Even though we are now into May, I can see no end to the increasing diversity of bird life on the Chayne. Driving along the last half mile track to the farm this afternoon, I came across a pair of territorial peewits. The birds lifted up from the bog by the car and sailed around Continue reading

Skylarks have become an enormous part of life on the Chayne. Along with meadow pipits, they fill the grass with rustling enthusiasm, bursting out from the heather to hang overhead like tiny fat kestrels, singing as if their lives depended upon it. I include this post at this point because I was thrilled to finally Continue reading

Walking down a rough track to check on the trees this morning, I spotted a tiny black lump lying on the verge. Closer inspection revealed it to be a dead water shrew, smartly decked out in black velvet and a white waistcoat. I picked it up and examined the body to find that blood had Continue reading

Spring is still springing, and it’s a process that seems more dramatic each day. Curlews are queuing up to feed on the moor and the sun is almost obscured with squadrons of skylarks, pipits and fieldfares. Fresh shoots of cotton grass are soaring out of the moss, and the entire atmosphere is one of unexpected Continue reading

The last month has seen a massive explosion of moles across the Chayne. The small areas of grass between the rushes have been churned up into thick black stacks of peaty soil, and entire fields have been quite literally turned upside down. I have worked as a mole catcher over the past seven years and Continue reading

Insect life is booming on the Chayne, and the first swarms of midge are starting to swirl over the bogs. There is still frost at night, so I was surprised to find a number of caterpillars clambering along the grass stalks and over the heather this morning. Apparently fearless of attack from birds or animals, Continue reading

Something rather unsettling is happening on the Chayne tonight. From every sodden, murky corner, toads are emerging to congregate in the darkness, staring beadily at one another as if observing some ancient ritual. Along the short mile of track from the farmhouse to the start of the tarmac road, I saw more than thirty little Continue reading

There have been no kites in Scotland since 1879. Poisoned, trapped and shot into extinction, red kites were seen as dirty birds, responsible for killing lambs and game birds. When thirty-three young birds were reintroduced to Dumfries and Galloway in 2001, many people saw them for the first time. Over the past nine years, they Continue reading