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Aigas, Aigas Wildcat Project, Magnus House, Wasp nest

Wednesday was a completely different sort of day.  Firstly, we got up incredibly early to leave for Kessock Bridge where we hoped to see otters.  This is what we saw, in my case from the relative comfort of the bus:

Canada geese

No otters.  We felt we had earned the breakfast we returned to.

For the rest of the morning we listened to a couple of talks, on the wildcat project, and moths, each fascinating.  The braver souls  – it was still raining, though not as hard – went out into the grounds to indulge in a bit of pond-dipping.  I’m afraid I chickened out, being very ill-equipped for bad weather.

The afternoon was free to spend exploring where we were living for the week rather more than we’d been able to hitherto.  (Some joined a small group going a very long way, for a very small chance of seeing a ring ouzel or two.  Sadly they had as much luck as we had had in the morning over otters.)

I did indeed spend a lot of time outside exploring Aigas – it had stopped raining by now, and here is a selection of the pictures I took then and at other times during the week, both indoors and outdoors.

My room

That’s the entrance to an old ice house seen though one window

My lodge

Ruth showing us where we’re going that day

First meal

The sitting room

The dining room, shortly to be laid out for a buffet lunch

A hundred-year-old wasp’s nest

Our hostess is a very talented lady

The library and overflow dining room

The gallery above the dining hall

The sitting room

The Magnus House

From the Tower Hide

No chance of seeing the wild cats!

As well as feeding us splendidly, Lady Lister-Kaye is entirely responsible for the garden

It had started raining again before I was safely back in the house.

 

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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.