Travelling again – 5. River Spey estuary

Tags

common tern, Giant Hogweed, grey heron, house martin, Kingston, Maori holly, Moray Firth, olearia ilicifolia, osprey, pheasant, pillbox, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Spey Bay, Speyside Way

Saturday, 13th June was spent at the coast of the Moray Firth again, about fifteen miles to the east of where we had been the previous day. The hope was to see dolphins, especially in the afternoon. Spoiler alert – we did not. It was cold and windy for most of the morning but it warmed up and calmed down in the afternoon. Sue S, one of the Grant Arms Hotel’s local guides, was the leader of the people I was with for the day.

It took about an hour to get to Spey Bay, and I arrived a few minutes in advance of the meeting time, to find almost no-one else from the hotel there. It was at least 20 minutes before most people arrived – apparently there had been an accident on the road, causing a holdup, not long after I had passed through.

Just looking at this photo reminds me of how cold it was.

Waiting for others to arrive, I perused this board and thought how nice it would be to walk the Speyside Way – not that I can see myself ever doing it.

More evidence of how windy it was.

Looking landward, once we got going walking inland, with the river to our right:

On the water side, there was this growth on a distant islet. Our leader did not know what it was. It looks very exotic to me, and perhaps rather invasive. I could be quite wrong. Using my app, on this photo, suggests that it may be the first year of the biennial, Giant hogweed – if so it definitely is invasive, and very damaging to human health.

We were pleased to see an osprey, and I took rather a lot of photos, of which these are a fraction.

Not deliberately taken, but I was pleased to capture this including a Common tern.

It needed maximum zoom to see these swans

The osprey came back,

and I was just able to catch it in full dive for a fish in the sea. Earlier we had seen it successful, but I don’t know whether it was this time.

Further away there were dozens of terns.

And nearer, a grey heron.

Walking inland to get back to our cars eventually, we spotted a distant pheasant

and I hung around to catch this House martin leave its next (to which it had only just returned) to forage for its young. (‘Forage’ when it’s catching insects in the air?)

This was near the café. I have no idea what it is. A sundial of some sort? The sun was no-where to be seen to try it out.

Very, very distant gulls.

After a coffee to warm us up, we got in our cars to go to the other side of the estuary, at Kingston, and ate our picnic lunches, in my case just a banana, because with a full breakfast and three course dinner, that was all that was needed.

We were still in the Spey Bay reserve of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, here looking back to where we had been in the morning, the Moray Firth now to our left.

A pleasant spot to eat, and it’s warming up.

We wandered eastwards along the shore, looking out for dolphins, which had been seen there recently, but sadly there were none for us, nor anything else of particular wildlife interest. But it was warmer now, with just a light breeze, so it was pleasant just being there.

Another tumbling WWII pillbox.

People started peeling off, and in the end it was just Sue and I left to walk slowly back via heathland…

… to the car park, where we saw this cultivated bush, which our different apps identified as Maori holly, olearia ilicifolia

Travelling again – 4. Roseisle, Burghead and Lochindorb

Tags

Burghead, chickweed-wintergreen, David Lindo, dog whelk, fulmar, Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown-on-Spey, grey seal, house martin, lex ferenda, Lochindorb, Moray Firth, Nigel Marven, oystercatcher, ribwort plantain, Roseisle, sandpiper, yellowhammer

This stay at the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey, and the visits either side of it, had been deferred from almost exactly the same dates in 2020, because, of course, of Covid-19. I had been intending to use the hotel’s full information resources, in the form of both human advice and enormous amounts of written material, to plan each day’s activity. But this time, the wildlife hotel had a ‘celebrity week’ on for four of my five full days based there, which was a real bonus, especially since these are usually a good deal more expensive, but this one was free. David Lindo, the ‘Urban Birder’ of BBC 1’s The One Show, was meant to be there, but he was stuck in Spain because of quarantine problems, so Nigel Marven, wildlife producer and presenter, who had already been ‘the celebrity’ a few weeks earlier, was asked to step in and replace David.

Each morning and afternoon, there was a choice of outings with Nigel or with other local experts, for which one booked in advance, numbers being limited on each. On a normal celebrity week, the group would be transported in a mini van, but at this period we had to make our own way to the meeting point, no sharing with anyone with whom one was not in a ‘bubble’ or household. On this, my first full day, Friday 11th June, I opted for Roseisle in the morning and Burghead in the afternoon, each with Nigel. The former is in Burghead Bay, on the southern side of the Moray Firth, about a hour from Grantown, and Burghead itself is on a point at the eastern end of its eponymous bay, about 35 miles to the east and a bit north of Inverness.

