Friday 27 January

Musical mornings!
Quite suddenly, yesterday, the bird song has started up again in the mornings. Although robins have been singing their doleful song throughout the winter, now the blackbirds have joined in, and spring doesn't seem so far away.

The tawny owls have been 'singing' for quite some time, and a brilliant night-time sound it is for those of us who get to hear it. As one of the earliest birds to breed, they start their courtship before Christmas and the 'keewicks' and 'twoos' of the female and male birds reverberate around the woods and farm.

Tawny owl chick at Home Farm - what all the noise is for!

Cally to Polney Path
This path got hit very hard in the December gales with a huge number of trees, some huge ones, coming down over it. The estate wants to sell the timber from the larger trees, which is why we haven't been and cleared it all. However, we have now been up and cleared away the smaller trees, and taken all the branches off the bigger ones. So it is much easier to get through if you don't mind a bit of ducking and clambering. Otherwise you can use the road to get round.

Saturday 21 January

Life is easy just now for our resident red deer next to the Castle. They get generous rations of hay, and if the ground is feeling a bit chilly, well they can lie on it as well as eating it.

Things are somewhat tougher for the wild herds out in the hills and glens. The wild weather through December has taken its toll and we have some mortalities. The red deer find the wet and windy weather harder to survive than the really cold weather of the last two winters. They have a winter coat with crinkly and hollow guard hairs which trap lots of air for warmth, but this is much less effective when it gets wet.

Our new ranger events programme for 2012 is posted on the website now, with old favourites such as Wet and Wild and Red Squirrel walks together with some new ideas such as a Kite Making Workshop and pond Dipping at Polney Loch.

Thursday 12 January

We are hearing stories from all over the country of plants flowering and insects flying, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's the middle of winter. We too can contribute to this trend. Snowdrops are appearing and have even started to flower up the Castle drive. This doesn't normally happen until February / March, although in 2005 we were seeing snowdrop shoots on 15 January (but no flowers). The extremely mild weather is obviously the cause for this, although the forecast suggests it is going to get much colder over the next week. It's lucky that snowdrops are very tough - in fact their shoots are strengthened with protective sheath covers  to allow them to push up through frozen soil. The sap in their cells also contains extra sugar which acts as an anti-freeze.

Snowdrop shoots. This picture was taken on Monday. Some of these plants are already in flower today.

Blair Castle have a Snowdrop Trail around the Gardens and Grounds which is usually opened in February. However, we are bringing it forward to the 21 January as the snowdrops are already here.

Wed 4 January 2012

It is now official that last year was the wettest year on record in Scotland. This does not come as a surprise to us - when you are working outside a lot, you definitely notice. It has also made our paths and trails wetter and muddier than they should normally be. We are doing what we can to improve things, but if you come for a walk in the area at the moment, wear boots or other good footwear. And if you come for some mountain biking, the landrover tracks are not too muddy, but any singletrack is very very wet - some parts are best avoided just now to prevent long-term damage.

Digging in a new drain (in the rain!)

Some wildlife such as the greylag geese which visit each winter will enjoy the soggy conditions. It also keeps the ground soft for worm-eating birds. Even buzzards will go 'worming' in the winter if they are hungry.

Wednesday 14 December

Clearing trees near Spoutwells, Dunkeld

The gales of last week certainly left their mark. We have just about recovered from the 3 day power cut, but there are a lot of trees down. Most of the paths at the Blair Atholl end of the estate have been cleared, but do let us know if you come across any trees down on the trails here. The Dunkeld area was very badly hit, and it will take some time to get all the trees cleared from the tracks and paths. In some places you can't actually see where the path is supposed to be. The main path up to Loch Ordie has been cleared, and the path towards Rotmell from Polney Loch is also now clear. The paths in the Craig y Barns area, including the Polney to Cally Car Park path, have been particularly badly affected, and are not passable in places at the moment. We are working our chainsaws hard, but some routes may not be clear until into the New Year.

Tuesday 22 November

We have had the pleasure of a rare dry day today, giving us a chance to see what's out and about instead of hiding inside hoods and waterproofs!

Beinn Dearg in the November sunshine

Out on the hills it looks like winter. I saw some viviparous fescue (Festuca vivipara) grass which is well adapted to poor weather and short seasons. Viviparous means giving birth to live young, not something you would usually associate with grass. What the grass actually does is to produce lots of little grass plants instead of seeds. These are ready to grow as soon as they fall off and bed into the ground. Genetically they are the same as the parent plant, but on the hills soemtimes the season is too short or inclement to have time for all the pollination and seed production. Sheeps fescue and red fescue grasses also grow on the hills, but they produce seeds normally.

Viviparous fescue - there are lots of little 'grasslets' at the end of each stem.

Roe deer are becoming a common sight again in the woods around the Castle. Now that most of the human and canine visitors have gone home, the woods are quiet, and the deer usually spend the winter here before disappearing again in the spring

Saturday 5th November

The winter weather is starting to kick in and the mornings are becoming frosty. There is a fog settled over the River Gary and Tummel every morning which looks quite nice and strange when the rest of the landscape is really clear. It is becoming that time of year where you will have to spend some extra time in the morning defrosting your car and allowing more time to travel to take account of the ice on the roads.

Today we will be doing one of our monthly nature club events which will be all about pine martens and what better way to start the day than spotting a pine marten whilst out walking the dog. The ranger was just in the right place at the right time to spot the pine marten and it was great to see. Pine martens are about the size of a small cat and live mainly in wooded areas. They are the only mustelid to have semi retractable claws allowing them to climb trees and live in hallowed out trees, squirrel dreys and can even be found living in bird nests. Pine martens tend to be active at night and at dusk so are seldom seen during the day. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat a wide variety of food including small mammals, squirrels, birds and bird eggs, fish, insects, frogs and even carrion. A grey heron and a roe deer was also spotted whilst out for a walk so it was a good morning for wildlife spotting.

Pine marten at the Highland Wildlife park

Whilst in the visitor centre yesterday, which is now closed to the public for the winter, I came across something surprising. A wren was circling around the visitor centre trying to find a way to get back outside. It must have flown in the day before without anyone noticing then could not find a way back outside. After a bit of perseverance I managed to get the little bird back outside but it was understandably panicked by the ordeal and landed in the grass. I placed in a shaded tree out of reach of predators and passing dogs so it would have peace to calm down before it was able to fly properly again and start hunting for food. You never know what you are going to come across when you are out and about so keep your eyes and ears open, you could come across something really interesting. 

Wren from the ranger information centre

As it is Guy Fawkes night I thought I would take this opportunity to remind you to check your bonfires before you light them as hedgehogs or other wildlife may be using them as a place to start hibernating. Please also be aware of where you place your bonfire i.e. not too close to roosting sights or bird boxes as boxes will still be used for shelter during the winter. Please be safe, sensible and enjoy bonfire night.