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Natural Connections

Modern life in Scotland is increasingly busy. The connections our ancestors had with nature and the land are being lost. As leisure time shrinks, or is filled with hi-tech experiences, opportunities to experience nature become fewer. And yet it is possible to connect with nature on a day to day basis. All around us, the great web of life continues to hold its shape, and nature continues its eternal cycles. Keep looking, listening, smelling, touching - and keep experiencing natural connections.

Sunday, July 05, 2015

Saturday, July 04, 2015

Today's Strathspey walk began with heavy rain but ended in very welcome, evening sunshine. The intended walk from the Cairngorm Base Station to Ben Macdui had to be abandoned a quarter of the way through due to low cloud, high winds and driving rain. The substitute walk (dropping down the Allt Mhor trail and returning to Aviemore via Glenmore Lodge and the logging road) started with squally showers and little wildlife as a result. However as the weather improved, a good number of species were found (albeit not the Snow Buntings, Ptarmigan and Dotterel that were the original targets). Sightings of interest (details to follow) consisted of: 
Ring Ouzels around the White Lady and back at the base station.
Wheatear and Red Grouse beside the Allt Mhor.
Fledged tit broods in the forest.
Clouds of Moths and other flying interests along the forest paths.
Swifts feeding over the forest.
House Martin, Pied Wagtail and possible Swallow nesting at Glenmore Lodge. 
Mallards coming to feed beneath bird tables in Glenmore village.
The first damselflies and dragonflies over boggy ground.
Two Mallard broods on Loch Morlich.
Summering Black-headed Gulls at various sites. 
Sand Martin on the River Druie behind the Cylumbridge Hotel.
Willow Warbler gathering food, Blackbird feeding fledged young and adult Robin moulting.
Redpolls song-flighting noisily in Aviemore.
Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls and corvids exploiting new stubble.
A variety of colours of Rabbit on show between Aviemore and Dalwhinnie.
Six Feral Pigeons at Newtonmore Station and a Hooded Crow nearby.
Impressions of Strathspey in July:
It's still affected by winter with extensive patches of snow in the corries and on the plateau.
It doesn't feel like summer, with a cool, blustery wind most of the day.
Flowering plants are even more evident with:
- Foxgove in woodland glades
- Heather moorland studded with the yellow of Tormentil, blue of Butterwort and pink of Common Spotted Orchid
- Bilberry on the forest floor
- Birdsfoot Trefoil along the paths
- Heather still to flower.
It has a sense of summer profusion (when the rain stops) with moths particularly evident around the tops of young trees, ants on the paths and single black beetle lumbering along.
Birds are getting on with the work of rearing young.

The full species count for the day was: Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Red Grouse, Pheasant, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Swift, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Hooded Crow, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Willow Warbler, Treecreeper, Wren, Ring Ouzel, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Lesser Redpoll and Siskin (39 species)

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