As the Sun warms the back of every creature and then melts the Winter snows, a change comes to the highlands of Scotland. The moors and pastures of the glens begin to  quiver with returning life and the springtime resurrection is ongoing. Yes, it is a spiritual event within nature, but the vanishing snow also pulls back the covers on a cold history of life and death.

Surprisingly, Skylarks are the first to return to the moors of Millden estate here in Angus and it is not the expected heaven soaring peace. Cock larks constantly spar and squabble for prime nesting territories, with many protracted aerial challenges darting hither and thither over the grassy moor. Upside down aerial defense, similarly seen in raptors, employs that long, hind toe spur as a sabre weapon.

One Skylark stands fast on his grassy tussock that is nesting home, the same one as last year, and the pattern of occupancy over the moorland pasture reveals a neighbourhood plan with strict boundaries that are overflown in larky song; hard won is the right to sing in the heavens. Despite a cold wind blowing from the snowfields on high and the grass still bound in Winter's grasp, the delicate trill of the lark warms the heart to Spring's hopeful coming.

The Angus glen estates are the wader's heaven or haven and, of that, there is no doubt. Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Golden Plover, Dunlin and Curlew love the custodianship of the glens and now they are desperate to return from their briny, coastal resorts to breed. Flocks of Lapwing drift around the skies, unsettled and nervy, they land then, like flitting butterflies, move on.

A pair of Oystercatchers belt down the glen to vanish over the cold, grey snowfields of afar, and their white plumage glows snow-white against the landscape sullied snows. A Golden Plover calls its peeping alarm over the heath then flies on pointed wings into the glare of cloud, sunshine, snow and mist; yet it is not alone as another calls from nearby and that familiar sound of the high moors is heartily welcomed back.

This year will be very interesting as to how the waders will fare when nesting. A chat with the head-keeper on his rounds reveals that the amount of trapping for Stoats and Rats will be drastically reduced from five thousand traps down to around one thousand because of the changeover from the older Fen trap to the new Tully trap and he reports that Stoat damage is already increasing.

On top of that, the ever increasing Raven mob are rehearsing for a springtime bonanza feast from wader and grouse nests, therefore the cards are stacked against a good year for ground nesting birds I fear. Ravens work in teams to scour over the moors and pastures where birds nest, and by quartering back and forth will precipitate a defensive rise from guarding nesting birds, thereby deducing a nest site location that culminates in a devastating raid ..... clever birds are Ravens ..... but, perhaps, too many for continuing wader breeding success.

I suppose this is where the coffee drinking, meeting orientated, theory idealising, office bound officials from Nature Scot and MSP's get it all wrong ..... they do not listen to the folk that work the land, observe the nature on that land and live with the land. Of course, the whole issue is tinted (tainted would be a better word) by voting, nature loving campaigners who haven't a clue and rarely, if ever, experience the 'grit' from the moors of Scotland.

The vanishing snow uncovers real hardship. Several Mountain Hare did not make it through the recent extreme weather encountered in the highlands. Yes, one would expect them to cope, but hundreds descended from the high tops to the relative shelter found near the haughs of the glen. Beasts of the mountain may survive dry, cold conditions but easily succumb to wet, cold and gale. 

Hare tend to gather together and certainly the four carcasses that I found were all close, readily plucked and consumed by Raven or raptor. At first I thought that this might be the work of an eagle, as they tend to have favourite locations for consuming prey, and because the freshly plucked feathers of a Red Grouse lay nearby too. Extreme snowy weather and starvation is more likely because whatever flesh on bone was left looked fairly emaciated.

By the way, the spelling of carcass can also be carcase but convention dictates that carcase is particular to the body of a slaughtered beast used for food and carcass is particular to the body of a predated, poisoned, persecuted or rotten dead beast .....

Anyway, every dribble, every burn and every river was in full spate today as snow gushed into moorland peat and water soaked its way to the sea again. I dwelled on the pure white bubbles of every gush near muir-burn areas and failed to see any abnormally large amounts of brown, peat colouration within .... just a coffee break observation out on the hills of Angus for those who tell us that muir-burn affects water purity and clarity through peat dissolution ..... no science involved, or needed!

An uncomfortable, soft gale greeted me on the exposed higher tops as I scoured horizons for eagles, for that's what I do ..... admittedly quite a lot and it is hard work to discover their status in this large area. March is drawing near, therefore I expected to find some evidence of spring-fever in the Mountain Hares but nothing was evident because of that relentless wind, and foraging eagles are couch potato craturs at times so nothing begat nothing.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 21 February 2021 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
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If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

Snow brings love and hate to Winter. Snow stretches endurance and survival for all the beasts that roam the highlands of Scotland. Snow is fun, they say, until it gets you; for many have perished on the wintertime hills and mountains of Scotland. Snow and chilled sleep are graveside pals and I have seen them, battled them and felt them deviously work together .... and how.

The dancing stars of bodily exhaustion bamboozle the mind, and then the eyes close only too easily as the blizzard stings flesh into numbed submission. Nature's cold womb welcomes one back to the hope of a warm place that never comes, and one falls into a dream where the mind comforts the cold away and welcomes the morphia of deadly exposure.

I have seen all this, whether it be with myself, affecting fellow climbers, or indeed animals. I have seen my Border Lakeland terrier curl up with its back to the ice gritted blizzard, eyes closed ready for sleep and, without intervention, would have been lost to the snow; she was as as tough as nails too and often riled me by chasing after Ptarmigan on the snowy cliffs of Lochnagar. I have seen climbers surrender to cold fate, head down and half buried in drift and, without a helping hand, would have been lost to the snow; so easy to go when bodily spirit gives up. 

