Ray Colliers Country Diary - Ice House

18th May 2009 - Ice House

In a recent "From Our Files", in a local newspaper in the Highlands , it was noted that 125 years ago in April 1884 a fish salesman in Inverness had received "Their first consignment of pure Norway ice for the season". What would a large quantity of ice from Norway be used for in the Highlands that was renowned for its ice and snow? This importation of ice was partly to meet the demands of the growing number of ice houses with the first being built in Britain in 1619. The practice spread and during the period of 1750 to 1875 some 3,000 ice houses were built. In the Highlands during the period 1800 to 1810 many ice houses were built around the Moray Firth coast and from old maps and charts no less than 29 have been identified. All were associated with salmon fishing stations based on salmon rivers They varied from Tugnet to the east and as far north as Duncansby Head. The basic concept was to have a large stone structure partly underground to maintain low temperatures. Some had wooden structures on the top of the ice house for the storage of the fishing nets.
Salmon were never actually stored in the ice house as when the salmon were caught in the summer the fish and ice were packed into special boxes that once sealed weighed around 34 pounds. The common problem with so many ice houses was getting ice. This is why so many ice houses were associated with rivers such as the Findhorn ice house on the side of the River Findhorn east of Inverness. The Tugnet ice house, reckoned to be the largest in Scotland, was based on the side of the mouth of the River Spey. The present Tugnet ice house was built in 1830 and so probably replaced an earlier structure mentioned in 18th century literature.
To start with the ice came from two main sources with one being the natural inlets along the sides of rivers. The other source was specially constructed fish ponds often associated with rivers. These were shallow dug out areas that were filled with water through a sluice and when they froze each winter there was plenty of ice. The problems came in the early 1800s as the demand for ice was ever increasing and to add to the problem winter temperatures rose. This meant there was less ice to go round and, incredibly, they began to bring in ice by ship from Norway, then Canada and after 1840 from the USA. The latter was particularly pure clear ice cut in blocks from Wenham lake near Boston, Massachusetts. This ice found it way to fashionable parties and even mixed with drinks.
These days it is difficult to imagine the importance of such fishing stations and ice houses but some facts from Tugnet tell the story. In the late 18th century over 130 people were annually employed in the fishing season. In the year 1792 no less than 24 ships called at Tugnet for cargoes of salmon preserved in ice from the ice house for the London market. The early boats for catching salmon were the round Spey coracle or currach later replaced by the cobles. These latter boats are in the photograph with the Tugnet Icehouse behind. The frame of the coracle was made of wicker with a cow’s hide stretched over it. The trade had language of its own and the tools included ice grabs, wooden mells for breaking the ice, ice saws, "yarlins" used for unwinding the hanks of net making twine, needles for net making and marlinspikes for splicing the fishing ropes. A world of its own and now almost forgotten.

