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| Golden Storm - 23/7/23 |
A flock of feathered gold is strewn over brewing, black clouds that gather from the North as the weather hints that Autumn is close. The Golden Plover flock that frequents this glen seems to have grown over the summer from thirty-seven individuals seen in March to fifty-three seen today in July. Birds of a feather flock together, and there was never a truer saying after seeing the Golden Plovers merge with Lapwings in a large post breeding flock that sought refuge from the oncoming stormy showers in a fenced off area used for game cover crop by the local estate. On this high, Angus moorland one Golden Plover territory that I know of was occupied but another was not, only confirming the hit or miss nature of wader breeding this year.
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| Blaeberries 23/7/23 |
Lapwings seemed to be off to a good breeding start in the Spring with a fair numbers of tiny chicks exploring the sheep pasture fields but later many of those did not mature into juvenile birds and I can only guess that some were picked off by predators; suspiciously, I usually found Red Kite or Common Buzzard foraging in the area during springtime. Seasonal wader occupation of the moor and upland pasture is waning, nevertheless, I did come across a pair of Curlews steadfastly remaining to fend off a passing Common Buzzard, so maybe Whaup chicks are still nuzzling through the waving, pasture grasses.
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| Golden Eagle plumes 23/7/23 |
Not far away on a neighbouring estate two Merlin broods were found by game-keepers and both were recorded by ringing, unfortunately I missed one Merlin photo opportunity today as it quickly zipped over the heather hunting Meadow Pipits and, like the Wheatear population, pipits seem to have had a good breeding year. I am still not finding any evidence of Mountain Hares that are usually common in this area of Angus in Scotland, which in turn narrows the potential food supply for local Golden Eagles and that seems to be confirmed by the lack of predated carcasses that I am finding on the hills.
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| Golden Eagle on the hunt 23/7/23 |
There exists a certain degree of security in these Angus grouse moors for wildlife. Scan the panorama from the hilltops here and what do you find; to the South are the lowlands of Strathmore, to the East lie the farmed acres of the Mearns then the sea beyond, and to the North and West sit the Grampian Mountains that include the Cairngorm National Park. So, in effect, these moderate hills and glens are squeezed between varying habitat types that make it a marginal zone that peters out down to the lowlands and maybe we are indeed lucky to find some of the wildlife here at all.
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| Golden Eagle sky dance 23/7/23 |
The lowland squeeze is evident with the encroaching wind-farms that threaten a march onto these hills and the creep of forestry over our carbon soaked peat-lands that wave friendly 'green' flags for the ignorant public, gullible politician, and the land owning greedy. This family of Angus glens is unique for its flora and fauna and man, so surely there must be a need for some legally recognised habitat protection that actually does acknowledge our glens in their present form as being important to world ecology.
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| Golden Plover and Lapwing flock 23/7/23 |
The habitat protected Cairngorms National Park does include certain parts of these glens, but certainly not some of those marginal zones that are so important to breeding waders. The park boundary has inched into the upper glens in a pick as you please fashion to include some areas important for flora or raptor nesting but tends to ignore breeding habitats suitable and proven for waders, such as the Curlew, now recognised as being at risk nationally.
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| Red Grouse poult scavenged and head missing 23/7/23 |
There are no sites of Special Scientific Interest outwith the park in the Angus glens that would include migration resting, pre-season feeding or breeding areas for waders including Dotterel, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing and Oystercatcher. Most of those areas are located on managed grouse moor estates where ground predator control is carried out and maybe is an admission that park or SSI 'protection' cannot do what grouse moors have achieved over the years.
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| Curlew mobbing a Common Buzzard 23/7/23 |
I have heard of and encountered migration resting points in Angus for the endangered Dotterel with some trips staying put for a period to feed after migration or occasionally to wait for plateaux conditions to change during May snow cover before dispersing over the high Grampian Mountains, or travelling further afield to Norway. So, when uncharted habitats are ploughed up for forestry or concreted over for wind-farms or pasture farming land is lost there is always a hidden knock-on effect that damages some element of our natural world.
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| Wheatear in moult 23/7/23 |
Nature is like a jig-saw puzzle ..... lose one piece and the whole picture is lost, or by having too many ill fitting pieces (like predators) the picture is also lost. Well, all I can hope for is that this stronghold for breeding waders in the Angus glens is not lost to oversight by the likes of NatureScot, or indeed by sell-out land owners, or enforced 'green' legislation from 'Scot Gov', but worst of all is the blinkered agenda led by a few 'influencers' to give Scotland a doze of medicine by rewilding and readministering shooting estates ..... 'Salting the Land' will undoubtedly have its place in Scotland's bible of the future.
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| Lapwing 23/7/23 |
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| Ring Ouzel 23/7/23 |
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| Plover flock 23/7/23 |
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| Tick 23/7/23 |
All text, photographs and sketch done on 23 July 2023 (unless dated otherwise) and subject to copyright - no reproduction.
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 Lapwing, Curlew, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Dotterel, Snipe, Red and Black Grouse, Ptarmigan and many raptors nest on the ground, it is advisable to keep dogs on leads at all times especially 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 inquisitive disturbance to named species.
Canon camera 200D with optical zoom lens EFS 55-250mm used; please note that the zoom range ZR distance if given is calculated by OS map from subject location to camera.