Yet, the beasts of mountain and moor survive some of the worst mountain conditions living through what can be six months of wintertime some years. I recall Fred Taylor, renowned head-keeper and stalker at Invermark, saying that deer can survive any dry, cold weather conditions but very wet and cold conditions can often work together to bring them down.

Lightning can also be a wintertime threat and I recall Bruce Cooper, head-keeper at Prosen, finding a group of dead deer on the high tops after what could only be described as an electric storm wrapped up in a blizzard, and, sure enough, I found a stag, inexplicably dead, on the snowy slopes of mountainous Driesh after one such thunder storm ..... maybe wet antlers and lightning don't mix.

Today I followed the tracks of some Red Deer through the glen and it was obvious that they struggled while coping with crust covered snowdrift at times. Their legs would sink at least half a metre down until firmness was found within the heather layer making progress painfully slow and exhausting. Many of the deer were looking a bit fed up with the struggle and just stood staring from the slopes above as I passed by.

A covey of Black Grouse whistle wings over my head as I sit on a dyke to sketch and the overhead spectacle was missed in the concentration between hand and paper. They fly like rocks jettisoned from a catapult, unlike the wing flipping antics evident with Red Grouse. The Angus glens are a stronghold for Black Grouse and the population seems to grow year on year because of an active policy by shooting estates to plant stands of native trees; these birds love fenced off plantations.

Today, my plan was to keep an eye out for Hen Harrier, as the doldrum wind situation might rule out easy flight for large raptors. Surprisingly, in a small area that I had not visited before, I found three raptors ..... Peregrine, Common Buzzard and Hen Harrier, and some returning Stonechats that seemed to pick at the newly hatched Winter Gnats dancing around between rush and heath.

At times snow covered land and sky merged into shapes of pastel colour that interchanged spatially with the light and violet-white land drifted into pearlescent sky while sun dappled cloud sifted a gentle powder over moor, and all became a deceptive mirage created by the reflective washes of snow, and within that shifting landscape void flew hundreds of grouse with stiff wings rustling the only shift in the chill air.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 31 January 2021 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
My other web pages; 

David Adam Gallery 
 
Facebook

 
My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop




Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)


If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

The first light of dawn spiced the chilly night away, and the river splintered glassy icebergs against time embedded boulders, and the shepherd scattered nut feed on the brittle grass for his flock, and then a woolly carpet of fleeces moved as one hungered stampede around the man, and that sense of warming light on high stirred the red beasts away from the cold shadows in the glen, and snowy ice met every respectful step we made within this cathedral of nature.

Respect means everything here in the wilds of Angus for nature demands its substance; ignore respect for nature and you are nothing, or ignorantly dead as part of this universe. Respect for precious nature and its lands should come above all things that man deems as civilisation, or science, or economy for without nature they are all nothing. Respect requires tolerance for flora and fauna, and an informed reality when it comes to conflict between man and nature, or an intra-nature imbalance.

Respect for wildlife acknowledges the fact that all creatures warrant life on Earth, free from persecution and interference; free from interference includes not lumbering a creature with cart horse technologies and contrived excuses to employ them, and that most certainly is pointed at the prolonged cruelty implicated with harnessing a satellite transmitter to a wild bird for its lifetime. To see an eagle fly without techno baggage is so pure, and pain free for the bird.

Respect for life is definitely not an attribution of those who willingly and obsessively interfere with nature's wild course to justify their own political agendas and scientific beliefs, but, and on an equal footing, neither is illegal persecution in order to manage the economic output of a habitat, for example, the grouse moor. 

In my opinion, those who seek to artificially affect a creature's wild rights to fly or run free by adding bodily techno baggage are the same as those who persecute to kill ..... all you 'raptor ecologists' out there, think on it ..... I know it hurts but try, and even attempt to realise, just maybe, that your sat tagging 'fun' may be cruelly wrong after all. I suppose some do realise that but cannot admit the fact lest it destroys reputations and credibility.

Respect for fellow man falls on its sword when raptor persecution is involved. Innocent game-keepers on persecution haunted grouse moors become all evil beings in the public eye, as hatred is incited by campaigners against shooting. Hate, and incitement to hate, crime laws in Scotland fall slightly short of including professions, such as game-keeping.

Hatred against individuals, who dare contradict or even entertain debate, is being actively incited by using defamatory, insulting or mocking comments on internet media outlets or blogs involved in anti shooting or raptor persecution campaigns.

So the ever so smart, but egotistical individuals involved in this hate campaign have no respect for man and, in truth, less respect for nature ..... when debate is lost, slander and mockery are the tools of the loser ..... which seems to be the case in this instance.

Hate activities promoted by a certain raptor persecution blog author called, Ruth Tingay, therefore dangerously skirt the unwritten margins of breaking Scots law in order to entertain blog followers in a 'bread and circuses' manner, and seems far removed from her studies of the Madagascar Fish Eagle ..... so long ago when her dedication over-ruled her cheeky, mob sarcasm of today.

Increasingly, I believe that for the likes of some in the local raptor study group and Tingay, blogs like this one are the only real time contact they have with raptors and wildlife on grouse moors.
Cast that stuff aside ..... I am on an Angus shooting estate and the photographs are evidence of what I saw today ..... no campaign, no lies, just the naked truth .... take it or leave it. There is no way that I, as a subject of hate incitement, can change poisoned minds that are set against estates so just look at the photos and then scoff, mock or whatever pleases .... I really don't care!
This afternoon, as the ghostly Moon rose, I watched two eagles circling in opposition against a clear blue sky. Contra-flow soaring allows two birds to check each other out and, in this case, to confirm dominance and territorial boundaries. An immature female bird, with upper wing moth marks showing and probably a first winter bird, breaches boundaries to set the pair of resident eagles into lockdown mode action. Earlier the male had been seen sitting in the sunshine on his favourite look out perch, so I presumed that it was him conducting the aerial attack but later, with photographic consultation, it seems to have been the female who took on the young eagle, making that a three eagle afternoon.

