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| Golden Eagle vanishing into the Lethnot Mists - studio pastel sketch on paper |
The Braes of Angus were clothed in a thick blanket of fog that was meant to clear for a while before the predicted rain came in the afternoon. Curious to taste the atmosphere in Glen Lethnot after the alleged poisoning of an immature Golden Eagle in December last year I revisited the glen to check on some eagles that frequent the high hills, but the weather was not looking hopeful. The fog parted like the Red Sea for a while to encourage me onwards but my progress was consumed by a curtain of threatening cloud and very soon the illusion of the weather clearing up was dashed when moor and fog mixed together to form, what we call in Scotland, 'pea-soup'.
I was not the only one to be enchanted into the trap of better weather at the first light of morn. A male Peregrine daggered his wings into the wind and crossed the glen to to be dissolved into the swirling murk on the hill-side above, ten minutes later the same, or possibly another, Peregrine soars along the ridge of Black Hill into the corrie on the opposite side. A Raven joined in on the falcon's peregrination and then was joined by two others who cavorted with each other as they flew down the glen. The procession of juggling black feathers continued with another six coming from the upper reaches of the Water of Saughs and eventually I was to discover the reasons for their party going capers.
I was not the only one to be enchanted into the trap of better weather at the first light of morn. A male Peregrine daggered his wings into the wind and crossed the glen to to be dissolved into the swirling murk on the hill-side above, ten minutes later the same, or possibly another, Peregrine soars along the ridge of Black Hill into the corrie on the opposite side. A Raven joined in on the falcon's peregrination and then was joined by two others who cavorted with each other as they flew down the glen. The procession of juggling black feathers continued with another six coming from the upper reaches of the Water of Saughs and eventually I was to discover the reasons for their party going capers.
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| Soaking today, no sketching |
Visibility decreased with every step that I took and the noise from the burn in spate drew me towards it, at least some landscape features showed up along the burn that sported some magnificent waterfalls and cascades, so I decided to follow the vague deer track by its bank. My intention and aspiration to check out the eagles in the glen was completely bogged down with the fog and the book by zoologist Dian Fossey entitled 'Gorillas in the Mist' rang through my head but came out as 'Eagles in the Mist'. The chance of seeing one in this poor weather was scrubbed from my wish list until I heard a Raven in close proximity. Something must be attracting these 'black beauties' to this area and then, after a search around some heathery drumlins, I come across three hare carcasses and the dawning conclusion that a large raptor had very recently been busy here gave me back a grain of hope.
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| Water of Saugh waterfall |
One dead Mountain Hare is very fresh and recently plucked either by the Raven that I heard or maybe an eagle or a buzzard had visited previously. The flesh on its rear leg has been consumed and is precisely dissected down to the tendons. The creature's eyes are still intact and there are no signs of disembowelment but the pelage colour is grey-brown whereas most live hares in the vicinity are pure white. I know that there is variation on pelage change times earlier in the year but at this time of year in a highland region the hare shown in the photo should be much whiter. To me this hare has the pelage of late November and to find one at this stage in January is unusual and possibly it has been frozen in a snow drift until now. Not far away another hare is dead, but this one is white and lies jammed underneath a hideaway boulder and some frozen turf, in fact it forms a perfect brick shape that does not budge under the pokes with my trekking pole, strange.
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| Plucked Mountain Hare |
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| Mountain Hare carcass |
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| Mountain Hare 'brick' |
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| Mountain Hare in the mist - note how the ears are kept within its profile |
The fog gradually turned into sleet then the rain, forecast for late afternoon, came at mid-day. Time to turn back and save my energy for another day because there is not even the hope of sketching now. The rain and mist advance like a tide around the glen slopes and I have given up hope of seeing any eagles for today. The path cuts down towards the glen haughs near a rocky crag and water begins to trickle down the back of my neck complimented by the fact that one of my new, alpine quality, water-proof mitts is coldly squidgy inside - my misery is complete.
