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| Craig Maskeldie and Falls of Unich - pastel sketch on paper |
I love the sound of a gale brushing its way through stiff Scots Pines and seeing tall, spindly trunks of Larch swaying in orbits that never collide. The forest floor is covered in fallen branches ripped orange from the living wood and in faith, that the chances of being hit by a crashing limb are in God's hands, I soldier on following animal tracks up the steep snowy slope. Dancing between the trunks I rub the fresh snow out of frozen tracks with my fingers and count out the pad marks. One, two, three, four and pointed at the front with claw marks is Red Fox and not the Scottish Wildcat that I want to conjure out of the land up here, somewhere in Glen Esk. The noise from the wind on bending wood and bustling pine needles is a little haven for me and an escape from the squealing noise in my ears, that is so pervasive. Nature's way to rub out one annoying fault of the flesh and therefore I seek that remedy for a while as I dizzy myself by watching the arboreal dance of a squirrel's drey overhead, as if it was tied to the mast of a storm tossed ship. My blood courses with antibiotics that cross swords with whatever the hell I have, to draw a heated sweat from within and I shouldn't be out here.
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| Sketching today |
Earlier, tracks in the snow indicated that an Otter had made its way along the Loch Lee track. One, two, three, four, five and rounded at the front with a rear heel mark is Otter, This Otter, probably a dog on the nocturnal patrol of his large waterside territory heads upstream in the evening and then returns downstream in the early morning. He was not for getting wet and hurries the whole process up by short cutting the watery bit for miles, as they frequently do. I have seen the actual beast, in the fur, paddling up the loch side during late evening and, believe me, he does not hang around, sometimes you have to run to keep up with a dog Otter steaming upstream. A Dipper breached the water surface from a submerged foraging spree and then perched on the boulders at the loch's edge to show off its white, breast bib .
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Loch Lee Otter tracks
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I sit down beside a heather clump to get out of the wind and sketch at a favourite place. The noise from the gushing highland river, white with angered splashes that whorl in rock hewn quaichs, does nothing to dull the buzz that is trapped behind balaclava lined hood and unusual for me to adopt such 'soft' ways. From the concentration of jostling pastel with weather, a sudden outburst comes from behind, a shouted laugh to attract attention is uttered from a hill-walking youth I suspect, but carry on regardless. The spawning parents follow as I pivot on heather to look, she scowls in an interrogating fashion fit for a leper at my crumpled heap in the landscape, maybe I spoiled the view but growl a hello but don't hear a reply from the critical eye.
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| My Footsteps, Glen Lee - studio pastel sketch on paper |
Back to wildcats and their survival, undoubtedly they were in the glen but whether pure breeds are still here is uncertain. Many references are made about wildcats being in the Angus glens, especially upper Glen Clova and in Glen Tanar on Deeside. Last year I just got a look of disbelief when speaking to Chris, the Balmoral game-keeper in Clova, about the wildcats that are claimed to be in Glen Doll and a declaration that any there are likely to be feral hybrids. I have never seen any feral cats wandering around the upper region of Glen Esk but have frequently found cat tracks in the snow, so this year the hunt is on for some evidence that Scottish Wildcats are still in Glen Esk.
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| Cat tracks in Glen Lee 9-2-2013 |
One game-keeper on this estate mentions wildcat tracks but maybe he is being a bit tongue in cheek about it, must ask him next time. Historically wildcats have been killed on Glen Esk shooting estates, a stuffed one is in the local Retreat museum and there is a description, by artist John McLean, of one being shot on Invermark . A survey has been carried out on certain estates in the Cairngorms National Park but no results are available for the Angus glens where survey coverage was minimal and the only positive result was finding Pine Marten in Clova. It would be interesting to carry out my own photo survey but that would require permission from the estate game-keeper. The fresh tracks shown here are cat prints found fairly high up on hills, but may well be those of a feral or domestic beast. This is the time of year when females are receptive, so males will wander for miles to search out a mating opportunity.
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| Cat tracks in Glen Lee 9-2-2013 |
There are some areas that I have earmarked as being possibilities for wildcat occupation and most are near rabbit or hare habitats that also have rocky outcrops suitable for a den. Characteristic signs of cat that I have found in this area are tracks consisting of four bluntly oval pads showing no claws with a triangular heel pad on a very round pug print and headless rabbit carcasses with only the skin left which is rolled up to the uneaten paws. The gait of the cat is obvious from the tracks and that is deliberate, unhurried and direct. The cat must have been a big one - compare the tracks with my climbing boot in the picture. The pure Scottish Wildcat is rarer than the Snow Leopard, Amur Tiger or Clouded Leopard and still there is no conservation scheme to address its extremely rare status in Scotland.
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| Young Red Deer bounding through drift |
The fox tracks lead me directly to the top of the forest where it meets the open moorland and deeper snow that is scoured by a fierce wind loaded with eye smarting grains of ice. A Red Deer mother with her calf are sheltering in the lee of some tree boughs but head for the open moor in big lolloping strides when I appear. The calf holds back with an obvious reluctance to make an escape into the screaming gale higher up but the hind waits for the inevitable catch up.
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| Young Red Deer trotting through drift |
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No birds, not a squeak nor a flap dared to entertain up here at the moment and even the Ravens had gone further down the glen to the Rowan Hill where a dozen muck around on the skyline. Earlier a covey of Red Grouse winged it over the glen to vanish into the clouded hill tops and to my surprise a solitary Stonechat busied itself within the heather tussocks. This wee bird is getting more uncommon on the hills of Glen Esk and at this time of year should be down at the coast or further south. As a precursor to spring it plays hide and seek with me, darting from one perch to the next like a summer visiting Wheatear.
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| Glen Lee blizzard |
The blizzard came without the promise of just being a shower and the wind, it blasted icy sleet for miles on the trip back down the glen. My gaze never rose from my boots and the gravelled track drowned in grey slush went on and on, until the experience rivalled some of the soggiest that I have had on the Scottish mountains. Most who pass along this way are awe struck by the north face of Craig Maskeldie that boasts one of the highest rock faces in Angus. I have had the privilege to record five first winter ascents of gullies in this area. Lee, Dochty and Unich gullies carve their way up the rocky north face and demarcate the main buttress divisions. Dochty is the best, offering about three hundred metres of interesting climbing through some brilliant scenery with the crashing Falls of Unich echoing from below, it is named after the croft nearby that my descendants came from in the seventeen hundreds and before that, I assume. A blood line can have very long spiritual roots and a haunted sense emanates from this place every time I pass.
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| North face of Maskeldie - Lee, Dochty and Unich Gullies |
Typically the day started in clear sunshine with the Peregrine Falcon preening herself and basking sleepily with the occasional yawn between wing stretches. She will stretch a leg with yellow talons balled into a fist then teeter in imbalance on the sandstone carved ledge. Her head will bob up and down to focus in on passing pigeons and then make a restless turn as if to fly, then in laziness waits to preen under wings with tiny nibbles, then she is gone and puffs of feral pigeons rise over the city. A nice view from my window, yup!
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| Stonechat - Bird of the Day |
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Stonechat taking off
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Notes;
All sketches and photos done on the day, unless dated, 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.
dog Otter - male
quaich - Scots for a drinking cup or bowl
Weather strong wind with developing snow showers, drifting accumulations with icy crust, gale/blizzard 600m+ and horizontal sleet at glen level; lovely morning sun in Brechin too !
Map of the area.