I had the privilege of watching this big fella on his perch for at least 40 minutes before he took off. During that time the female flew past behind him and it was of little concern to himself, for that seems to be the rule in the eagle world for most of the time. The sexes go their own way post breeding and only at this time of year do they consort together, soar together and roost together. The male holds territory throughout the year and I have found that the females shy away from the home territory during the autumn months when they 'life experience' any fledglings.

At first light though, I had witnessed an interesting conflict of interests between a Red Kite and a Hen Harrier, where the kite chased the harrier across the eagle home territory ..... mmm, risky at this time of year methinks, especially when eyrie repair bonding is taking place ..... fortunately the male eagle was perched about one mile away soaking up the early morning rays so didn't see the intrusion. The usually acrobatic kite was no match for the speed and agility of the harrier though and, as a note, a harrier as been seen several times in that area over several months now.

Red Deer tend to move down from the higher, snow covered hill tops onto the softer slopes of the glen where some grazing can be scraped up. Several herds of deer make moves away from my steps but quickly surrender to fatigue as they paddle into deep and crusty snow drifts; heavier stags flounder up to their bollocks as hooves break through icy crusts into deep, powdery windslab. Pathfinder hinds usually lead the way across the hill terrain as they tend to be the older, more experienced beasts that can find shelter and grazing. The following youngsters, who might be experiencing their first winter snows, trek patiently behind the hind in single file and they sport that look of complying without understanding the reason for having to move ..... typical teenagers!

All the eagle activity today did not result in large winter coveys of Red Grouse being chased around, as would be expected, so I can only presume that grouse numbers in this area are fairly low at the moment. I found a few scrapes into the snow that provides the grouse with an overnight shelter from the scouring winds and on occasion these scrapes get drifted over by snow to igloo a grouse inside. When that happens the grouse pecks at the snow building up over its head to ensure an escape route.

As light lengthens the time horizons over the Angus moors a change is taking place that affects every beast, flech and blade o' grass. Light will rekindle life and bring hope to these cold moors of now, for soon the Curlew, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Snipe, Oystercatcher, Meadow Pipit, Merlin, Ring Ouzel and Wheatear will return to begin the yearly cycle once more. 
Let us hope that improvised change brought about by man's interference will not destroy the very little that we have.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 23 January 2021 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
My other web pages; 

David Adam Gallery 
 
Facebook

 
My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop




Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)


If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

Many years now have been spent wandering the much loved, yet, 'despised' grouse moors of Angus looking for, well, raptors and wildlife and inspiration to sketch and perchance to find a smidgin of truth ..... that's what I do to commune with nature. I do not disturb anything or get too close, and don't leave a trace except, maybe, some pastel dust that falls from sketch paper, nevertheless, doing what I do brings unjust criticism from select quarters, including game-keepers and anti grouse moor campaigners.

Also, not approving of bird ringing or satellite tagging interference because of fatal accidents, evidential stress and harness cruelty brings criticism and, despite being even-handed, my actions to show raptors 'flying with baggage' on grouse moors are ignorantly mocked and deviously doubted by those who believe that no harm can be done to these birds because the methods are self approved by the so called 'licensed experts'.

All the photos shown on this blog are taken on grouse moors in Angus that have been declared, in a 'fake news' way, to be 'wildlife deserts' with no raptors by those lobbyists who pursue an end to driven grouse shooting .... they meekly and hypocritically proclaim that they are not against shooting, yet wish death upon every game-keeper in the land; an attitude that is 'charmingly' left unmoderated by the author of a well known raptor persecution WordPress blog page when sycophantic followers post unsavoury comments. 
 
Typically, showing a photo of a raptor with the caption, 'Golden Eagle in an Angus glen' can be met with mocking derision and laughter 'imojis' when posting on certain internet media outlets, therefore an imposed 'lockdown' on showing that the Angus glens do have wildlife and raptors has been cunningly contrived by the deception of Tingay of the RaptorPersecution blog, Packham of the BBC, Thomson of the RSPB and Avery of the Wild Justice organisation who hold great sway over the news media, and their keyboard followers.

For many years, I and others attempting some sort of moorland revelation, have suffered defamation by certain members of the local raptor study group, the local wildlife officer and by that blog page aforementioned, who think that they have a right to socially abuse a person who does not readily fit in to their mindset or adopt their maligned agenda. 

I hear it now, 'You're disturbing the eagles ..... you shouldn't be in that glen ..... your blog should stop ..... when you sketch you're too near ..... you're giving away a nesting location ..... if you see him acting suspiciously on the hills, phone the police wildlife officer' ..... and the slanderous, verbal diarrhoea goes on. One bullying individual in particular should be ashamed of his own petty vendetta, and I do wonder as to how these twisted, lying individuals become involved in raptor monitoring because they have not one jot of welfare empathy for their targeted birds when ringing or satellite tagging. 

Today the glen is paid a visit by a known pair of Golden Eagles that I have been following for a few years now near Glen Esk. One is a leg ringed female that still shows sub-adult plumage, yet has reputedly nested three times, and the other is a satellite  tagged male. I witnessed him courting the female with a heather kow held in his beak and was featured back in March 2019. 

They have no fear of my presence, freely coming to fly overhead. I love to see them meet up then head off in different directions to forage for food and in this instance they do not have to travel far as the deer stalkers have been out leaving some gralloched carrion behind on a hillside nearby. They are not alone, for dozens of scavenging Ravens swish black, iridescent wings through blue skies as they gather for a moorland table feast.