Ray Colliers Country Diary - Rabbits

4th May 2009 - Rabbits

Around Inverness and elsewhere in the Highlands rabbits seem to be making a comeback in more ways than one. To start with the increasing numbers are a reflection of the life cycle that has developed over the last decade or so. The numbers build up in the breeding season that starts very early in the year until in late summer, they seem almost everywhere and often in considerable numbers in crops. There are various theories as to why the disease myxymatosis seems to strike in the latter part of each summer. One is that when the numbers build up there is more chance of the disease spreading as the rabbits are in close contact with each other. The story is that the rabbit flea is responsible for the disease spreading and when large numbers of the rabbits are in holes and large warrens the disease strikes. Another reason is that some people deliberately catch a diseased rabbit and put it down elsewhere. This is, of course, illegal but it is still being carried out around Inverness and beyond.
The rise in numbers are also reflected in the road casualties and these have been rising in the last few weeks. This is an abundant source of food to many scavengers with birds and mammals involved and some of these, at this time of the year, will even start to patrol roadsides looking for food. Where you get woodland on both sides of the road or woodland on one side and a crop on the other are the best places to find dead rabbits. Birds such as buzzard, red kite, crows and gulls will take them whilst mammals include badger, fox, pine marten, stoat and wildcat. Some of these predators will remove them fairly quickly from the road and this means that the casualties we see during the day, even early morning, are only a percentage of the actual mortality.
There is some debate as to the source of the rabbit in the Highlands although the general belief is that that were introduced to England by the Normans as a food source. They were originally kept in enclosed warrens and carefully guarded against poachers. Some of the warrens were on islands and the rabbits were given supplementary food. The substantial increase in wild rabbits was in the 18th century but they were introduced into Scotland much later. Up until the 1950s rabbits were an important source of food especially when other food was short such as during the two World Wars. Then myxymatosis came and there were stories of diseased rabbits having their heads cut off and still sold for meat. People went off the meat and even today there is still a bias against eating it even for people actually living in the countryside. Rabbits sell in supermarkets but they are mainly farmed rabbits specially bred for the purpose.
There is a sign that rabbit meat is making a comeback as far as we are concerned. Seven years ago whole rabbits were for sale from one local game dealer for £1.20 whereas today they are £3.00. As for what a game dealer actually pays these days rabbits depends on how it has been killed. Shot rabbits are normally not bought so other means have to be used. A very popular one is by using ferrets and the sleeping ferrets in the photograph were at the Scottish Gamekeepers Association stand at the Moy Fair, near Inverness, last year. Snaring is widespread but coming under close scrutiny these days and box traps along fence lines are becoming common, if expensive. Perhaps rabbit meat will make a comeback.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Guillemots

27th April - Guillemots

There are many evocative sounds in the Highlands such as the roaring of red deer stags in the Autumn. Seabird colonies of auks such as guillemots in the middle of the breeding season may be raucous as their calls echo round the sea cliffs but it is still very impressive. In the last two weeks greylag and pink footed geese have been heading north to their wintering grounds in Iceland and beyond. Their calls seem to epitomise the colder wildness where they will breed but despite the loud calls in flight they can sometimes be difficult to actually see. Of all the evocative sounds perhaps none is more so than the bird displaying in the glens, straths and moorland of the Highlands at present, namely the curlew.
The call notes have been described as "an eerie lamenting cry" and have given rise to a great deal of superstition. The mournful notes led many to say it signified death but others were far more stimulated in a much more positive way. Norman MacCaig who stayed in Lochinver wrote a poem in March 1987 entitled "Curlew" that contains the lines "trailing bubbles of music/over the squelchy hillside/Music as desolate, as beautiful/as your loved places./ Mountain marshes and glistening mud-flats/by the stealthy sea". The very wide range of local, Scots and Gaelic names is typical of many others birds that were shot for the pot. The plumage of the adult curlew is darker in summer than in winter hence the Scottish proverb " Be she white or be she black/The curlew has ten pence on her back". Curlews were much prized in the old court banquets and it was not many years ago that they could still be shot. It seems to have been an acquired taste especially after it had been feeding in the winter in the mud of the firths and the foreshore.
Curlews have an unusual breeding cycle and as they nest on the ground they suffer from predation by a wide range of predators such as fox, mink and crows. The male makes several scrapes and it is the female who decides which one will be actually used and then she alone lines it. The nest is mainly in the open on a mound or tussock but sometimes protected by vegetation. Both parents will incubate the eggs but this falls mainly to the female. Once the chicks have hatched and are active the female leaves with only the males tending them before they fly to the coast.
The curlews calling in the Highlands are birds that will have come back from their wintering grounds in southern Britain or Ireland. The males move into the territories first and wait for the females to arrive. Curlews have had to adapt to changing land use and it is now difficult to imagine it was not too long ago that they were confined to upland areas whereas now they breed down to sea level. Overgrazing and over burning may have forced it to breed at lower altitudes but in recent years such areas have not been ideal. Changes in the times that grasslands are cut has adversely affected curlews that are now classed as on the "amber" list. This means it is of "medium conservation concern" as opposed to the "red" list which means of "High conservation concern".

