Ray Colliers Highland Country Diary -Arctic Charr

Arctic Charr
29th April 2006


In shape the Arctic charr looks like a slender brown trout but the background colouring and general markings are quite different. Instead of having dark spots they are normally yellow, cream, pink or orange and contrast with a background ranging from bluish grey to greenish brown. The lower half of the sides and the belly are variable in colour that can range from dull pink to bright vermilion. The males are easy to recognise by their lower parts having more intense colours. The females are sometimes drab and those from darker waters may look like dark silver. The belly fins of the males are usually orange to red with a white leading edge whilst those of the female are pale yellow. Arctic charr are scattered throughout the Highlands and they have a reputation for occurring in large deep lochs in areas gouged out by glaciers. This fits in with their image of being an ice age relict having survived partial ice cover in some areas. At one time it was thought that because of the great variation in colour in different lochs there were fifteen different types. Now, accepting there are different forms, it is believed they are all of one type. This does not explain why there are two different ways in which the fish breed. One type spawns in deep water in late winter or spring whilst others spawn in shallow water in autumn. In rare cases both types can exist in the same loch. The fish have always been regarded as a mystery as they are rarely seen as they seldom come to the surface to feed. This means that most anglers who are fly fishing rarely catch the fish unless they resort to deep trolling with a lure. There are exceptions as sometimes the fish come to the fly late in the evening or during the night. Interestingly in some lochs the number of Arctic charr can exceed those of the trout. In some other countries such as Norway and Iceland the Arctic charr is of commercial importance but there is little exploitation in the U.K. although at one time it was taken commercially from one lake in England. This may change with the advent of fish farming and until recently one supermarket in Inverness sold cage reared Arctic charr from Stornoway. There are a number of natural predators in the Highlands such as the eggs being taken by ducks, brown trout and eels. Young and adult fish are taken by otters, ferox brown trout and mink. A more recent predator is the pike and Arctic char seem particularly sensitive to this voracious large fish that is still being moved around by people. A number of Arctic charr populations have become extinct because of pike whilst in the longer term a number have also gone because of pollution. Local names include cuddy, red bellied trout and red waimb and there has always been confusion whether the name of the fish should be char or charr. Both are acceptable but the latter from the Gaelic "tarr" meaning belly seems to be more authentic. One Gaelic name for the fish is Tarr-dhearg, meaning red bellied. The future of the charr in the Highlands is not assurred as fish cages can bring pollution and the relentless spread of the pike appears to be ominous. On the plus side many water systems are cleaner and healthier and where these flow into lochs with Arctic charr it can only be for the good.

Ray Colliers Highland Country Diary - Saxifrages

Saxifrages
20th April 2006

There is an old saying from deer stalkers that when the raven is incubating eggs the purple saxifrage will be in flower. The link is not that surprising as the raven is one of the earliest breeders and stalkers would have known this and the birds are quite conspicuous. The flowering of the purple saxifrage would have been welcome as one of the early signs of spring on the hill. The raven builds its bulky nest on cliff faces and always on a ledge with a huge overhang of rock making them extremely difficult to get into. The purple saxifrage is mainly a Scottish plant and grows on cliff faces, ledges, stony flushes and scree slopes. These conditions are often characteristic of the lower parts of raven sites. There is a raven's nest on Ben Wyvis to the north-west of Inverness and on the lower cliff there are three colonies of the saxifrage with the bright purple flowers trailing down and sometimes just peeping through a layer of snow at this time of the year. There is also a less known association between dippers and golden saxifrages and a number of sites in the Highlands where dippers nest have a nearby colony of golden saxifrage. The dipper is another early nesting bird and builds its nest either under bridges of burns and rivers or in high banks along them. The nest is oval, rather like a large and untidy version of a wren's nest. The saxifrage grows on boggy ground, wet seepage areas in woods and on the sides of burns. Where there is a dipper's nest more often than not there are golden saxifrages nearby. One good place for a dipper's nest is under a waterfall and this normally produces ideal situations for golden saxifrage that are now in flower. Fulmars on inland cliffs as opposed to sea cliffs also seem to attract mossy saxifrages and such is the case up the east coast at Loch Fleet running inland up Strath Fleet. Most fulmars nest along the coast but there are exceptions and the colonies in Strath Fleet are some of the largest inland ones in Britain. It is at the base of these cliffs that conditions are just right for mossy saxifrage to grow as it likes rocks and cliffs. This is probably the commonest of the upland saxifrages and it forms fine leaved mats on damp rock ledges and they look just like layers of moss. The association between the meadow saxifrage and golf courses may appear tenuous but not if you look at the plant's requirements. It needs grassland that is well drained, lightly grazed and unimproved areas such as pasture and hay meadows. The secret lies in the small buds that are at the base of its rosette of leaves and only these, if not disturbed or heavily grazed, survive to produce the next year’s plants. The grassland between fairways often provides such conditions especially if the people managing such areas follow the guidelines for managing golf courses with conservation in mind. A good example is the Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Course, north-east of Inverness, where the meadow saxifrage grows alongside the road dissecting the course. Saxifrages are a fascinating group of plants with some of them quite common and widespread in the Highlands such as the yellow saxifrage. Others are rare such as the Highland saxifrage which is virtually confined to that area and the same can be said for the alpine saxifrage. From a conservation point of view in the past there has been over-collecting by both botanists and gardeners although now the saxifrages are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