Died in the wool bird ringers or satellite taggers are very defensive when their practices are challenged and rise to criticism as if their long lost conscience had been pricked. I look at the ring lodged above the talon on the female Golden Eagle and perceive a mobility problem; the ring even looks swaged at the end with ware to form a cone shape. 

Most recorded instances of someone ringing an eagle shows the ring being fitted on the feathered tarsus and they wiggle it around to prove it has room to move but do they ever imagine that the enlarged ring will migrate to a lodged position above the talon digits to restrict mobility ..... their arrogance generally denies that, and a future of never finding out perpetuates their 'turn the other cheek' attitude. 

I now have records of three instances of possible leg ring issues and six records of harnessing problems on eagles and 'experts' cannot, dare not, provide proof that satellite tagging or ringing interference does not affect the future welfare of a bird ..... they can only utter dogmatic rebuttals that 'you' are no expert and even refuse to acknowledge that any problems could arise ..... they are brick wall experts that contentedly abandon the birds to suffer ..... those birds have no say.

The male eagle is satellite tagged which means that a solar rechargeable GPS transmitter unit with a long aerial is harnessed to the back of the bird, between the wings, to form a wind catching bulge that ruffles protective covert feathers out of shape revealing the downy insulating layers below. This ramshackle procedure was originally devised to track the movements of a bird on a map to provide scientific data about its migration or natal area dispersal route.

Nowadays the method is used for location curiosity, to reveal and locate 'dead bird found' persecution and, more commonly, is employed to create allegations of persecution without evidence by using the catch all phrase, suspiciously vanished, usually over or near a grouse moor when a satellite transmitter fails or stops especially in winter, low light 'no charge' conditions ..... it makes me wonder why our mobile phones do not have solar recharging panels built in. 

The cruel and primitive method of using an improvised, over feather harness to hold on a GPS transmitter must stop.

Currently, grouse moor shooting estates in Scotland are to be licensed, but never before has a licensing law been introduced on the back of satellite tagging data that has provided no substantiated evidence to date that could be used in a court of law and therefore has gathered no prosecutions to warrant the introduction. 

The licensing issue has been brought about by a few rogue game-keepers and farmers being a persecuting law unto themselves, media propagated hysteria, a publicly adopted hatred and ignorance of estate management, land ownership, political bargaining within government and the 'Disney-fied' cult for animal rights to the point of being ridiculous. 

Therefore I do disapprove of how the decision to license was influenced by extraneous factors and challenge the ethicacy of those making the decision by ignoring the Werritty report recommendation that a period of  probationary grace be initiated.

When compared to other countries in Europe and the Middle-east, Scotland's significantly decreasing bird persecution statistics pale to insignificance, and with a growing population of eagles the allegations of continuous covert persecution by the RSPB et al. seem totally contradictory.

Bucking the trend for a nationwide, diminishing Kestrel population the Angus glens seem to be a haven for these aerially agile falcons that hunt for ground scampering voles, insects and pipits. The same can be said for the Merlin, whose local distribution has never really been established by the local raptor study group. Angus breeding sites have doubled under the independent surveys by Mike Groves and, in part, by myself. 

Hen Harriers, that have undoubtedly been subject to persecution in the past, are gingerly making an Angus breeding comeback under the supervision of Mike Groves but the future will determine whether grouse moor managers will pay heed to licensing laws ..... the will is there when game-keepers are asked, but what of the estate owner's balance sheet principles?

Allowing infiltration by one of the grouse moor's worst enemies, the harrier, can be unpredictable as the Langholm moor project discovered. Some estate owners have been silently negligent in their response to challenging law change, or indeed unproven allegations against them, so will they welcome back the ringtail and grey bogey-bird? I hope so, but still have some negative reservations it must be said ..... maybe some leeway might have to be given to a brood management scheme in the distant future, meaning never in the eyes of the RSPB. 

Many conservation organisations like to hold back on certain common sense actions that just might solve a problem in the short term. Nature Scot and the RSPB love to dilly-dally over problems that concern the conflict between nature and man. Take for example the introduction and expansion of the population of White-tailed Eagles in Scotland.

Many years ago, no-one consulted the sheep farmers about lamb predation concerns and now it is a big problem on the west coast that has seen many diversionary action plans (a favourite term) put in place. If you ask me, the action drags out into needless stupidity, time wasting and thickens the sponge for subsidising money and, meanwhile, the eagles cock-a-snook at the experts who continue to dribble drivel onto paper ..... consequently the farmers lose stock or, fall to the increasing trend of going out of business.

That same 'expert' arrogance ignored the possibility that White-tailed Eagles will take live prey. Studies in Norway, where most of the introduced eagles came from, claimed that local farmers suffered no livestock depletion and that the eagles only consumed carrion or fish ..... wrong. These eagles are very adaptive and now hunt Mountain Hare and deer on the hills of Angus on a parity with the Golden Eagle. I mind of one chap that contacted me, who was studying eagles in Norway, being amazed at the turn around in their normal foraging habits ..... expect the unexpected ..... maybe a lesson the experts have yet to learn.

Enough rant ..... the tracks held their breath today as thick ice choked any easy movement along them and Winter had truly returned to the moors of Angus. Several miles of sliddering, skiteing and skittering around was the order of the day until snow cover was reached and then the eagles came; how grand to see and share with you all in virus lockdown Scotland.

By the way, this wee Robin took over the car this dark morn, perched on the steering wheel and fluffed his feathers into the dying embers from the car heater and would not leave until sandwiches from the depths of my rucksack were unwrapped and shared ..... how cunning and coercive, cute nature can be on our snowflake culture.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 6 January 2021 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
 
RSPB - Royal Society for the Protection of Birds


My other web pages
David Aam Gallery 
 
Facebook

 
My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop




Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)


If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

We are all married to our birth natures of who we are, and what we are like, and nothing should change that lest the floodgates of discontent be opened. Places have their birth nature too and no matter how much change is wished upon them by man they tend to resort to a natural state given time and peace; the glens of Angus are such places.

