
really limited what we can do. On Friday (3/5/13) I took a new route into Glen
Guirdhil to look for antlers, for the first hour or so the rain stayed off, and
the only complaint was a very bitter wind. However once I reached the top of
Fionchra overlooking the glen, cloud-base suddenly fell around me. The next wee
while was a great adventure of 15 metre visibility until I found my way off the
mountain. Although I ended up soaked, I had decent luck and returned with 5
antlers.
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| Hooded Crow |
The crows are a real annoyance at the moment. They are a good indicator of a carcass in the area when you see them hopping through long grass. However at the moment they are gathering nesting materials so continually fool you into investigating a patch of long grass or hidden gully where there's nothing to find.
Calving season is here, with some very fat hinds grazing hard even through the poor weather. This marks the beginning of a very busy period so my next updates will probably be a little erratic in timing. Joining Martyn and I soon will be 2 volunteers from the University of Central Lancaster to help with the calving season as well as a Head Professor and post-doc Scientist from the University of Edinburgh.
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| Skye in late evening |
