Boats and birds.

A few private yachts and cruisers have been braving the elements this week as well as the usual trawlers and working craft. The cruise ship 'Lord of the Glens' glided quietly by with passengers looking forward to their Easter break. I don't think they will be doing much sunbathing on the upper deck though as the temperature has dropped to single figures again and snow is forecast for next week on lower ground. When we moved up here 14 years ago it was snowing in April then and we thought it was really wonderful.
The birds have been singing their hearts out lately and it can be really noisy at certain times of the day, making you feel as if you are in the tropical rain forest somewhere. Flocks of colourful green and yellow siskins have arrived and are gorging on the sunflower hearts on the 'siskin roundabout'.

Down at Loch Garten Osprey Centre EJ, the female osprey, has recently returned to the nesting site for the 8th season and is awaiting Odin her mate. The Osprey Centre opens on April 1st and is a good visit as you can watch these magnificent birds on the giant webcam as they dive for fish and bring up their young.
We will be looking out for Ollie - the osprey who has a nest somewhere near Loch Ness as we often see him from April onwards hovering over the loch looking for a fishy lunch.

Wildlife update.

The juvenile robins are starting to appear in the garden again. After two months out of the nest the young birds start to grow some reddish feathers on their light spotted brown coat and can look rather scruffy. During the next few weeks the red patch will gradually extend to complete the sleek adult appearance. Both male and female are similar in appearance. They now start to assert their territory and will be heard singing loudly throughout the autumn and winter.
The pheasant chicks are now as big as their mother and the one male pheasant is now showing a few red feathers in his plumage. Last Saturday they were boldly sitting on the wooden fence in front of the cottage. The osprey and most of the swallows are now on their long journey back to Africa with their young.
We have not seen many red squirrels lately as they are having their second litter. If there is a good food source they will have two litters a year, one in April and another in August. The success of the breeding season depends on the seed crop of the trees where they live [acorns,hazel nuts,pine cones]as well as people like us putting out a never ending supply of free peanuts. While we were up at the cottage on Saturday I saw a mother squirrel run across the driveway carrying a baby in her mouth, similar to a cat carrying her kittens. We are looking forward to seeing the youngsters in the next few weeks chasing each other round the trees trunks, exploring the garden and clinging to the peanut feeders.

Returnees.

April has heralded in some of our welcome returnees marking the beginning of another season. As we sat outside yesterday evening gazing over the loch and admiring the view we saw the unmistakable sight of Ollie, our resident osprey, soaring high up in the sky having flown in all the way from Africa for the breeding season. After mating and bringing their offspring into the world they build up their strength so that all the family can make it back to Africa in late August. On a much smaller note the colourful siskins are back and really enjoy the new sunflower heart feeder. Ray has cunningly adapted this feeder so that the precious food does not fall down to the ground for the mice but stays in the tray provided where it becomes another feeding station. Work has now been completed on the swing bridges over the Caledonian Canal, a process which made the entrance to Loch Ness inaccessible over the past few months. We have seen quite a collection of working boats, the sea lifeboat, pleasure cruisers and today 'The Lord of the Glens' liner glided along the loch from Urquhart Castle taking passengers on an Easter voyage.
The buds of the wild primroses are waiting to burst into flower but best of all the sun has returned to warm us all up at last and today we experienced a wonderful reflection on the waters of Loch Ness. Welcome April.

Ospreys return.

Ospreys have been returning to their Highland nests earlier this year. At Loch Garten on Speyside a regular female known as EJ was reported on Wednesday evening sitting in a tree eating a trout and then giving her old nest a clean and rebuilding with new sticks. Observers at the site are waiting to see if her 17 year old mate called VS will return to mate with her or will a new rival fly in to challenge him.
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We will be keeping a look out for Ollie, our own Loch Ness osprey who has been a regular visitor since we have lived here. He has a huge 6 feet wingspan and a gleaming whitish/cream underbelly and usually hovers overhead while looking down for the family lunch. We have been lucky enough to see him dive into the loch and emerge with a fish in his talons... a magnificent sight.