About twelve of us gathered here,

and walked a few yards to here.

(See the WW2 detritus)

We saw nothing of wildlife interest, and started walking gently along the coastline, alternating between forest and beach.

Three oystercatchers, five rocks, a beach and the sea

A House martin

Sometimes – often – I take pictures just because the image pleases me.

Nigel found a dog whelk egg case

This yellowhammer was a very long way off, and just wouldn’t move for us a to get better view.

Chickweed-wintergreen, though it is neither chickweed nor wintergreen. It is also known as Arctic starflower.

Ribwort plantain

We moved on to Burghead.

This was my first impression.

And this my second. It was not a particularly warm afternoon, and I felt cold just looking at these women.

Clearly still an active fishing village.

I was fascinated by this clearly Latin name. I’ve since found that it means ‘Law [yet] to be made [and should be]’. The boat carrying it was obviously not a new one, and I wondered what message the name was meant to be sending. Were the boat more recent, I would link its name with the Brexit deal.

A grey seal appeared.

Its surroundings reflecting a red van back up on the quayside.

We leant looking out to the other side of the Moray Firth for a while but saw nothing of interest. I was just enjoying myself being outdoors in clean air.

A short walk brought us to the other side of the point,

where a Fulmar was the only thing of wildlife interest that we saw. Not bad though.

Our leaders gave up, and added the bonus of a visit to Lochindorb, only a little way off the route back to the hotel. (Indeed, I had been here two years ago on my previous visit to Grantown. It rained then.) The waves show how windy it was. And it was very cold!

This sandpiper was hanging around.

And after about 20 minutes freezing in the cold, we realised why. Just a few feet in front of us was this chick. A quick photo, and off we scuttled.

It had been a strange day for me socially. After fifteen months of almost solitary confinement – I exaggerate a little but I’ve certainly not been used to doing things in largish groups – I was still very wary, and the whole experience seemed very weird. But a bizarre reminder of ‘normality’ at the same time.

After another excellent dinner – food at the Grant Arms Hotel is really good – I had a quiet evening in front of the telly in my room and looking at my photos. My more comforting, current, normal, normality.

Return to Aigas 2

Tags

Aigas, Aigas Field Centre, bronze age huts, Eurasian Beaver, Golden eagle, house martin, iron age fort, John LIster-Kaye, Magnus House, Magnus Magnusson, Meadow pipit, pine marten, Round-leaved sundew, wild cat, wild cat breeding programme

I forgot to say – because I had no photo to remind me – that we had this morning a few seconds’ glimpse of a juvenile golden eagle.  Quite a thrill, if all too brief as it disappeared into the cloud at the top of the mountain.

This afternoon we spent being introduced to the immediate territory that goes with Aigas House.  First of all we had a briefing from seasonal ranger Ben at the front of the house, during which we were entertained by the industrious and fearless house martin parents who were feeding young just over the doorway.

Then we walked up to the Magnus House, the educational space named after, and opened just after the death of, Magnus Magnusson, a good friend of naturalist Sir John Lister-Kaye, who, with his wife, Lucy, and his son, Warwick, runs the Aigas Field Centre.  On the way, we noticed, not for the first or the last time, that in Inverness-shire, in mid-June, the bluebells were still in flower.

Boris

Inside we found Boris, the male beaver, who, with his mate Lily, successfully bred for several years as part of an experimental reintroduction scheme. (Pending governmental decision, this scheme is now in abeyance.)  Several of the offspring have been dispersed elsewhere, but Lily and some of her cubs are still seen occasionally on Aigas Loch, which we next visited.

We saw several signs of beaver activity, including the building of accommodation more to their taste than the artificial lodge which was first provided for them.

One of my favourite photos from the whole week

Round-leaved sundew, insectivorous plant

I think this was a meadow pipit

Yes, I know you see chaffinches everywhere

When three-quarters of the way round the loch, we diverted upwards to some heathland, to the location of some bronze age huts.  We had no time to go even further upward to the site of an iron age fort.

There was broom and/or gorse nearly everywhere we went

On the way down we were told a little about the wild cat breeding programme of which the Centre is part.  In due course, in a few more generations, it is hoped that some kittens may be reintroduced into the wild, well away from where any domestic cat can be found, in order to ensure the purity of the genetic stock.

Apart from the two people who look after the cats, no-one is allowed to visit the cats. so that they do not become habituated to humans. They must remain truly wild.  Frustrating to be so near and not see, but at the same time a privilege even to be near the project.