Ray Collier Country Diary- Rosemarkie on the Black Isle

20th April - Rosemarkie on the Black Isle

The stretch of coastline east of Rosemarkie on the southern edge of the Black Isle has a wildlife quality of its own and scenically is one of the most attractive areas around Inverness. Car parking is near the outlet of the burn falling from the Fairy Glen and there is a path leading east to the famous Scart Crag locally known as Scart Craig. The cliff is about one and a half miles from the parking and the white washed cliff is the result of generation of cormorants droppings. "Scart" is one of the many Scots names for a cormorant. The path runs through woodland, scrub and dunes that have been stabilised with marram grass, and all the way the cliffs on the landward side vary in steepness and size. Buzzard nest in the woodland and the birds can often be seen hunting along the coastline for rabbits for their chicks. At one point there is the finest array of rock pools in the eastern parts of the Highlands and they support a wide variety of wildlife from crabs to anemones and sticklebacks to shell-fish.

The dominant seabirds are the fulmars that are present almost all the year round and nests in a small colony on the edge of Rosemarkie. How strange to think that before the end of the 19th century the only British colony was on St. Kilda. Now fulmars glide along the cliffs by the firth or low over the sea seemingly effortlessly with only an occasional wing beat. Scart Crag and the surrounding cliffs once supported herring gulls whose eggs were much favoured for eating by local people. They were not the only predators as sometimes, even during the day, foxes and otters could be seen raiding their nests. The gulls no longer nest there but other birds have taken their place and in the last couple of years a pair of ravens have nested there, the first time for very many years on the Black Isle. A much smaller bird and in a way much more surprising is a colony of house martins first located in 2004.

This is one of the best places around Inverness to see butterflies and the speciality and a great rarity in the Highlands and beyond is the northern brown argus. Its caterpillars feed on one of the most attractive of wild flowers, the common rock rose. It is one of the smallest of the butterflies being dark brown with a tiny white spot on the fore wings and the adults are still on the wing at this time of the year. Other butterflies include the small copper, grayling, common blue, pearl bordered fritillary, dingy skipper and speckled wood. The reason for the abundance of butterflies is the wide range of wild flowers that give the butterflies a nectar source. These include bloody cranesbill, wood vetch, stonecrop, hemp agrimony and dyer’s rocket.

If the tide is out then waders such as oystercatcher, curlew and redshank will be feeding in the mud and sand whilst the beds of mussels and winkles may well have a few of the very well camouflaged turnstones with the occasional purple sandpiper freshly arrived from their breeding grounds in Norway or Iceland. On the sea at this time of the year are red throated divers that have bred on hill lochs, red breasted mergansers and goldeneye. What often steals the show, however, is not the birds but the sea mammals and there is always a good chance of seeing grey and common seals especially when the fish are moving with the tide and the seals are feeding. To many, even more exciting, are the resident numbers of bottle-nosed dolphins that are now famous and much admired from boat trips organised especially to see them.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Coal tits

13th April - Coal tits

The coal tit is one of the smallest birds to be seen in the Highlands and it has a short tail and a rather large head. The head is black with white cheeks like a great tit but the diagnostic feature is the large rectangular white patch on the back of its neck. The back, wings and tail are a dull blue grey and the underparts are plain and buff. At close quarters the two wings bars on each wing are conspicuous. A young bird has yellow cheeks, nape patch and underparts and they moult before the winter. However the yellow wing bars of the young birds do not moult until the spring so they can be identified throughout the winter months. They are the smallest of the British tits and they weigh between eight and ten gms so most of the birds weigh less than a one pound coin.
Until recently coal tits were considered to be mainly woodland birds, both conifers and broadleaves. They seem to adapt to conifers more than other tits as they have the ability to hang upside down and feed which means they can take food from under twigs covered with a layer of snow. They also have very thin beaks which means they can get into crevices for food that other birds have to ignore. These days they are a common garden bird as they readily adapted to food being put out all the year round. In some gardens in and around Inverness they are now commoner at feeders than blue tits. Studies have shown that despite their tiny size they do not suffer as much as some other birds in short spells of bad weather as they store food when the weather is good. Coal tits are one of the birds that have flourished in the huge areas of conifer plantations in the Highlands and they are now widespread.
In gardens these tiny birds are more often than not at the bottom of the pecking order but they cope with their speed and agility. Peanut holders such as the one in the photograph are favoured but the feeders taken to more than any others are those with sunflower seeds. The seeds are small enough for the birds to fly in and quickly take one and fly off to store it and then back at the feeder in a very short time. In the winter they are gregarious with other small woodland birds and will join in bands of other birds such as other tits, tree creepers and goldcrests. These flocks will move through woodland calling all the time but they are equally at home along tall hedges. In the spring coal tits pair off and they will nest in a hole in a tree or a wall so it would seem that they would readily take to nest boxes. The problem is competition from other small, hole nesting birds and the answer is to put the nest box low down on a conifer which most other birds will leave alone. Unusually they have been found to nest in holes in the ground which must make them very vulnerable to animals such as weasels and stoats. With more and more woodland being planted and with a run of mild winters the coal tit is flourishing. The only possible problem on the horizon is poor weather in the summer with few insects for chicks. An example of this was the summer of 2002 when many insect loving birds had problems coping although there was compensation last year when food was abundant.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Siskins

