There’s a saying in Scotland that goes something like this: if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes. We experienced this first hand on a recent visit to a local strath, where the changing elements made us feel like we had a yearlong tour in just one day! Starting the morning in a light drizzle, we left Aigas and quickly transitioned into a torrential pour. As we wound our way through the glens we stepped into a second winter, as snow began to coat the vehicle and freshly ploughed fields gave way to icy hills. [caption id="attachment_2892" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Credit: Richard Thompson[/caption] As the snow grew thicker and the mists turned to fog, we were forced to abandon our usual plan of watching the skies
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On my last days off I was struck with a burst of wanderlust and couldn’t resist a spell of good weather. Living in the Highlands, we’re pretty lucky to be able to throw things in a bag and set off to beautiful wild places at a moment's notice. I’ve been at Aigas for over a year but still hadn’t made it to the North Coast. This was my chance! My first port of call was the Falls of Shin. Having never been before, I was hoping to be able to spot a salmon leaping up through the falls - and I was not disappointed. The salmon were trying their best to head up river to their spawning grounds, but it was proving very difficult for them. In my
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Chosen at random, these are three fascinating fauna commonly seen on an Aigas Wildlife week. Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) In Scotland fulmars were known as mallemuck – a corruption of dutch words malle (foolish) and mok (gull) which refers to the ease in which sailors/fishermen would have captured them. However, towards the end of the 17th century they became more commonly known as  fulmars which is Old Norse, literally translating to ‘foul gull’. This name refers to the birds ability to projectile vomit a strong smelling oil to deter predators. Like their albatross relatives, fulmars can be spotted soaring gracefully along the tops of sea cliffs and only centimeters above the water. They have a varied diet consisting of sandeels, crustaceans, small squid and jellyfish. Due to the
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Over the last 3 months, Aigas' three Academic Placements along with Staff Naturalist, Ben, and Field Officer, Pete, have been surveying the neighbouring Aigas Community Forest (see more about the forest in this previous blog). The main aims of these surveys were: looking for Crested Tits, and assessing the suitability of areas in the forest for them; locating suitable owl box sites (typically large Scots Pines); looking for signs of mammals and scoping out the best bits of the forest to take Aigas guests to in the coming season. Other aims included recording any other notable wildlife sightings (birds, plants and everything else), and becoming as familiar as possible with the forest; all 260 hectares of it! Surveys involved traversing a route through a selected area of
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It was still dark as we gathered at the front of the house, wrapped up in hats, scarves, gloves and thermals, clutching our coffee filled thermoses. Few words were uttered as we loaded into the minibus and took our seats; it was not yet 6:30am. As we approached the coast, the first light of the sun had almost reached the horizon and shards orange escaped from the darkness. [caption id="attachment_2788" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Dawn twilight as we approached the coast[/caption] Tentatively we unloaded our Swarovski ‘scopes and began to scour the shore in silence and hopeful anticipation. Every ripple catching the dawn twilight made our hearts flutter. First, a grey seal popped up as if to mock us. He rolled back his head, sniffed loudly and disappeared. Several
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I have always been fascinated by the more unusual and overlooked groups of wildlife; from obscure beetle families, millipedes and slugs, to lichens and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). So often these understudied organisms can tell us huge amounts about the health of the ecosystems in which they dwell. Sphagnum mosses are one such group that have piqued my interest recently. Familiar to some as the major component in peat (which they form as they slowly decay over hundreds or thousands of years), few people know that the UK has over 35 species of this diverse genus of mosses. The Scottish Highlands are the centre of Sphagnum diversity in the UK, with all species able to be found within a 3-hour drive of Aigas. Globally, Sphagnum mosses are
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Managing the Aigas Wildcat Conservation Programme is always an exciting affair; each day different to the next, adding new foliage to enclosures, cleaning out den boxes, checking the stealth cameras for mating behaviour can all be components of a standard week. But, one day towards the end of last year was exceptionally interesting... Our young male Coll needed to have a blood sample taken for genetic analysis. Both his parents have scored high on their genetic test and Coll is likely to score even higher. [caption id="attachment_2734" align="aligncenter" width="700"] We took the opportunity while Coll was under anesthetic to take some close up images of his pelage.[/caption] All wildcats in the conservation breeding programme have had their lineages traced and genetics sampled to ensure only genetically strong
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Our outreach sessions carry us far and wide around the highlands; which recently included a two-day excursion around the north coast. We aim to reach as many schools and classes as we can to share our love for wildlife. The north coast is an exceptionally beautiful and remote landscape; giving rise to small, personable primary school sizes. Durness primary, for example, was a single class of eleven with one teacher. We visited three different primary schools, ran five hour-long sessions, and covered all five of our outreach topics many times. Many of our sessions were being tested for the first time after weeks, if not months, of preparation. Our quick-fire approach was designed to keep them engaged whilst introducing some of the current conservation ideas, such as;
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On the Twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Twelve Whoopers Whooping Eleven Squirrels Stealing Ten Deer a-Dancing Nine Pine Cones Prancing Eight Jays a-Jousting Seven Cresties Chattering Six Pips a-Piping Five Balancing Puds Four Handsome Hares Three Merry Martens Two Busy Beavers And a Badger up a Birch Tree! All original images by Laurie Campbell, with a few elfish alterations.

Bordering our Field Centre is an undulating, 260ha community owned patch of woodland - Aigas Community Forest. Bought with the aims of increasing biodiversity in areas of previously poorly managed plantation; it demonstrates sustainable timber sourcing, whilst providing a fantastic recreational area for the public. Aigas Field Centre has deep links with the community forest and is strongly supportive of its missions, helping to buy it over in 2015. Two of our members of staff are on the committee board and help to shape decisions regarding its management. Planting trees in the Aigas Community Forest ©Pete Short Over the winter months we have been carrying out surveys around the forest to scout out areas with higher value for wildlife, such as crested tits, in order to install nest
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