SCOTLAND, THE WILDERNESS ON YOUR DOORSTEP

by IAN ROWLANDS

2^nd December 2008

Ian has lived and led wildlife tours in Scotland for many years and his knowledge and love of the wild areas of northern Scotland shone through in this thoroughly entertaining talk.

We were taken first to the ancient pine forest in Speyside and particularly the RSPB reserve of Abernethy. It is a stronghold for capercaillie, which feed on pine needles during the winter, and the shoots, caterpillars and berries of blaeberries at other times.

Crested tit and crossbill are also specialities of the area, as are red squirrel and pine marten. Sadly, the latter do predate caper nests. In winter, large flocks of waxwing are attracted to feed on juniper berries.

Black grouse like the moorland areas at the forest edge. Their numbers declined drastically between the 1970’s and 1990’s as red deer enjoy the same habitat and compete for food. A reduction in red deer numbers is helping the black grouse population. The moorland supports red grouse, and waders such as golden plover breed amongst the heather. Also goshawk and peregrine, though their numbers are limited by the illegal activities of over-zealous game-keepers. Ian believes that this situation is improving. There are plenty of merlin, which are not a threat to grouse, and Ian obviously had a great regard for these ‘tough little things’ and told us of seeing one bowl over a hoodie crow no less than 3 times! The magnificent mountain hare are golden eagle prey and can be visible to the eagles from 2 miles distant, such is the birds’ eyesight when soaring over the moors and mountains.

In summer, lochs provide breeding sites for slavonian grebe and red and black-throated divers. Goldeneye will use nest boxes and their numbers are increasing, despite predation by pine marten. There are also otter, and many species of dragonflies and butterflies.

In the birch forests, you might be lucky enough to see a wryneck! And on the hill tops, ptarmigan and dotterel nest.

After the interval, we travelled about a bit! Firstly to the Moray Firth and Chanonry Point, a well known spot to view bottle-nosed dolphins, where groups of up to 170 have been seen. The firth is a great place to see wintering waders, sea ducks, scoters and divers. Flocks of 3,000 long-tailed ducks have been seen in October! In summer there are breeding terns.

Then to Handa, an island off the NW coast, with its cliff-nesting colonies, also 200 pairs of great skua. And wonderful flowers. Travelling down the west coast through spectacular scenery we came to white-tailed eagle country. There are now 40 to 50 pairs of these massive birds – the female has a wingspan of 8ft and so is even larger, by 6 inches, than the golden eagle. On a rising tide, the weedy shoreline is a good place to look for otter.

The Outer Hebrides were next, and of course corn crakes. And on the sea crossings, look out for a mass of sea-birds feeding, as the herring may also have attracted minke whales. The best chance of killer whale is around the Shetland Isles and this was our final ‘visit’ of the evening. Britain provides breeding sites for ¾ of the world population of gannets, and we could almost hear the clamour of the colony at Hermaness, which is also a well-known breeding site for skua.

Ian considers that the north of Scotland has world class scenery and wildlife, and his excellent slides did credit to both. His talk touched on some of the problems facing wildlife, but was easy to listen to and contained many light-hearted quips and observations. I think my favourite was, his friend having been attacked by a capercaillie which drew blood through wellies and jeans, “we should never have clucked at it”!

Pat Thomson