6th April - Siskins

Siskins are so common during the summer and winter in and around Inverness it is difficult to understand the comments about the bird from the Rev C. A. Johns in 1909. In his book "British Birds in their Haunts" he starts by stating that "The siskin, or Aberdevine, is best known as a cage bird, as it is only a very occasional breeder in Great Britain". The increase in breeding siskins in Northern Britain, including the Highlands, came about because these finches have small beaks that can tackle the small seeds of larch and Sitka spruce. Despite the misgivings of many naturalists over the widespread plantations covering vast areas, one of the spin offs has been seed from cone crops. Once the trees had reached cone bearing size a few birds, including the siskin, took advantage and flourished.
More recently part of the success of this small, brightly coloured bird has been the provision, all the year round, of food in gardens, both urban and rural, and in particular peanuts. For some unknown reason siskins in gardens this last winter were scarce even when the bad weather came in the first part of February. Perhaps there was a good supply of cone seeds in the vast forests of conifers. Now the birds are beginning to come back into gardens and some will stay and breed. At first both males and females come to feeders in gardens and then when the females start incubating the males will take them food and feed them on the nest. Later the first juveniles will appear at the feeders and then the females disappear and start their second clutch of eggs and young.
Whilst some birds look as though they are designed for long distant flights such as the swallow or swift the siskin with its small size and small wings does not look the part. As for the size the males and females average out at about 13 gms which is around the weight of a £2 coin. What is extraordinary is the length and speed of such movements. Ringing has shown that one bird travelled 1,600 kilometres in 14 days and there a few others to equal that speed. Pride of place must go to the siskin that left Shropshire and reached the Highland Region in three days which is an average of 189 kilometres a day. At one time it was thought that the shortage of food in their huge breeding areas make the siskins move to the warmer climate of this country. More recent studies have shown the birds may also move if the weather gets cold but it could be the combination of both. As a garden visitor the birds are always fascinating to watch as they are always so active. Yet visiting gardens was first noted only as recently as 1963 in Surrey and at first it was thought they only visited red peanut holders. It was also thought that they were attracted to peanuts holders as the birds thought they were overgrown pine cones.
As for the name "Aberdavine" its sources remained a mystery for some time but now it is believed to have come from the German or French name for the alder tree. The name is a version of "alder finch" which is plausible as siskins love the small seeds of the alder.