My antecedents, in the Gibb family, lived for a time at Waterhead in Glen Lethnot, and mum recalled visits when slithery snakes made bare feet recoil, and heather kows were gathered to light the fire, and neeps were pinched from the farmer's field, and sourocks were picked on the verge to appease a hungry belly, and peesie's eggs were gathered for breakfast; a time sin-syne when folk had a marriage to the land and relied on its good nature to deliver meagre sustenance.

The glen of Lethnot has changed in its earthly nature very little in the years since then, the heath margined road is narrow and twisty with the historical hump-back bridge at Stonyford providing a spectacular crossing over the turbulent West Water. Further on, a stand of Larches and Pines form a backdrop to Hunthill lodge. Until the 1960's Capercaillie occupied the trees where Red Squirrels scurry now, and the lone surviving cock used to stop the Post Office van in the middle of the road as he spoiled for a fight with his ruddy reflection.

Change has nevertheless come and gone when community and people are taken into account. Crofts and homes like Blackhaugh, Flobbit, Redshiel, Corrie, Boggieshallo, Finnoch, Braco, Drumhead, Leadbakie, Millhillock and Mill of Lethnot are ruined and gone; to them the glen is but a ghost of its busy past. I feel a reluctant but familiar bond to the barren aspects of Lethnot; love it or hate it, the glen somehow sleeps within its own nature repelling human efforts to mould it for a livelihood.
 
The situation exists where only a couple of working hill-farms are left and most glen homes are linked to the shooting estates of Hunthill, Lethnot and Nathro-Ogil, that ultimately own the glen lands. War had a devastating effect on small glen populations and in post war years some never recovered leaving only a skeleton of former communities that nowadays hang on by a thread through incoming elements.

Today, support from estate owners maintains limited employment within the glen to ensure that the letting of vital glen 'blood' is presently stymied, nevertheless, many feel threatened by government legislative actions against them that, ironically, were brought about by themselves. Raptor persecution is a turning point for the future of grouse shoot estates in Scotland and 'live or die' licensing is now a reality for them. One contributing 'black mark' happened here, in the glen, when 'Fearnan' the young Golden Eagle was poisoned in 2013.

This morning the reality of my dawn hit me squarely in the face as the first steps were taken through a glen darkened by the will of the wild. Wind and sleet threw rattles of vengeance against me and turning my back to the wet onslaught was the only option; my boots were wet all day. Black, whale-back hills were slowly outlined by the solstice rays of daytime revelation, and the call of a Common Buzzard pierced the spaces between droplets of sodden mist as it flapped manically against the dark, enshrouded wind.


The corrie, lipped with mist, revealed nothing but dripping misery, but on its ridge crest a couple of Mountain Hares, dressed for winter snow, scampered around on the bare heath, and a scabby looking Snow Bunting tweeted a lonely ballad to the mists that swirled a rise to reveal a window on the lost land; and I know where now, came to my mind ..... a place that readily encompassed sweet desolation.  Anyway, enough waxing and waning over the solstice of doom, and the coming together of the impossible to see Jupiter-Saturn Christmas 'star' ..... Merry Christmas and Hae a Guid New Year a'body!


All text, photographs and sketches done on the 20 December 2020 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
 
sourocks - Scots for Sorrel 
heather kows - dry stalks of heather
peasie - Lapwing / Peewit
 
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If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

Invermark estate at the head of Glen Esk in Angus has corners where no man goes, yet it hosts several popular walking routes that satisfy the need to experience the great outdoors for many visitors. Wind slapped Mount Keen is the most frequented summit but the circuit around majestic Craig Maskeldie from Loch Lee to the Falls of Unich grows in popularity year on year and, of course, the walk to the loch past the fortified tower house of Invermark is legendary.

This huge estate, of some 55,000 acres, seems to absorb many of the demands placed on it, either from leisure visitors, deer management, game bird shooting, wildlife tours, micro hydro-electric schemes, fishing, farming or forestry, and despite the increase in visitors there is limited conflict generated between these diverse uses. Inadequate car parking, picnic littering, fire lighting and uncontrolled dogs are all frequent complaints at peak visitor times but the majority of visitors do respect the place as being special to the Angus glen heritage.

Nevertheless, the demands placed on wild nature by these activities must surely have an effect, but is it a positive or negative result overall. Leisure visitors usually keep to certain path routes avoiding the open moorland habitats where wildlife, in the main, is left undisturbed. Sightings of grouse, waders, deer and some raptors are frequently recorded by hill walkers, but some of those would not acknowledge wildlife, or the looking for it, as the reason for their visit.

Deer management and stalking takes place throughout the estate from July until February to control numbers of Red Deer plus, importantly, to generate income from stag and hind stalking sport. Extensive grazing of any vegetative regeneration and associated peatland erosion would occur without some lethal control of deer numbers, and because of sheep, rabbit, hare and deer grazing the implementation of wire marked, fence enclosures for new forest planting is essential.

Game bird shooting, in particular lucrative driven grouse shooting, has taken place on this estate for generations. A photograph of Invermark outdoor staff taken before the First World War shows a count of 27 men ..... nowadays the count is down to about 8 and, realistically, this would seem to be a bare minimum to manage a huge acreage of moor. Incidentally, back then in the 'good old days' of the '27' there were three eagle nest sites on Invermark, now there are only two.

The nurturing of grouse to shoot, on any estate, leads to conflict with predators like the wily Red Fox or Stoat, but sometimes with raptors and corvid species like the Raven. Fox control is usually an uphill battle for all grouse moors and today I came across a few wandering fox tracks that just go on and on for miles over hill top snow, and beyond into those remote corners where no man goes.

