Juvenile woodpecker being fed by Dad.

We were thrilled to finally witness the juvenile great spotted woodpecker actually being fed by Dad on the wooden leg of our bird table just outside the window. The youngsters have a 'red beret' on top of their heads which will gradually appear on the nape if they are a male but will disappear if they are a female. The father was also feeding another noisy youngster on a nearby tree leaving this bolder offspring to practise drilling with his long sharp beak on our bird table. Dad reappeared and they were both by the garden woodpecker ornament which looked very funny.

New life in the garden.

The garden is a hive of activity right now with the sounds of fluttering wings and high pitched squeaks of young birds everywhere. As soon as food is put out at the various feeding stations in the garden swarms of tiny birds descend often completely ignoring any human being in the local vicinity. They are very innocent and allow good close up photos to be taken before flying away. They are also fun to watch splashing about in the bird baths.

young greenfinch

pheasant chicks

great spotted woodpecker and son [top one]

young blue tits and coal tit

 juvenile robin

Sitting on the beach.

Last week the weather just got better and better and we enjoyed many afternoons down on the wee beach. We have put more chairs and tables there now which are really appreciated by the many worn out walkers who give us the thumbs up on their way home. The bench at the top of the path to the beach now has a posh new sign pointing walkers in that direction as we have noticed lots of people walking past the path and missing out on a lovely relaxing sit down on the shore of Loch Ness. As we were sitting on the beach in the sunshine with a wee glass of chilled wine we enjoyed chatting to other folk and watching life go by. Certain plants somehow grow in between the pebbles and a pied wagtail bobbed along in front of the waves - maybe having a paddle to cool down. A few fishermen glided quietly along, the Ness Express whizzed by and the yellow rescue helicopter cluttered overhead. We are very fortunate to have this so near our cottage doorstep.

Loch Farr is not far...

Took our new car 'RUBY' ...our present for our ruby wedding anniversary...out for a spin and eventually came back home on the Daviot road. Turned off left at the hamlet of Farr and stopped a little further along the narrow lane heading towards Garbole at secluded Loch Farr. This lesser known picturesque loch is only about 15 miles from Aspenwood Cottage and is surrounded by conifers and wild rhododendron bushes in full bloom. It was just so peaceful walking around the headland of the loch with the sparkling sun shining off the water and just the sound of birdsong in the background. 

Birds- big and small

The Boat of Garten Osprey Centre near Aviemore is the Scottish Spring and Summer home to EJ and Odin, a pair of ospreys who fly in from Africa every April to the same nest. They lay eggs and raise their chicks before flying back to Africa in late August as a family. The Osprey Centre is a good visit and is just an easy one hour drive from Aspenwood Cottage. It is a trip that many of our guests enjoy and we are sure that Roger and Susan, our guests staying in July, will enjoy making the visit.

At the Centre you can watch the ospreys on their nest high up a nearby tree via the webcam in great close up with the sound of the wind in the trees. EJ, the female osprey, has recently laid several eggs and two of them have now hatched and are being fed with fish by Odin, who is extremely good at fishing in nearby Loch Garten. For such large birds with large feet and talons they are so very careful around their young.

Here the garden is suddenly teeming with bird life. The male Great Spotted Woodpeckers are feeding on everything and then take beak fulls of food back to the females waiting in nests in nearby tree trunks.

At Loch Ness the swallows are now rapidly skimming over the surface of the water to catch the hovering insects. They keep zooming into the garage if it is open so we have to keep an eye on them and make sure they come out as we do not want them nesting inside.

Saw these hungry dunnock chicks in the garden waiting to be fed as well as the robin giving himself a 'spring clean' in the bath before returning to the nest.

New life is starting all over again and is marvellous to watch.

Extreme windy weather

Very wet and windy over the last few days and the view towards Urquhart Castle and Bay was extremely menacing with an ever changing sky. Lots of choppy high white water on Loch Ness but even so we were amazed to see some canoeists near the opposite shore heading for Urquhart Bay. We were not surprised to receive an update email from the Loch Ness inshore lifeboat to report that they had rescued the same canoeists after they had all tipped over in the bay after meeting the oncoming wind. A member of the RNLI crew even had to get into the cold water and swim to the shoreline to give first aid to one of the canoeists who was suffering from hyperthermia. They all needed warming up to say the least as the water of Loch Ness is always extremely cold whatever the time of year. Even the newly painted  'Fingal'  activity barge took some time ploughing through the waves although I would rather be on that than a small canoe. Today the weather has calmed down alot after a very rough night with unusually high winds and the sun is now shining again. 

Blooming Bluebells.

The wild bluebells are now in full bloom and can be seen along the road side verges and covering the floor of the forests producing a pleasant profusion of purple petals.

Wood mice and Woodpecker

Life in the woods can be traumatic as these long-tailed wood mice realised when they saw the Great Spotted Woodpecker flying towards them. However the woodpecker was only interested in the peanuts.