Ray Collier Country Diary-Spring in the Highlands

30th May 2009 - Spring in the Highlands

There are now plenty of signs of spring in the Highlands with frogs’ spawn laid some time ago and toads have also been active and calling during the day and night. The hibernating butterflies such as small tortoiseshell have also emerged from buildings, holes in trees and caves and they have been searching out the first nectar from early flowering plants. Adders will soon be sunning themselves on early mornings and this is the best time to see them as they will not slither away until they have really warmed up. Some birds that have moved away for the winter, although not a true migration, have come back to the straths and glen such as curlew, lapwing and oystercatcher and are already displaying. Some birds go relatively un-noticed and one of these is the grey wagtail. Most of these attractive, insectivorous, waterside birds leave the Highlands and move to southern Britain for the winter. Once the cold spell in March was over and the weather turned warmer it was as if the grey wagtails knew and they were soon back to their breeding sites by the sides of rivers and burns.
To many naturalists the signs of spring are epitomised by the arrival of the true migrant birds and the first to be seen is often one of the most spectacular, the osprey. They can be as early as the third week in March so by now there will have been a number of sightings. Of the smaller birds, the sand martin, is an early one normally followed by two other members of the swallow family, the sand martin and house martin in that order as far as arrival dates are concerned. All of the birds mentioned so far are attracted to water for feeding whether it be the osprey after fish or the swallows after insects so any lochs and associated feeder burns are worth a visit. Some birds are later than others such as the whitethroat and spotted flycatcher and more often than not arrive back in the first few days of May. One that is nearly always later than any of the other is the swift which is a common breeding bird in Inverness. They can often find entrances to the loft space in old buildings and it seemed appropriate that there are colonies of swifts in the old offices of Scottish Natural Heritage In Culduthel Road and Ardconnel Terrace. I wonder if the new design of their office at Great Glen House has incorporated sites for swifts?
The list of true migrants is long and includes others such as garden warbler, willow warbler, chiffchaff, wheatear, tree pipit and cuckoo but there is one migrant that, in the last few years, has been real cause for concern. The ring ouzel used to breed in gullies on moorland and in hills and also around hill farms, edges of forestry plantations and old quarries with the nest site often associated, for some unknown reason, with water. Now these birds, that are the size of a blackbird and dark with a whitish crescent on the chest, have retreated to the remotest uplands and nobody seems to know why. Areas that were formerly occupied are ignored and empty of breeding birds and yet to our eyes they do not seem to have changed. The chicks need beetles and their larvae plus flies and other insects and perhaps these have, for some reason, gone or are in short supply. The number of breeding pairs in the Highlands has, along with other parts of Britain, seen a marked decline over a long period.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Red Deer

23rd March 2009 - Red Deer

Ravens have been very much in the media news recently mainly because of their attacks on lambs leading to financial losses for farmers and crofters. This has taken place in many parts of the Highlands including areas around Inverness from straths to hill ground. This points to an increase in these birds that are by far the largest of the crow family. They are characterised by their powerful looking head and beak, shaggy beard and large wedge shaped tail. The numbers of ravens has fluctuated either directly by man in the form of shooting and poisoning or indirectly by changes in habitat. Extensive plantations meant fewer hunting areas for the birds and it was always high on the list of birds to be killed in any way by keepers. There was a respite in the lack of gamekeeping activities in the Second World War.
The respite, especially in Scotland, was short-lived as changes in land use affected the numbers of birds and their nesting and feeding sites. Interestingly the chemicals that caused the disastrous thinning of eggshells and decline of bird of prey such as peregrines, sparrow hawks and golden eagles did not affect ravens. The chemicals derived from sheep dips did cause a thinning of raven eggs but it was not, for some reason, a disaster like the other birds. There were other changes that benefited ravens such as larger numbers of sheep on the hills and larger numbers of deer especially red deer. Larger numbers of sheep meant more carcases as carrion and the gralloching of red deer, such as the stag in the photograph meant a ready food supply through much of the year. There is the down side as the recent changes in ruling mean that in many areas sheep carcases have to be removed. The ravens were forced to look elsewhere which could be the reason lambs are being taken. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the problem as some people are demanding more licences to shoot or disturb ravens. Opponents are saying that only sickly lambs or dead lambs are taken and no licences should be handed out. One alternative would be to create food dumps for ravens as they do with red kites and sea eagles.
One of the reasons for the problems with lambs is that ravens are very early nesting birds. They are in many parts of the Highlands the earliest, even earlier than other large birds such as the golden eagle and heron. The large flocks of ravens at any time of the year are non breeding birds whilst pairs are now in territory and there is the chance of seeing their intriguing displays. Such was the case at Brin Cliff, a few miles south west of Inverness, last week where a pair of ravens were performing their acrobatic flights. This involved soaring, then spiralling down with sudden twists and sometimes almost looping the loop in tight circles. Then they would land on a boulder and pause and then suddenly launch themselves upwards and then spiralling down again. Some observers have timed such displays as lasting for ten or even fifteen minutes. It is hard not to think that this is sheer enjoyment and fun but there are, perhaps, more serious overtones and it is all a question of display and bonding.
Local names in the Highlands for the raven include Corbie and Corbie Craw but one of these can be confusing as the carrion crow is sometimes called a Corbie. Gaelic names are Fhitheach, Biadhtach and Bran. The best book on the raven is the monograph by Derek Ratcliffe called "The Raven" published in 1997 by T & A D Poyser Ltd.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Ospreys

