Great Expectations

Morning Flight - pastel sketch on paper

Expectations are always limited by people and things. We all expect better from others, or from oneself, and we expect things to work, to be fit for purpose. The extent of nature's expectations are limited too, by habitat or weather or predation, and, of course, by the hand of man. Nature abhors a vacuum, so they say, and that is where expectation grows from; plant a seed and we expect it to flourish, create a habitat and we expect it to be colonised by nature.

Sketching today

But how often do we rake fertile ground only to have it taken over by weeded nature and our expectations to control nature seem destined for the compost heap at times ..... and I dare to compare grouse moors with that. Managing moorland to increase grouse numbers for sport shooting will also encourage the predators of those grouse, and that is where the hand of man leads to species controlling conflict and the denial of natural expectations that achieve a self adjusting balance. 

Peregrine Falcon pair

Unfortunately it has been proven, through the Langholm Moor project, that this self balancing act between predator and grouse can lead to disaster for both, to the point that neither eventually flourish. Best then to have a compromise that sways the balance towards protecting moorland species that are vulnerable to predation by the legal control of certain ground predators. In theory, that is already happening because of grouse moor management; perfection at a stroke.

Raven

But, perfection has high expectations. Grouse moor owners expect good bag returns from their investment in subsidising grouse moor management, and, therein, lies the rub of illegal persecution. Owners may admire the view from their highland estate lodge but their love of grouse sport is not entirely wrapped up in the view. In my opinion, illegal raptor persecution would not exist if it were not for the implied 'demands' from owners.

Peregrine

My expectations are running at fever pitch at the moment because, not only are a pair of Golden Eagles showing interest in a new territory, a pair of Peregrine Falcons are showing interest in an old territory, with a very dubious history I might add. A sign of good will from shooting estates must be in the offing at the moment to allow a modicum of rectification to the results of age old raptor persecution. 

Common Buzzard

If not, then nothing has or will change ..... the post persecution, and diminished status quo in raptor numbers on certain shooting estates is not good enough. In other words, stopping the acts of persecution in no way reinstates displaced raptors to their original habitats and territories. A gauge of this is simple; a raptor was at a breeding location at one time, is not now and therefore, by rights, should be allowed to settle once again at that location in the future without disturbance.

 

Roe Deer

Raptorial curiosity in a certain place had the better of me, so I was up with the lark at five and on the hill by seven. Every step is full of doubting expectation and either brings me closer to raptor fulfilment or emptiness. The balance tips towards empty when my mountain of curiosity echoes a deathly silence from each of its ice dripping crags. Equating effort to result, the timely investment seemed lost, then three wonderfully conditioned Roe Deer moved on the steep slopes; two took the high road towards the snow cornice, and one got flummoxed during a complicated escape on the craggy terraces below.

Meadow Pipit

A bright morning Sun lasered through the white, wispy clouds that were brushed along by the cold north-westerly wind, and avian disappointment resigned itself to a compensatory sketch half way up the mountain slope where I shared my rock perch with some fresh white bird liming. My curiosity was teased again as my boot crunched against the stripped carcass of a predated Red Grouse on the ledge below and the peregrinating treasure of my venture seemed tangible, if not yet in sight.

Mountain Hare

Ultramarine blue of sky, then papery scribbles and my eyes flashed from one surface to the other in dream state sketching .... then a nesting black beauty Raven flew over pristine blue and 'prukked' the whole blue thing up with ink blot shapes that flew with scythe winged shapes of grey. Peregrine ..... not one but two and the empty silence shrilled with screaming falcon and baritone corbie as they voiced an opera of revived opportunity. 

And my soul was healed .... let it be.

Red Grouse

 

Notes;........article in progress............

All text, sketches and photos are done on the 23rd March 2019 and subject to copyright - no reproduction.

My new book 'Wildsketch' is available from Blurb bookshop

Income from book sales will form a donation to CABS (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)

If you are inspired to go out into the hills and glens of Scotland please leave it as you find it, respect the environment, do not litter or discard so called 'biodegradable' fruit and especially if you are a dog walker keep your beast on a lead and do not bag up its waste then chuck it by the wayside. I recently came across one black poo bag neatly hung on a tree branch for someone else to take home and also a bright blue one thrown in the moorland verge....why?

Moorland birds like Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs at heel or preferably on leads when walking on the high plateaux of the Cairngorms during summer months.

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. Observe protected species at a respectful distance usually from about 1000 metres and for short periods of time only.

No wildlife was unduly or knowingly disturbed by my presence or for the purposes of this web page other than what would be expected on a normal hill walk. Many geographic names and location recognizable photos have been omitted to prevent persecution or ringing-monitoring disturbance to named species.

Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera