Wildlife & Nature

When you live in a wide, sweeping valley, it's often difficult to imagine life beyond it.

Looking to Beinn Fannich - who sits snow-spattered and sulking out my back garden - I can't help but be amazed at the sustained cold snap we've had over the last couple of months... my native Fife ran out of
salt - the poor wee souls. It makes you wonder how life, as we understand it, could have gone on in the time before gritters.

My theory is that as we get more and more creature comforts, we are desensitised to the more natural existence our forebears led.

I find myself wondering if those frost-dusted does and stags up on the shoulder of the hill are aware that this winter has been one "like we had in the Eighties", as I heard one radio weather person say? An "80's Style Winter" what exactly does that mean?

Likely they are not aware; I do fear for them, though. They won't have concepts such as 'a hard winter' - they get on, just as we do, with the business of surviving it. They won't be affected too much by snow covered paths or impassable roads: they have nature's version of a (quite effective) four-wheel drive. Unlike us, however, when their food is covered by 2-3 foot of snow the deer can't just pop to the nearest store and buy provisions.

Nature, despite the stark beauty of her in her winter aspect, is both a poor host and a cruel mistress.

Her cycle of renewal and re-growth has falteringly begun - albeit belatedly - for this year and the creatures who huddled close to us in our 'boxes' are answering the call. Our nightly visits from deer have tailed off, as they are now better able to cope with the forage on the hills, and no longer seem to need whatever titbits we could spare them.

Soon we'll be back to our usual 4-days-of-rain-in-7, and quite frankly, I'll be glad.

Here, in Fionn's shadow, the birds are somewhat tentatively thronging in their customary prenuptial spring routine. A woman on the west edge of the village sent me this picture of a Sparrowhawk.

I was initially a little unsure of which species it was, because of the irregular pale scapular feathers, so Eoghain MacLean (www.eoghainmacleanphotography.co.uk) was consulted, confirmed the 'spot'. The Sparrowhawk is only playing its part in the cycle, and had no doubt appeared in response to the imminent Spring frenzy from the bird population. All part of the natural checks and balances which we must all be bound by.

The Siskins are back and coping well with the relocation of our seed-feeders (we had to move the front one as the stags trashed its predecessor, whilst trying to get at the contents!

We may also have a flock (cloud, cluster, merl, keg?) of Blackbirds!

Our Buzzards have reappeared and can be seen idly wheeling in the sky, well, the Buzzards and something occasionally glimpsed which is significantly larger...

Not long until the first greening tips will be visible on the trees and this sepia stained landscape gives our eyes (and our souls) a much-needed blast of colour!

Don't worry.

Spring's eventually going to make it, and with any luck, the only real casualties will be the Midge population!

Jim Curry