After a busy first couple of weeks on my placement at Aigas, going on days out along the West Coast spotting White-tailed eagles and looking after the wildcats, I was excited for my first hide visit. In preparation, I wrapped myself up in so many layers that I struggled to move; thermals, shirt, fleece, coat, snood and gloves. I’d spent the last two years studying Zoology at university in Cornwall and had definitely become used to a much warmer climate! I also spent at least 10 minutes putting my camera in and out of my bag and finally settled on leaving it behind: for my first hide visit I wanted to watch whatever appeared with my own eyes, not from behind a lens. At 8.15pm, Tay and
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Winter always lingers on late into the year in the Highlands; gladly some preliminary vernal signs have started to make themselves clear over the last week or so. At Riverview we’ve seen the first Lesser Celandines blooming, Sallows freshly blossoming, and heard the bouncing song of a newly returned Chiffchaff echoing around in the treetops. The Chiffchaff was easily spotted, as there are still no leaves on the trees! [caption id="attachment_3911" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The first Lesser Celandine of the year in flower at Riverview.[/caption] There have been some exciting additions to the Riverview bird list since the February update! Emily spotted a brief Golden Eagle cruising over the ridge on the opposite side of the Strath, and Milo has twice seen a Peregrine darting over the craggy
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It’s been a month of extreme weather here at Aigas. We’ve had snow and temperatures down to a biting -14⁰C, followed by a relative heatwave with the snow melting even up on the hills! Fortunately, a lot of the hardy Highland wildlife seems unaffected, and we’ve had some wonderful sightings. Since our last blog we have been treated to views of a barn owl flying past our house! The low temperatures and snowfall that we’ve been experiencing puts increased pressure on barn owls for several reasons, one: poor insulation means they require more food in colder weather to make up for energy losses, and two: their main mammalian prey is more difficult to locate with snow and ice covering the ground. Barn owls may alter their diet during these harsher times, taking more small birds while small mammals remain difficult to hunt. We were relieved to see the last of the snow melting
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Back in May last year, rangers Michelle and Richard, and education officer Milo, set themselves the challenge of recording 100 species in 24 hours in the area around their house. They ended up finding an incredible 140 species over the course of the day! For the rest of the year, they kept a track of the species that they saw in the area, tallying up hundreds of species. This year, Riverview veteran Milo has been joined by rangers Emily and (myself) Calum. With another lockdown underway, we decided it was time to start afresh with the Riverview wildlife records. The whiteboard was wiped clean, and the 2021 species lists were started! It hasn’t been a particularly easy start to the Riverview recording year! Sub-zero temperatures and frequent
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It has been a beautiful first December and January for me here at Aigas, with more snow than I have ever experienced. Just after Christmas we had our first proper snowfall of the year, which revealed all the comings and goings of deer, foxes, hares, badgers, and red squirrels by their footprints. While walking round the loch late in December I wondered how the beavers (castor fiber) were getting on; their lodge was covered in snow and water frozen solid around it. Beavers do not hibernate over winter but do become less active. [caption id="attachment_3793" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The loch and beaver lodge covered in snow[/caption] Our beavers had spent autumn filling their underwater larder (called a cache), but since we have found them to be surprisingly active
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This season has been an odd one for us humans at Aigas, but for our wildlife it has been business as usual. We have been running weekly moth traps for the Garden Moth Scheme since March, and we have seen a whole host of species come and go through the months. First, we had the late winter/spring moths – the clouded drabs, hebrew characters, and the impressive brindled beautys. Then these died off and along came the early summer moths – brimstones, white ermines, and various pug species. As we moved into the height of summer the hawkmoths became regulars, alongside the stunning garden tigers and large emeralds. Autumn brought gorgeous colours to the trees in the landscape, and the moths followed suit – sallows, black rustics,
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The word decomposition may have rather unattractive connotations - perhaps those of dying and death -  but this is a vital process that is never more evident than in Autumn, when a walk in a deciduous woodland is framed perfectly by the falling of leaves overhead and the crunch of those, already shed, beneath our feet. But this is not the end of their story. We welcome the fresh flush of green leaves in Spring as trees waken to the lengthening days and warming air. But Autumn is the time when the soil greets these falling tokens with open arms; leaves bring life into our soils. In an effort to save energy, trees draw much of the green pigment chlorophyll back into their living tissues (chlorophyll means
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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of accompanying professional photographer Laurie Campbell on Aigas’ Nature Photography Masterclass. Not owning a camera any bigger than my pocket I felt somewhat inadequate amongst their foot-long lenses, but sometimes it’s the experience itself that overrides any image than can be taken, and I had one very special encounter which I will never forget… Autumn in the waterways of the northern hemisphere, and a very exceptional creature is embarking on its first migration as an adult – it is going home. After a year or more feeding in rich Atlantic waters, and now weighing 3-4 kg, it feels a change come about. Driven by hormones and environmental cues it begins to head toward land and a river mouth, whence
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I have my binoculars firmly focussed on a cut of silver in the still water which is moving down the firth. The head of a one year old dog otter (Lutra lutra) appears, then turns on its back and proceeds to relish a tasty eel after a successful hunting dive. He makes his way closer to the shore, just 15 metres away from where I sit, watching with bated breath. Entranced, I spent the whole morning tracking this secretive mammal, as he fishes the shoreline. The morning was perfect for otter watching; the water still, clear and quiet. The only disturbances were lone common seals curiously bobbing in the tide, looking form side to side; a curlew, alarmed by my presence; and chattering skeins of pink-footed geese
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On the 31st August we said a fond farewell to two of last year's placement students; Charlotte and Christopher. Both arrived to Aigas a year ago and quickly became an integral part of the Aigas team. They worked hard over the winter to help us create a new open-air wildcat enclosure, took responsibility in monitoring our beaver and pine marten populations and many other important roles with social media, habitat surveys and research. Immediately after their eight-week ranger training in February and March, it became obvious that we were not going to be able to open for the 2021 season as a national lockdown loomed over the country. On 16th March we shut our doors and isolated together as a community. Chris and Charlotte continued their hard
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