Some raptors, like Golden Eagles, have co-existed with grouse shooting quite happily on this estate and many eagle chicks have fledged over the years, in fact Invermark might just hold a Scottish record for producing, on two separate occasions in the past decade, nests containing three chicks that have successfully fledged; a very rare thing for eagles that indicates a plentiful prey source.

Today, I witness a supplementary food source for both eagles and corvids. A flurry of black winged activity is taking place over a certain hill that led me to presume that the estate had been deer stalking there during a recent snowy period leaving the gralloch, or innards, behind. Dozens of Ravens gathered to feast with some carrying carrion tat away with them, but the bonus rose above the hill in the shape of two, full cropped, female Golden Eagles that respectfully jousted each other for dominance whilst being cheekily mobbed by the Raven gang.

The traditional shooting estate aspect to Invermark has merged into a future proof diversification through native forest planting, peatland restoration and micro hydro-electric generation ..... fortunately wind-turbines have not raised their ugly heads into the eagle soaring skies. The changes that re-wilders, conservationists and land use campaigners expect from a 'new' Scotland might just have been happening on this estate for a wee while ..... in a round about sort of way.

Many of the hill tracks used for management are still 'old fashioned' or not there at all when compared to the more extensive, floating track developments on neighbouring grouse only estates like Hunthill or Millden and, because of that, there exists more of a visual amenity between the natural landscape and access enabled moorland; much of Invermark lies within the Cairngorms National Park with all of its associated regulations.

Many ill advised critics of self-managed shooting estates in Scotland desire or dream of a land where forests abound, where nature finds a balance between rows of wind-turbines, where wildlife tourism supports the local economy, where phone holstered rangers have taken over from game-keepers, or where any wrong doing means a licence rebuke. My reality, of experiencing the good and the bad from shooting estates in the Angus glens for the past fifty years, precludes that dream-land.
 
Today, under the glower of an ever changing sky, I look into the far away corners of this estate, all covered in snow, and see inhospitable places untouched by the hand of man. Vast, high peatlands gouged by weather and time with their dark past entombed maybe only in a name, like Wolf Hill ..... and they need no re-wilding. In history, we are not that far away from a time when the kings of Scotland hunted in the glens on horseback with dogs at their side, and brazed venison oozed over plates in the banqueting hall of Invermark castle.

The eagles that witnessed ancient history are still here building up nests that survived the changes of those centuries, and I have no worries. Ultimately the land will dictate its own future to man and beast. So will Invermark's wild nature win out in the end, despite all the positive or negative problems facing it? I think so, yes. Nature abhors a vacuum and will find a compensating balance given time ..... Time, an essential factor that those impatient for change are reluctant to give or even recognise.

We live in a fast and furious, media controlled existence where, 'We changed that', or, 'I achieved this', has become more important than truth ..... more important than traditional livelihoods ..... more important than nature itself. Should, 'We changed that', really read, 'We changed that by lying', or should, 'I achieved this', really read, 'I achieved this by misrepresenting data statistics'.

Nature's future is in the hands of those who stitch up the truth to fit hidden agendas and the innocent always suffer. Being blamed for an alleged and defamatory 'wrong' is one of the worst things to suffer in life without recourse to a defence; for example, satellite tagged raptors that 'vanish' suspiciously near or on grouse moors is a favourite weapon used by anti-shooting campaigners. I know, through this blog, that writing anything can be intentionally and erroneously misinterpreted by some; I have suffered many 'slings and arrows' from those connected to local raptor study groups and raptor persecution web pages.

Like the eagles who instinctively build up their nests year on year, we can only build a new future by learning from the past, understanding mistakes, evaluating regrets and making amends instead of being constantly punished by the hand of those who are disconnected and remote. 
 
I wonder what these wild lads, pictured below, would say about licensing grouse moors, raptor persecution and re-wilding ..... and mind, they had plenty of Hen Harriers, Peregrines and Golden Eagles to contend with, and fewer tracks with no mechanised transport, but the philosophy was different then ..... or was it?

 
All text, photographs and sketches done on the 6 December 2020 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

My other web pages; 
David Adam Sketchbook
David Adam Gallery 
 
Facebook

 
My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop




Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)


If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

Dawn to dusk on the hills of Glen Esk marked my wanderings in nature's time today. The black beauties croaked a welcome to the warming Sun that lasered a path up the frosty glen and all was still within a nocturnal chill. Crossbills nibbled at Larch cones in a light that threatened to not come at all, and a Common Buzzard pierced a hidden call into the cold void that beckoned solar light to invade.

Fallen Bracken fronds, in faded brown, were stitched together by sparkling, white frost to form a lattice work crust with soft decay below, and stepping through was like wading into a gigantic pie with puff pastry on top. Sugared flowers of Ling and Cross-leaved Heath brushed a sprinkling of frost into the air at each step, and distant Red Grouse cackled with joy to the coming of day.Waiting for eagles, only to find a blizzard of tiny Snowflakes tinkling a tune o'er the high hills was godly, or magical, or mystical. That delicate spirituality soon dissolved to earthly, freezing fingers that eventually warmed in sunshine; a shine that dazzled the rest of day away with experience proving that large raptors and bright, windless skies do not mix.

A paddling, butterfly splash sees a replete Goosander belly flopping down a cascading mountain burn without recourse to flight and the wonder that Brown Trout are here at all, mystifies once again. Red Deer glow orange with the morning light; some are still reclining on their Moon shadow beds and shuffle round to bathe flanks to the rising Sun, and not the only ones on the moor with comfort in mind.

