While wandering through the hills earlier this week as part of a lek survey, I happened to find an object that I have long coveted; a set of billy goat horns. Undaunted by the fact that the horns were still connected to a dessicated skeleton, I wrestled the skull off the spine and brought it Continue reading

For all the years that I have known that merlins were around and about the Chayne, I have never succeeded in taking a decent photograph of one. They are usually so quick and well camouflaged that the best I have ever been able to manage was a distant, obscure speck in the middle distance which Continue reading

  It was an unexpected pleasure to be able to help with the BTO’s breeding peregrine survey on Friday when I headed up for a walk over the Door and up to the Clints o’ the Spout on Cairnsmore of Fleet. I’ve posted before about Cairnsmore of Fleet, but it was only on Friday when Continue reading

I wonder if I should be flattered to be featured by name in a recent guardian blog on adders? Nicholas Milton’s article made for moderately interesting reading, but went somewhat astray when it described me as a “gamekeeper”. Milton explained (with a scarcely concealed roll of the eyes) that in highlighting the fact that buzzards Continue reading

Today was the moment I’ve been waiting for these long months past. High up on the breathless slopes above Dunscore, two curlews rose out of the blue frost and let the updraught of the Cairn Valley get under their wings. Whining with all their baleful, gloomy glory, they flashed their white rumps and paidled out Continue reading

As a follow-on from yesterday’s observations, I have started to see that the usual gangs of crows are breaking up on the Chayne, and one bunch of five has now become two groups of two. In amongst them, a weird crow missing several of its primary feathers on each wing has appeared and now makes Continue reading

Over the past few years I’ve been keen to pin down the precise moment when the seasons start to change on the Chayne, and I now have quite a detailed diary of annual happenings to keep track on the passing months. The first sign to suggest that Spring is on its way is usually the Continue reading

Dealing with wild (or properly “feral”) goats over the past couple of weeks, I managed to pick up a great book on the subject by G. Kenneth Whitehead. Goats have been in the news recently after the RSPB decided to cull some on the banks of Loch Lomond and over to Loch Katrine where I Continue reading

Just as a further mention of the day’s hind stalking I had last week in Aberdeenshire, I must say that my eyes are opening to the world of deer. The group of hinds we stalked was spectacular in the bright winter sunlight, and the experience of crawling through the black grass made my heart thump Continue reading