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The sound of an eagle taking off is unforgettable, so when I heard the slow, powerful swish of super stiff primary feathers I knew instantly what it was. Flipping my head round towards the crag twenty metres away, one Golden Eagle lifts into the air and cranks those big wings against the pouring rain and in seconds vanishes over the crag into the wet fury of the upper glen. In a fortunate surprise I peer through the mist at the sight hoping that he might double back, but no such luck. My evocation of an 'Eagle in the Mist' came true and I can only assume that it might be the 'Ghost of Fearnan' that I spotted one month ago in the same area. A climb up to the crag reveals its hideaway under a rock overhang and it is a well chosen place out of the wind and rain. My guilt for inadvertently forcing it into the rain riles me to move on, maybe it will return later after having a hare snack.
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| Foliose Lichen (see notes) |
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| Raven, note the broad wings |
This memorial, atop a hill in Lethnot, is dedicated to Richard J. Caselton and the introductory phrase is, 'A quiet sleep in the hills'.
Peace is here in the Braes of Angus when you seek it but also life, tragedy, crime, survival, endurance, noise, beauty and sweetness. All these things are unknown to us until their opposites have a comparative value. In a similar way, how can we judge the actions of others without having an insight into the background of circumstances to a given situation and I refer back to the eagle poisoning incident here in Lethnot.
There are some campaigners who have an inherent, blinkered hatred of all shooting estates and anything to do with them. Considering my observed experiences on the hills I do not entirely follow in their footsteps. In Angus it seems that the destiny of a species in a local area still rests entirely with the good intentions of a land manager, farmer or game-keeper and it does not rely on the protection offered by the law or from conservation organisations. Through my wanderings over the Angus moors I have grown to understand that there is a fine balance between wildlife and food supply. This area by its very nature is not a natural 'shangri-la' that can support any amount of herbivores, raptors and predators.
Grouse moors in essence are artificially created habitat zoos, not only for the intended game species but as a consequence for their predators as well. Without the predator control and heather management, that has to be part of this controlled habitat, the situation would be totally different. Fox and other ground predator numbers would increase leading to a decrease in grouse, ground nesting waders and passerines, vole, rabbit and hare, which in turn would lower the breeding productivity of raptors, which is evident on the west coast of Scotland where grouse shooting is less intensive.
The side effect of boosting the grouse density on a moor is increased parasitic infestations like thread-worm, tape-worm and skin ticks which need to be treated by various methods including medicated grit or ridding the moor of tick carrying herbivores that include deer and hare.The Ptarmigan, a similar species of the higher summits of the highlands lives in small, isolated populations and have a low incidence of internal parasites and virtually host no ticks on their skin but this is probably due to increased habitat elevation. So the implications of ensuring a good day's grouse shoot are vast and complicated, where one problem improves and then another crops up and, realistically, the 'natural' balance is unattainable.
Therefore the temptation to commit a remote area wildlife crime, where possible witnesses are absent, might present itself to a game-keeper or a farmer. But what aspect leads him into this situation - ignorant or threatening demands from land owners to increase numbers of grouse on a poor beat; an adopted hatred of raptors as vermin; a lack of insightful game-keeping education where a poisoned bait is incorrectly laid then ingested by a non target species; a spiteful action against a neighbouring estate; the misconception that no one will notice; the statistics that predict that the crime will not be punished; an uninitiated new game-keeper that brings bad habits with him; the fear of lamb stock losses or not having recourse to the licensed control of a protected species - many answers are possible but the solution it seems is not.
The remonstrative arrogance in shooting, farming and anti persecution factions is equally balanced by their dogmatic prejudices which can be so socially inbred as to be utterly unchangeable in some cases. No matter what new legislation comes forth, there will always be covert wildlife persecution carried out, almost as a forbidden sport in itself, and the evidence to prosecute through vicarious liability or the act of withdrawing a futuristic estate licence will be disputed through court cases ad infinitum, if ever a conviction is made in the first place.