Mountain Hare love sunbathing and, if a photo stalker lines up the dazzling Sun behind, a blinding approach is gained until that point of close encounter makes the hare realise that danger is near enough to bolt into its peaty burrow, but not before a portrait session ends! By the way, Sparrowhawks use the same trick when stooping on prey and, incidentally, so did fighter pilots during the Second World War.

Red Grouse curiously flip from side to side when in flight, possibly to confuse a pursuing raptor, but that mechanism seems to stem from the high position of their head when flying and their natural inclination to look backwards over each wing in turn as they flush from the ground in an escape. Grouse will flee before an eagle and this is often the first tell tale sign that an eagle is hunting yet, in contrast, a hunting Peregrine will make grouse cower under the heath.

Personally, I have no doubt that Red Grouse are truly wild birds despite the anti-shooting, agenda promoted notion that they are effectively 'farmed' for shooting sport. To actually observe Red Grouse surviving winter conditions alongside high mountain dwelling Ptarmigan reveals their tough nature and adaptability; respect is due to these native birds no matter what shadowing association follows them.

The Scottish government has pre-empted the advice derived from the Werritty report into grouse moor shooting and management by outlining their intentions to pursue the plan to license grouse moor estates before the report's advisory 'wait and see' five year term is up. Questions over raptor persecution (including the very disputable 'vanishing' sat tag events), hare culling and muir-burn have precipitated the government's action despite many reports proving a scientific contradiction to some of the reasons for this licensing scheme.

In my opinion the licensing proposals are unresolved, impractical, impossible to police and unfair to shooting estates that have a historically low or no history of raptor persecution. Alternatively, shooting estates that have had a history of persecution should be on a licensed 'red' list for future improvement that would be independently monitored and, similarly, shooting estates that do have suitable habitat for nesting raptors that are absent or have had nesting raptors at one time should be included in a licensed 'watchdog' list with independent monitoring.

The Angus glens of Isla, Prosen, Clova, Lethnot and Esk all have suitable nesting habitat for Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons, and from that list I would currently include two of these glens as hosting shooting estates that would fall into a 'watchdog' licensing category. Historically the glens of Ogil, Lethnot and Esk have had 'dead bird found' persecution events within the last twenty years and from that list I would currently include three shooting estates on a 'red' list and only one is listed in both categories ..... in my opinion mind!

Licensing in the hands of, and, under the direction of certain organisations or individuals can only be a blindfolded recipe for disaster where ill advised cooks plop all their favourite things into a pot hoping for success; the result will undoubtedly be distasteful to the 'guinea-pig' few, but flavoursome to the voting masses who are not aware of the potentially poisonous recipe.

I do wonder at what will happen when a satellite tagged raptor is found dead on a persecution innocent estate ..... will that automatically mean the unjust withdrawal of a licence, and for how long? Large raptors can ingest toxic poisons (and in some cases survive the likes of Carbofuran when treated in time) yet are still able to travel some distance before succumbing to the effects, so a bird could be poisoned on one estate and end up across the march on a neighbouring estate's land.

The variations of alleged persecution circumstance are endless, but at the end of the day those who do not want raptors on their land will find ways to get round any licensing or illegality problems ..... a minority have done so in the past and will continue to do so into the future.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 28 November 2020 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

My er web pages;
avid Ada
Facebook
David Adam Sketchbook
 
My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop

Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)
If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

Cold fingers of harr creeping up from the sea coddled the heathered land into a chestnut coloured sleep, and feathered fingers spread in a desperate flight as young eagle hunted grouse during twilight's glow, and her belly rumbled with emptiness as the coming march of Winter whistled o'er the hills of her belonging.

All of my sun-smacked day was spent reaching two remote Golden Eagle roosting locations within the high hills and I regularly check these spots for activity because they are frequently used by young eagles foraging on the Glen Esk grouse moors. Many rookie young eagles find their way onto food lucrative shooting estate moors that are not, and never have been, occupied by territorial adult eagles that can be aggressively defensive to vagrant birds.

I bother checking these locations because evidence of existence does not necessarily rely on observations. Often we hear of so called experts casting disparaging remarks about the lack of wildlife on moorland because they have not seen anything move in front of their agenda tinged faces .... huh, experience tells me that nature does not perform somersaults just because you are there!

Checking the 'not so obvious' can reveal insights that indicate an eagle's presence, or sometimes its age by feather study, or nutritional condition. A roost site decorated by plenty of fresh liming and regurgitated pellets might suggest that food is plentiful or, as I found today, there seems to be a shortage in supply ..... certainly I did not find any plucked Mountain Hare, Rabbit or grouse carcasses on my travels of some eleven miles, which is unusual.

Feathers at these locations are gathered up, leaving a reasonably clean site so that a reckoning can be made at the next inspection of whether or not an eagle has been visiting. Certainly suspicions might be raised when an eagle that was obviously frequenting a location a month ago, suddenly does not. Fortunately most sites that I visit do have evidence of fairly continuous usage, but my doubting persecution honed principle of 'used to be' or 'should be' is always at the back of my mind when a raptor seemingly vacates the area.

The 'used to be' factor is very common nowadays, for example, one of the eagle roost sites used to be the location for nesting Peregrine Falcons many years ago ..... did the falcons leave because the eagles suddenly appeared one day, doubtful because eagles have always been here, or was their departure down to illegal persecution, possibly. Peregrines have had a chequered history in this glen where around five nest sites have 'gone' over the years ..... Peregrines and grouse moors cannot co-exist in the opinion of some hardened attitudes.

The case for 'should be' and 'will be' nesting Peregrines or, indeed, Hen Harriers should be on the lips of everyone with an interest in the future well being of this special glen environment ..... one that provides a home for wildlife, but importantly provides people with their inherent livelihoods ..... surely there is enough room for both, or will 'could do better' be etched eternally in Werritty stone.