17th April 2006

Ray Colliers Highland Country Diary - Brown Hares

Brown Hares
13th April 2006

The brown hare has black-tipped ears about 4 inches long, large staring eyes and powerful hind legs. The general body colour is brown but the fur on the throat and flanks has an orange tone and there is a variable amount of white on the under parts. Unless they are feeding the hares will crouch low against the ground in scrub or grass or in a ploughed furrow. The ears are laid well back so that from a distance it looks like a large clod of earth. When disturbed they can run very fast, up to 35 miles an hour, with their tails held downwards showing the dark top. When they are just slowly loping along the unusual gait can clearly be seen. With the shorter legs pushing out in front the longer, stronger legs are brought forward in front of the others and then this propels then forward. The young, known as leverets, are normally born in the open with a full coat of fur and the eyes open. They lie low in a depression, a form, in long grass or heather and they are always kept in separate places so that if one is caught the other may go undetected and be safe.

Probably introduced by the Romans, brown hares became major agricultural pests in lowland Britain the first half of the 20th century and on some hare shoots over 200 were killed in a single day. There was a national decline in the 1960s and 1970s for a number of reasons. Agricultural intensification and changing farm techniques played their part as did chemicals such as Paraquat. In the last few years brown hares have been the subject of a national action plan aiming to double the numbers in Britain by 2010. At the start of this plan the numbers were estimated at 750,000 and there is some debate as to whether or not the plan is succeeding. Fortunately the numbers in the north of Scotland have not been adversely affected and they are still common in the glens and straths in the Eastern Highlands. However, it still ranks as one of those animals that score a point in the Countryside Stewardship S

Ray Colliers Higland Country Diary -Spring flowers

6th April
Spring flowers

In sheltered places and low lying ground there are a number of spring flowers that will soon be out and these include coltsfoot and the earliest of the saxifrages, the golden saxifrage. Perhaps the most spectacular spring flower, especially where it grows in profusion, is the lesser celandine, whose bright golden flowers can carpet woodlands. The solitary flowers sometimes fade to almost white and at the end of their flowering season they often contrast with the blue of the taller bluebells. Each flower has eight to twelve petals and is up to three centimetres in diameter. The petals are green on the underside so that if a cloud comes over and each flower closes it is inconspicuous. When the sun comes out again the flowers open up to show their full show of yellow. The leaves grow on long stalks and sometimes the dark green of the upper surfaces bear dark or light markings. The first leaves are heart shaped but then later ones are bluntly cut into, rather like the leaves of ivy. On some plants tiny bulbils form where the leaves join the stems. These bulbils are about the size of a grain of wheat and in early summer, when the leaves and stems are dying down, they drop to the ground and each one can form a new plant. The fruiting head contains numerous small fruits each with a minute point.

The plant occurs throughout most of the Highlands although there are a few gaps such as in the flow country of Sutherland and Caithness. It also occurs in the Northern Isles but for some reason is only scattered in the Western Isles although it occurs on the bird cliffs of St. Kilda. In the Faeroe Islands the plant was introduced as a medical herb, and it still survives there in churchyards. The success of the lesser celandine is partly because it can be found in a wide range of places such as damp woodland, margins of burns, shaded waste ground, hedge banks, meadows and maritime grasslands. At various times the young leaves of the plant have been tried as a salad or boiled and eaten as a vegetable but with little sucess. On the medicinal front it has been a different matter and the plant has been used in a variety of ways and for many diseases and complaints, especially for piles from which it gets one of its local names. For other diseases the plant was used as an infusion, cream or parts of the plant applied to the skin and they were reputed to be effective even when not touching the part of the body where the complaint or pain was experienced. The plant was certainly known and used by the herbalists of the Middle Ages.

Local names include figwort, smallwort and pilewort. The Gaelic name is Searragaich perhaps from Searrag meaning bottle. The origin of the name celandine is debatable but one source says it is after the Greek word "chelidon" meaning swallow as when the plants are in full bloom the swallows are supposed to arrive. The fact that the plant can be in flower in February means this is doubtful. What seems more likely is that the Greek word was used for the greater celandine, an introduced plant brought in by the Romans. This plant is certainly in flower when the swallows arrive. No clan seems to have used the lesser celandine as a plant badger perhaps because it would not have been robust enough to wear. The best place to see this spring flower is on sheltered south facing slopes where it catches the most warm sunlight.