Category: Aigas Rangers

Before coming to Aigas I had never seen a pine marten. On arriving in February for the start of ranger training it was one of the species I was most keen to see, and at the earliest opportunity I took myself off to Quarry Hide for a spot of night time wildlife watching. Wrapped up warm against the chilly winter evening, I eagerly waited, training my eyes on the slightest hint of movement in the surrounding vegetation. I was soon rewarded with a brief glimpse of a barn owl, flying to a perch for a few moments before melting silently into the night. Not long afterwards, a badger snuffled its way into the pool of light in front of the hide, and started noisily gobbling peanuts from
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On the final weekend of ranger training, the whole Aigas team journeyed West to Glenshiel for a chance to unwind after an intensive 8 weeks of learning all that we could about being a ranger in the Scottish Highlands. Winding our way through the valley, we gazed up at the rugged mountain ridges that towered either side, our appetites whet for another day in the mountains by a wild and windy group hike up Meall Fuar-mhonaidh earlier that day. The next morning, we set off on a short drive to the start of our walk. The mountain we had chosen was called ‘The Saddle’, a 1010m (3313ft) craggy beast standing apart from the seven-mountain Glenshiel ridge to the East. The first part of the ascent took in
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While visitors from all over the world flock towards the north pole in an effort to witness the aurora borealis, to see an it in the UK on a clear night is a relatively rare occurrence. Our Field Officer details how he managed to witness this beautiful display here at Aigas Field Centre back in February. The Northern Lights Aurora chasing in Britain is a fickle game. In the past I have been fortunate to live in dark sky areas and have seen my fair share of faint green smudges on the horizon, but had failed thus far get a proper view of the aurora borealis. A handful of times each winter, a hardy few would troop to local haunts such as Surprise View (Lake District) or
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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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