Our young Golden Eagle is this year's fledgling from an estate across the march, methinks, and the bird is on the prowl but struggles in hunting accomplishment when compared to an adult bird in flight. She flaps huge wings frequently to stay aloft and impatiently moves from one hillside to another when prey fails to show. This eagle will have to have a fast learning curve in order to survive through a Grampian winter season ..... next year will surely tell.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 7 November 2020 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

Facebook
David Adam Sketchbook

My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop

Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)

If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

The thought had crossed my mind, like many other vapid thoughts that come and go into oblivion, that no bird would be flying around the glen in this foul weather of severe gales and sleety rain, but that thought was proven wanting. As my legs buckled under the blasting, blasted wind a big bird appeared behind me and we both did a topsy-turvy dance to the wind's unbalanced tune as eyes remotely met. In unexpected awe I gazed, and the eagle peered back from behind a butcher's beak and outstretched neck, then turned with the wind as lashed feathers embraced aeronautical defeat.

Huge, coffin plank wings collapsed then spread again, and again, as the wind grew more vicious in its determination to wreak havoc on anything that dared to share its wild glory. The young White-tailed Eagle was brave, and brazenly masterful as every feather found purpose in its existence. Hungered desperation had forced flight into the glen to search for carrion scraps, maybe like the cast off Red Deer stag's hooves surgically bladed from the carcass by a successful deer stalk earlier in the week on this shooting estate.

A small herd of Red Deer, that seemed to favour one craggy location in the upper part of the glen (featured previously in Call of the Wild), is now missing the harem master stag and I presume that the four leggy hooves that I found nearby belonged to his royal lordship, a fine beast indeed he was. The hinds last week were content to let me pass without panic, but now they scatter with the lesson of the bullet learnt. As the stalking season progresses the beasts seem to get wiser and an approach is spotted miles off by savvy hinds that bolt at the slightest cause.

I have found that the female gender of the species in eagles is more cautiously bashful than the male, and on many occasions the male eagles of our two species will investigate my presence by flying overhead without fear. The male White-tailed Eagle is especially bold and no doubt this behaviour formed a factor in the bird's demise in Britain, being an easy shot from below. A male was seen in this glen during March of this year (featured previously in A Friend Indeed) and I can only hope that, eventually, a maturing pair will bond to nest locally despite the possible persecuting interference from those who have economic fears about these eagles being present ..... say no more!

During a time back in 2012-13 a White-tailed Eagle's nest was destroyed by felling the tree that it was built in, but any culpability was not proven. The displaced female eagle and new mate later built a nest elsewhere, but her original mate mysteriously disappeared. Mike Groves and I were fortunate to discover this new productive nest, the first in Angus and a successful end result for a project initiated by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The glen gargoyle, as always, was in command and ushered forth a deluge of clear highland water from the storm and this source was reputedly used for distilling the finest whisky that was sold clandestinely in Brechin many years ago. Today the hoof prints of the deer stalker's Garron are still on the ground, filled with squelching water as I pass, and I ponder a thought that things never really change in the glen ..... for these ghostly hoof prints could well have been left by the whisky bootlegger's pony two hundred years ago ..... ah, the highland economy is aye changing.

All text, photographs and sketches done on the 1 November 2020 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

My othe  pages; 
David Adam Sketchbook
David Adam Gallery
Facebook

My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop

Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)
If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge .... why?

Moorland birds like Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or inquisitive disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.

The glen was a theatre cast into moody shadows by a foot-light Sun that peeped a dazzle o'er the highland hills, and the red coated actors could be heard, full of sound and fury, roaring out their wild rights to forge future generations. The audience was one, ticket-less soul with equal rights to observe the spectacle of the stag rut.

To creep into the theatre stalls between legs of lanky heather is a covert pleasure, and a risky one that flavours the blood with a primitive hunting thrill. The staggy principle actors are usually too furred up with their own loud recitals to notice any stalking audience, for that is left to the attentive and silent hinds whose ears prick at the slightest invasion of their shy privacy.

The dark hills move with delayed sound, for the bellowing roars like thunder and lightning come after the action. A chorus of hinds flee off-stage as possessive stags furiously lock antlers in a battle of strength to prove their worth and the hinds, it seems, tease the wanting jealousy out of the stags; flirty hinds.

The roaring cast has many solo performers who have no hind harem to govern over and these beasts vent lonely frustrations into the echoing void of the glen by wandering in and out of the moorland wings. No paid tickets are needed for this wilderness, no re-wilding is necessary here because this nature show has been running for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Stalking man is the Red Deer's only predator nowadays but, not so long ago, the Wolf made its presence felt in Scotland until its final demise and extinction from the land sometime during the seventeenth century. Wolves had been a pest to travellers in the highland wilderness with many folk being preyed upon, and shallow grave burials were being dug up for carrion.

James VI, king of Scotland, ordered that wolves be cleared from forests with organised hunts taking place three times a year in certain areas. Curiously, the trapping of wolves is recorded in old Scottish maps with the designation 'Wolf Pit' (research by Cludgy Macpherson). These deep pits were dug out of the land and are described as having a carrion baited plank of wood balanced half way over the void into which the beast fell while trying to retrieve the bait.

The reintroduction of the Wolf and Lynx to Scotland to control deer populations seems to be a bee in the bonnet for some re-wilding conservationists but that contradicts the practical findings of some highland sheep farmers when the effects of the reintroduction of the White-tailed Eagle is considered; a raptor that is reported to occasionally prey on lamb stocks and, like the Wolf, can be tempted by easy prey options.

In my opinion, fickle tempered stags are hard enough to avoid on the hills, let alone wolves, nevertheless, the hill names surrounding this glen reflect a history steeped in wolfy howling ..... Wolf Craig and Wolf Hill ..... who knows what the future will bring.