Glen Einich

Moira and I had decided to cycle up Glen Einich from Whitewell as far as the loch and from there head up on to Braeriach. The weather that had been so fine all week was breaking, however, and by the time we reached Loch Einich it was raining. We did head up the path but the rain got heavier and we retreated.

Just as we suspected the weather improved as wecycled down the glen.

Pond skaters- another sign of spring coming to the hills?

Friday evening by Raitt`s Burn

Good to get out into the sunshine that has been the normal weather for most of the week. There are a couple of elms near where the burn joins the Spey. The trees themselves look rather poorly but the flowers are lively.

It`s good, too, to see the larch flowers on the trees near the railway.

This goldeneye was occupying the pond to the W of where the burn meets the Spey.

It was a very fine evening!

By Lynchat

This song thrush was a fine start to the day.

I am not sure whether this greylag is here for the coming season- there is, I believe, a feral flock of these birds- or whether it will fly North. Most of the common waders that come to Badenoch are here and were either audible or visible from where this photo was taken.

Rabbits have cropped the turf here and the sandy hillocks are so tunelled that it seems possible they might collapse. They must be hungry to have so completely stripped this fallen pine branch.

Certainly there will be less feeding available for this beastie.

Gaick

Gordon Stewart and I headed by bike from the house along to Tromie Bridge and from there up the glen. It was wet ,but not overly so , and just as had been mentioned on the radio, frogs were on the move. This one had managed to cross the deserted road a mile or two short of the Seilich dam. Others, surprisingly, had not been so lucky.
Here`s a general view of the accoutrements of the dam. I`m not sure of the purpose of the suspended ring. I think a photographer might make much of the juxtaposition of the various features here- the steel and concrete, the plantations and the very particular Gaick scenery. I`ve seen its bleakness cited as indicative of man`s destruction of natural habitat. But Gordon and I agreed on finding a certain attractiveness .
This plaque, in its simplicity, makes me think of hard times and hard men.
This exotic "forest" is growing on the parapet of the walkway across the dam.These simple forms are all ready to change the water`s direction should we be asleep.

Gordon and I went up on to the plateau to the E of Loch an-t Seilich, an area locally renowned for adders. But not today- driving rain and swollen burns caused us two changes of route before allowing us a descent into a fierce westerly.Unfit for snakes or men.

More signs of Spring

Down by the river at lunchtime I heard and saw my first peewits of the year.I know they have been here for at least a month. I had been looking for coltsfoot and it was there just by the River Gynack at Kingussie High School.

here`s a not very marvellous snap taken in poor light towards dusk today. there were about 50 oystercatchers but what struck me more were the pale forms of the aspens above the purple birch. There are signs of spring here but after a weekend of heavy snow showers they are limited. Creeping buttercup is starting to emerge in the garden.

Maybe Spring

Maybe so, but though there were oystercatchers,(about 20?), there was little sign of peewits or curlews.

A flock of about 60 greylags tok flight from the meadows over by Invertromie. Whoopers swam nervously near the confluence with Raitt`s.