16th March 2009- Ospreys

This is a good time of the year to visit Loch Flemington that lies close to the A96 about eight miles north east of Inverness. March is the month of change with the first migrants arriving back from their winter quarters, mainly in various parts of Africa. Many of the wintering wildfowl will be on the move back to their breeding grounds in northern Europe, including Iceland. Some of the birds will have wintered further south and may call in at Loch Flemington for a rest and feed. At this time of the year it is possible to see, if you are lucky, up to ten species of ducks and all three swans namely whooper, mute and Bewick. Geese are mainly greylags and pink-footed geese ready to depart for their breeding grounds in Iceland.
The resident pair of mute swans on the loch are now defending their territory and the usual confrontation took place last week. A pair of swans were feeding in the shallows at the west end of the loch with the pen, the female, up-ending to get waterweeds. They look most incongruous with the head and neck under water and the large black feet flailing the air to keep them up-ending. The cob, the male, seemed more intent on just looking around. Then from the east a pair of mute swans came in quickly and landed about a hundred yards from the resident birds. The two cobs were soon fighting and the incomer was eventually driven off and flew up only to circle round and land at the other end of the loch. It’s mate set off to join him and they settled in a large bay on the south side of the loch. Up until 1785 this swan was known as the "tame swan" but Pennant changed it to mute swan as the birds rarely make a noise. In contrast the whooper and Bewick’s swan make a whooping or trumpeting call. The mute swan makes up for its lack of many call notes as the sound of their wings when in flight is a strange and beautiful noise called "soughing".
As for the migrants, an analysis of the first spring records for the birds in the "Highland Bird Reports" for the six years between 2002 and 2006 makes interesting reading. Perhaps for some reason the first migrants to appear should be the ubiquitous swallows or house martins but in fact it is a much rarer and larger bird, the osprey. The first date for this magnificent bird is 12th March so the first osprey should be back at Loch Flemington. It is likely to be an adult as the first winter birds often stay in Africa for their first summer or make their way back more slowly than the adults. The second bird back was the sand martin on 20th March and then the swallow on 24th March. Both these small birds feed mainly on insects and there are a small number of places around Inverness where they gather where a rich assembly of aquatic plants means there are insects to be found. Apart from Loch Flemington another very good place for these early migrants is Loch Dochfour and Abban Water just south of Inverness. There is much more to see at Loch Flemington and the best way is to park at the west end and walk up the road but never try to walk along the edge of the loch as you will simply disturb all the birds when they should be resting or feeding.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Grey Seals