In my case, I will lawlessly and doggedly sweep all aside to carry on sketching and photographing our wonderful landscape with all its highland inhabitants. I have no doubt that this will provide much amusement to my feathered critic, the local Golden Eagle or will the day come when wild sketching in an SPA will be deemed to be on the persecution black list - surely not, my sketches are not that bad!
Peace is here in the Braes of Angus when you seek it but also life, tragedy, crime, survival, endurance, noise, beauty and sweetness. All these things are unknown to us until their opposites have a comparative value. In a similar way, how can we judge the actions of others without having an insight into the background of circumstances to a given situation and I refer back to the eagle poisoning incident here in Lethnot.
There are some campaigners who have an inherent, blinkered hatred of all shooting estates and anything to do with them. Considering my observed experiences on the hills I do not entirely follow in their footsteps. In Angus it seems that the destiny of a species in a local area still rests entirely with the good intentions of a land manager, farmer or game-keeper and it does not rely on the protection offered by the law or from conservation organisations. Through my wanderings over the Angus moors I have grown to understand that there is a fine balance between wildlife and food supply. This area by its very nature is not a natural 'shangri-la' that can support any amount of herbivores, raptors and predators.
Grouse moors in essence are artificially created habitat zoos, not only for the intended game species but as a consequence for their predators as well. Without the predator control and heather management, that has to be part of this controlled habitat, the situation would be totally different. Fox and other ground predator numbers would increase leading to a decrease in grouse, ground nesting waders and passerines, vole, rabbit and hare, which in turn would lower the breeding productivity of raptors, which is evident on the west coast of Scotland where grouse shooting is less intensive.
The side effect of boosting the grouse density on a moor is increased parasitic infestations like thread-worm, tape-worm and skin ticks which need to be treated by various methods including medicated grit or ridding the moor of tick carrying herbivores that include deer and hare.The Ptarmigan, a similar species of the higher summits of the highlands lives in small, isolated populations and have a low incidence of internal parasites and virtually host no ticks on their skin but this is probably due to increased habitat elevation. So the implications of ensuring a good day's grouse shoot are vast and complicated, where one problem improves and then another crops up and, realistically, the 'natural' balance is unattainable.
Therefore the temptation to commit a remote area wildlife crime, where possible witnesses are absent, might present itself to a game-keeper or a farmer. But what aspect leads him into this situation - ignorant or threatening demands from land owners to increase numbers of grouse on a poor beat; an adopted hatred of raptors as vermin; a lack of insightful game-keeping education where a poisoned bait is incorrectly laid then ingested by a non target species; a spiteful action against a neighbouring estate; the misconception that no one will notice; the statistics that predict that the crime will not be punished; an uninitiated new game-keeper that brings bad habits with him; the fear of lamb stock losses or not having recourse to the licensed control of a protected species - many answers are possible but the solution it seems is not.
The remonstrative arrogance in shooting, farming and anti persecution factions is equally balanced by their dogmatic prejudices which can be so socially inbred as to be utterly unchangeable in some cases. No matter what new legislation comes forth, there will always be covert wildlife persecution carried out, almost as a forbidden sport in itself, and the evidence to prosecute through vicarious liability or the act of withdrawing a futuristic estate licence will be disputed through court cases ad infinitum, if ever a conviction is made in the first place.
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| The Shape of Things to Come |
In my case, I will lawlessly and doggedly sweep all aside to carry on sketching and photographing our wonderful landscape with all its highland inhabitants. I have no doubt that this will provide much amusement to my feathered critic, the local Golden Eagle or will the day come when wild sketching in an SPA will be deemed to be on the persecution black list - surely not, my sketches are not that bad!
Notes;
All sketches and photos done on the day except The Shape of Things to Come and are artist 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.
Weather - Hill fog, then sleet and rain. Wind moderate - southerly. Temp 3C
drumlin - small conical hill and a product of glaciation.
braes - hills
Cladonia coccifera - identification to be confirmed
Foliose Lichen - identification to be confirmed possibly Peltigera
SPA - Special Protected Area, for Golden Eagles by example.