Pick of the year 2023 - part one

The Scottish Highlands

2023 was a busy busy year. I had to do so much in the field that I seldom had time to upload posts to the Blog. So, now that it the year's end, I have managed to organise and edit all the photographs I took during the year. This post, and the next two, are all on wildlife and wildplaces I visited in Scotland in May and June. It was a wonderful trip and I covered so much ground, I can't cover everything here. So please browse through the pics below and join in my explorations. I haven't given most of the locations, I'd rather people discovered their own little spots and appreciate the wildness.

Click on any of the photos to open them larger and follow the other photos as they link up.

 

Wild Places in the Highlands

Climbing Stob Ban in the Mamores
(Model - Nigel Raven)

Over the past few weeks I have been in some wonderful wild places in the Scottish Highlands. Too many to document here, so I will just give a little selection of shots taken during my wanderings. These are mostly of hills where I have being studying ptarmigan and the habitats they use on the high tops. The vegetation is all very short, although it varies in species composition across different massifs. The hills in the west are wetter, snow lies longer on the highest hills and even lower hills are windswept, so hold suitable hill-top vegetation.These really are wild places to live.

The northern buttresses of Stob Ban.

The summit ridge of Mullach nan Coirean, in the Mamores.

The north-eastern corrie of Carn Eighe, north of Glen Affric.

Sgurr na Lapaich, Glen Affric.

The distant snowy top of Ben Nevis, seen from Carn Dearg, south of Loch Ossian.

Another distant view of Ben Nevis, from a lochan on Beinn Pharlagain, Rannoch.

The remote railway station at Corrour, seen through the mist from Beinn na Lap.

The rain-washed slopes of Beinn nan Aighenan, seen from Glas Beinn Mhor, Glen Etive.

A waterfall on the Allt Mheuran, Glen Etive.

Creag an Duine, seen from Seana Bhraigh.

The northern cliffs of Creag Riabhach, Cape Wrath.

Wild Assynt

The jagged ridge of Stac Pollaidh

While surveying birds in the Highlands, one the extra joys is the magnificent hillwalking that, well just has to be done in such stunning scenery.

Pillars abound in these sandstone hills

I was in the Assynt hills last week and grabbed the best day of the summer for a great walk over one of these relatively small hills. They might be small, but each hill in the area has its own particular character and they pack an amazing variety of landforms into this quiet corner of the north west Highlands.

Sgurr an Fhidhleir points high into the sky

There is so much to explore, around every corner or over every bluff that I don't need to describe where I went. It's all great fun. One of the best experiences in walking these hills is to discover their secrets for oneself. There are landscape-scale features such as the impressive peaks, but take time to look at the finer lines, the hills are covered with little details which mirror the grander features.

A golden eagle added its shadow to the landscape

Then to add cream to the scene; I was walking along a ridge, carefully watching my feet, when a shadow drew over my path. I knew straight away that there was an eagle above, what else could have cast such a shape. And sure enough, I looked up and there was an adult male eagle displaying in deep dives as it cruised along the updraught from the ridge.

The day was already one of my best in the hills this year, now it was probably the best.

Suilven in the evening light

I stayed in the hills til evening, watching the rocks change colour in the sinking west coast light, until I had to finally turn my back on them til next time.

As ever, the trick to any good day is to be there, be out there, do something, do anything, then every once in a while a special day comes.

A wild west sunset

Yet another Golden Eagle found poisoned on a Scottish grouse moor

A satellite-tagged Golden Eagle lies dead, poisoned on a grouse moor (RSPB Investigations)

Despite assurances from the authorities that the killing of Golden Eagles and other raptors in Scotland is being dealt with, yet another eagle has been found poisoned on an estate managed for grouse shooting. And once again it is in the Angus hills where many other birds have been found killed in recent years.

This bird was satellite-tagged while a fledgling in 2011 in Perthshire, from where it moved to Badenoch and lived freely. However it fatally moved to Angus and died from ingesting poison, probably by eating laced bait deliberately laid out to kill raptors. Roy Dennis of Highland Foundation for Wildlife, who was tracking the bird became aware that the bird had not moved for several days, so alerted the RSPB, whose investigation officers and police found the bird dead at the spot marked by the satellite tag's coordinates. Subsequent analysis showed that the bird had died of poisoning by carbofuran. The bird's movements throughout its short life can be viewed by clicking the link below to the HF for W website.

http://www.roydennis.org/category/golden-eagle/fearnan/

Will this killing ever be stopped? (RSPB Investigations)

The movement of this bird clearly shows how if such a bird is killed on any estate it is not only the local birds which are killed but those from the national population. As the birds are killed, they leave a gap in the habitat, an empty territory which attracts other birds. These are subsequently killed too and so on. How many of the Scottish Population of Golden Eagles are killed per annum. In the Angus hills alone, in the past five years there have been four other Golden Eagles killed by shooting, poison or trapping, as well as seven Common Buzzards and a Red Kite. And a White-tailed Sea-eagle nest tree was felled. These are only the incidents which have been found and reported, how many more go undetected. Regardless of emotions, this behaviour is illegal and should be dealt with. This is a sad refection on the care Scotland shows for what is regarded by the people as its national bird, surely this time, is THE TIME for the government to be seen to rectify this abuse of our widlife.

I ask all my international as well as Scottish readers to write to the Scottish Minister for Environment and let him know how the lack of prosecutions and effective legislation for the protection of raptors in Scotland looks in the world's eyes. His address is Mr Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Environment and Climate Change. ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

And please forward this page to anyone you know you may be interested.

Thank you.

Fearnan, the eagle which was killed as he was when a nestling (Keith Brockie)

Scotland 2013

Ben Loyal

Spring in Scotland seems a long time ago now as I have been looking through and cataloging the photographs from then, when I was in the Highlands studying birds and exploring the hills. Most of my time was spent in the far north-west in Sutherland where I was studying greenshank, golden eagles and ptarmigan.

I seem to recall that the weather was cold with a north wind blowing most of the time and lots of low cloud on the hills, with much late-lying snow. However, I reckon that there is always something to photograph in the Highlands, whatever the weather. It all adds atmosphere and reality to the images.

I have posted a short portfolio to my website, just follow the link on the right.

Cape Wrath sunset

Great days on the hills

The past week has been a bit mixed weather-wise in the hills. But I have managed to grab some brilliant days out on the tops. The shot below of cloud rolling over the summit of Blaven in Skye was taken while I sat out the end of a wet and windy period. I was busy checking greenshank and twite for colour-rings when I looked up and saw these fantastic patterns weaving through the pinnacles.

The next three shots were taken on a traverse of the Grey Corries two days later. Clear blue sky with fluffy clouds, no wind and easy walking once up on the high ground. The snowy peak in the far distance is Ben Nevis. There is so much variety of terrain in the Scottish hills. I'll never be bored.

Hills

For the first week of my trip I went across to the west and climbed several hills, part for fun and part of study where ptarmigan live, which habitats, over what bedrock etc. I based myself at the KingsHouse in Glen Coe from where the morning view was of the Buachaille Etive Mor, perhaps the finest-shaped hill in Scotland.

I had some great days out on these hills, in sun, and cloud, but no rain or midges. The view below is of the fine ridge climbing up to the summit of Sgorr Dhearg on Beinn a' Bheithir.

Another hill I went up was Beinn Sgulaird in Appin, above Loch Creran, where I found a female ptarmigan sitting on her nest and nine eggs - a large clutch for the western Highlands and an indication of good quality food on the base-rich bedrock in the area.