Gryp's Chamber, Glen Lee

Passing Shower, Hunt Hill and Mount Keen - pastel sketch on paper

A Red Kite glides on ever modulating wings, skimming over curvy, green pasture mirroring each rise in the land as it searches for carrion scraps or a scampering beetle will maybe suffice this morning. Four Common Buzzards are nearby rivals, cutting into the choppy air with splayed wings, tipped with fingered primaries as they spiral with 'vulture' intent.

Road kill is plentiful in the glen at the moment because the shooting estates are releasing those stupid pen-reared Pheasants that seem to think that they have the power to stop cars. I brake for a dozen or so scraggy birds that have no tails or neck feathers, and who in their right mind would think that shooting one of these 'tinned' mutants is justified as field sport. It is pitiful that raptors are persecuted in Scotland to ensure the seasonal survival of 'gleckit' game birds that will, in the majority of cases, become dog food.

Sketching today with my own mini rainbow

A constant strong wind pushed the bright clouds from the north-west to make unsheltered sketching difficult today so I seek calm, wind free places. The average Scottish midge or, as we say here midgie, takes about five minutes to find out where you are and during the next five minutes of being found I have to complete my sketch before their irritating bites and itchiness consumes all dedication to sketch outdoors in the heathery hills. One exploratory midge beckons hundreds of followers who, biting as they go, ransack through sweaty hair, eyes, ears, nostrils and eventually the final endurance defeating move when they penetrate the inner sanctum of your under-pants; enough is enough, moving on to escape them is mandatory. The Falls of Damff sketch captures every biting second of this desperate midgie plague, just to think about it now as I write brings on an episode of post attack scratching.

Falls of Damff - pastel sketch on paper

Sketching at the Falls of Damff

The closest experience that I will ever get to being like an eagle is standing at the top of Craig Maskeldie and surveying the dizzying view over Glen Lee, Loch Lee, Earn Craig and the Falls of Unich. Way down below, a few walkers on the track are the size of ants and I muse at their antics when they think that no-one is looking at them, how peculiar people are. My forebears came from here, that ruined place way down below called Dochty with its raised rigs laid out over the glen floor as a reminder of generations of hard, crofting work.

Gryp's Chamber

Directly beneath my eagle look-out, some thousand feet below, is Gryp's Chamber. This feature is found at the very foot of the biggest boulder-scree shoot on the east face of the mountain and is formed by a massive roof boulder propped at the edges by other huge boulders. It is said to have been the hide-away for a robber who attacked travellers passing through the glen but not much else can be found out about this 'notorious reiver'. It is a large underground cave where the entrance falls away from the surrounding moorland and you have to climb down into it from some moss covered boulders that form a protective entrance. Every time I visit this cave I think that it would form a perfect hibernaculum for Adders or be perfect for a scene from an 'Indiana Jones' serpent packed film. Gryps is also the name of a mythological bird like a Griffon.

I hear a ghostly Peregrine calling from the cliffs above while I am investigating the cave interior with my camera flash and dash out to see it, but am too late. A lonely Raven calls out with a deep 'prowk' but again nothing is seen because I suspect they are all sheltering from the wind on the cliffs above.

Inside Gryp's chamber

If you want to find it, walk north from the west shore of Carlochy of Lee for about one hundred metres, then stand directly below the highest point of the cliffs of Maskeldie and cast your eye vertically down until a huge heather topped boulder is seen at the foot of the scree slopes near the boulder strewn but relatively flat moorland, it is not high up on the cliff boulder field. Take care negotiating the large boulders leading to it because they have deep crevasses between them that are bridged with traps of moss and grass that crunch knees if stepped through.

A few Song Thrushes, that are probably feeding on Blaeberries, are flitting about the corrie at the moment and Wrens are churring from the deep cover that the vegetated scree provides and wee trout are rising on the deep clear, crystal clear waters of the lochan that supports a margin based colony of rare Water Lobelia. My photo is taken when the flowers have just passed but the underwater basal rosette of leaves and stems with alternate, spaced flower heads are still visible. So, I reckon this plant will flower during July to August and sets a temptation in my mind to return next year for a photo or sketches. Next year is not far away as the cool wind of autumn chills my fingers into thinking about gloves. Snow soon!

Water Lobelia in Carlochy of Lee

Sweet Gale moth caterpillar

Notes;

All sketches and photos are done on the day and are copyright.

Please be aware that it is illegal to disturb nesting eagles or other raptors and you may do so inadvertently in your journeys into the highlands. I do not recommend searching for any of the species mentioned in this blog because this may cause undue disturbance to them. With my knowledge of the areas described in this blog I can locate and observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres for short periods of time only. 

rigs - raised strips of ground for farming to help drainage.

gleckit - stupid and useless.

Map of the area