Walking in Torr Woods at Dores.

Another beautiful autumn day dawned so after completing some work in Inverness we drove back and parked at Dores beach which was almost full up with people enjoying a lunchtime meal in The Dores Inn. We thoroughly enjoyed walking along Dores beach on the pebbles and then turned right in to Torr Woods. We noticed alot of the overhanging branches and prickly bushes had been cut back and there is now a new secure gate leading in to the woods with a passing gate. Met one or two people with their very energetic dogs carrying branches of various sizes and passed the time of day but mostly we were on our own in very peaceful and colourful surroundings.
There are a few small secluded beaches on this walk which lead down to the shoreline of Loch Ness so we stood and relaxed for a while admiring the wonderful panoramic views.

On the return journey we had previously noticed a newly made forest track leading down towards Loch Ness so we explored this further and sure enough it opened up onto a very rocky but picturesque shoreline. It is not possible to walk along the shoreline unless you want to get very wet so we followed a man and his dogs along a new lower forest footpath and came out at the end of the crescent shaped Dores beach.  The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed an excellent walk in the November sunshine.





Roe deer

 The mother roe deer and her fawn are frequent visitors to the grassy bank leading down to Loch Ness. After the rain of late the vegetation must be very succulent, certainly the youngster seems to be enjoying its taste of wet grass.

Roe deer visitors

This week we have had a family of roe deer come to visit, a male with antlers and a female with their fawn which must have been between two to three months old.The roe deer are one of Britain's native species and are most widespread especially in Scotland.The family have been happily munching on the grass on the front bank and I did manage to take some photos earlier in the week. Yesterday evening they were further along the bank opposite the front door which I carefully opened camera at the ready. We've recently had a new glass panelled front door put in which is very quiet to open - no more squeaky hinges. Just as the mother was licking her fawn and the camera was poised for a cracking shot the phone rang and they all sped off freaked out by the noise....and it wasn't even an important call after all.

Colours in the countryside.

Driving back from Inverness we decided to go home the long way round so we drove down the A9 to the Daviot turn and took the right hand single track road towards Fort Augustus. We were very surprised to see so much heather on the hills as it is usually blooming in mid to late September. It looked very colourful and the sheep adding another dimension to the scene. Several new passing places have been built along the road and this earth movement has woken up some of the wild flower seeds adding a beautiful splash of colour to the road side verges. 

DOLPHIN VIDEO

Sit back and watch the dolphins at Chanonry Point coming in on the rising tide.
About 10 seconds into the film you'll see a fish,possibly a salmon, being flicked up out of the water by the dolphin before eating it.
Our guests are going dolphin watching today so hopefully lots of action photos for them to take home as a memory.

Dolphin secret is out !

We have recently discovered the secret of just when to be sure of seeing the pod of bottlenose dolphins at Chanonry Point opposite Fort George on the Black Isle. Although we have been many times before we rarely see them except for the odd fin rapidly disappearing under the water.

In a local news booklet a nature enthusiast wrote that the secret is to be at Chanonry Point about one and a half to two hours after low tide. This is the prime time when the smaller fish come in on the rising tide and naturally these are pursued by the hungry dolphins.

We had to chose a day when the low tide times and the weather were just right. Yesterday it was a bright day with a slight warm breeze and the low tide was at 9 am. We left home just after 9 and drove on the A9 over the Kessock Bridge and onto The Black Isle. Turned off right at Munlochy,although you can drive up further to the Tore roundabout and turned right,through the village of Avoch on into Fortrose. Drove on passing the Coop on the left and just opposite the Police Station we turned right down a narrow lane leading through the golf course and down to the car park at the coast - which was surprisingly almost full up at this early hour.This is about 33 miles from Aspenwood and a one hour journey. We sat at the picnic tables with our breakfast and then walked round to the beach where there must have been a crowd of nearly 100 people armed with cameras and binoculars waiting for the show. Sure enough the pod of dolphins were already coming in on the tide and gave a marvellous display lasting a couple of hours. Even saw a mother with her calf swimming side by side and staying very close together.

People on the special dolphin viewing boat were treated to a great display alongside.

An excellent visit and we are so fortunate to be able to see these magnificent creatures a short drive away. We now print out the tide times and leave them in the cottage in the information folder on the desk by the laptop. I am now working on the video which will be posted soon.....so watch this space.

 

Better than rubies.

Ray and I really enjoyed our 40th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday and the sun shone. It was a bit too windy to go down to the beach so we sat outside and toasted our health and talked about old times. It was just as well we were home as several of our neighbours suddenly drove up armed with cards and beautiful gifts and an impromptu party began. It was a lovely surprise as were all the cards and emails we received over the weekend....so a big THANK YOU to everybody. We were really thrilled and enjoyed sharing our day.

Where are the rubies ?

The last blog was about 'new and old' which links in very well to this one. This coming Sunday - the 14th of August - we celebrate our Ruby Wedding Anniversary of 40 years together. We have been thinking of lots of ideas as to where and how to celebrate but we both agree that as we live in such a beautiful, comfortable setting we shall stay put and enjoy the special day here at "Coopers Castle". If the weather permits we shall start by having lunch on the beach with smoked salmon and champagne and then go gradually, but elegantly, downhill from then on.
Found this old photo of us in our first flushes of married life when we were both young and in love....and still are - although maybe not quite so young!  CHEERS EVERYONE.