9th March 2009 - Grey Seal

In a recent "Highland Country Diary" the 17 species of fish in Loch Ness were mentioned and the sheer numbers and variety attract various predators such as birds and mammals. Probably the most notorious of all the predators on fish in the loch is the grey seal and there is ongoing controversy as to the affect they have on the fish, especially salmon. One problem is that people see the activities of the seals in the River Ness where owing to the comparatively small area of water the antics of the seals are plain to see and they do seem successful in taking quite large salmon. In Loch Ness the area is so vast that the seals often go un-noticed. Another mammal that takes fish is the otter but an important part of its fish diet are eels as they are comparatively slow. The fact that eels eat small fish of trout and salmon plus their eggs probably means the otters do good in the loch. Interestingly otters are rarely seen in the loch and this may be because they prefer the many feeder burns running into the loch. Mink also occur and take fish but its is unlikely they pose a threat to the fish numbers.
Many people see serious problems with red breasted mergansers and goosanders and their affect on fish stocks. Like the seals the activities of these birds is easy to see in Loch Ness but less likely in the loch itself. These two diving birds are called "sawbills" because of the serrated edges to their beaks used for holding fish securely before swallowing them. For many years fishery boards have been issued with licences to shoot both these birds and many hundreds have been shot over the years in the Highlands. Their diet includes young trout and salmon and small eels although how much affect they have on fish stocks is open to debate. Another bird that not only takes small fish but considerable numbers of eels is the heron. These tall elegant looking birds can often be seen stalking the shallows of the loch, especially at the north end. These birds have colonies in tree or cliffs and the nearest colony is at Clachnaharry, near Inverness, where there were 43 apparently occupied tree nests in 2006.
Whilst seals and sawbills are shot, sometimes legally and sometimes illegally, there is one small water bird that in the past has had an adverse but undeserved reputation. When you see a dipper on the side of Loch Ness hammering a stickleback on a stone before swallowing it, think of its past reputation. It was not too many years ago that anglers thought that the little dipper took too many eggs and small fish of trout, sea trout and salmon. People were paid a bounty for each dipper they killed.
The fish themselves are prey and predators depending on the species and their size. Perhaps the best known is the ferox trout that will take the arctic charr and some people believe that you only find ferox trout where there are arctic charr. This may be true although the converse is not as there are a number of lochs with arctic charr and no ferox trout. Brown trout will take small fish especially sticklebacks and the fry of other fish. The most voracious fish of all in Loch Ness is the predatory pike that will take a variety of fish. Pike are now being taken in some lochs in the Highlands of over 25 pounds and there is no reason to think they are any smaller in Loch Ness.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Loch Ness

2nd March 2009 - Loch Ness

Whether the Loch Ness monster exists or not is open to conjecture but the search for it has given an insight into the rich variety of fish in the loch. Cameras, nets, divers and echo soundings have all helped to reveal some of the secrets of the depths and the large number of types of fish to be found there. Some of the fish are native and one of these has an ancient lineage being survivors from the last ice age. Others have been introduced for a variety of reasons such as live baiting to catch other fish. Others have simply been introduced or escaped and others may have been brought in as eggs on birds legs such as waders and wildfowl.
With the salmon fishing season upon us do the anglers after this prize realise there are 16 other species of fish to be found in the loch? There is much debate over the origin and habits of the brown trout, ferox trout and sea trout. The brown trout lives only in freshwater whilst the sea trout spend some of their lives in the sea. The ferox trout is a trout that, having reached a certain size, turns to eating other fish and grows much larger. Some people try to make these into three different species but others say they are all the same species. What is confusing is that there are very many local names for the trout, probably more than all other freshwater fish put together.
The arctic charr is perhaps the most fascinating fish in the loch especially as it has long been thought of as "an Ice Age relict". This implies that it may have lived generation after generation in a deep water body associated with the last Ice Age. A few lochs, generally deep, small ones have only arctic charr in them with no brown trout but generally the brown trout and arctic charr can inhabit the same water body. Sometimes the Arctic charr even surpasses the brown trout in numbers in some lochs. Another fascinating fish in Loch Ness is the eel and there has been some debate as to how big they grow there. The eel can grow to about six feet in length but there is no positive record of one that big in the loch. Deep underwater cameras have recorded huge eels going even deeper into the darkness. Divers have reported eels with manes and bodies thicker than a man’s leg but no direct evidence has been forthcoming. The four other native fish are the three spined stickleback, the sea lamprey, the river lamprey and the brook lamprey. The brook lamprey is the most abundant and widespread of the three lampreys in Scotland.
One of the biggest fish in the loch is the pike and there are many reports of seeing specimens 36 inches long. These carnivorous fish could have escaped from the old fish ponds managed for food on days when meat was banned. Pike have also been introduced into many lochs in the Highlands for sporting purposes. They are not native to the Highlands and the reason some of the other non native fish are in the loch is because they were used to catch the pike by live baiting. These include the minnow and perhaps also the dace and roach. Other species in the loch include the perch, carp and rudd although it is not clear how these could have ended up in the loch. Needless to say such a gathering of mixed species, often in large numbers, attracts a number of predators, birds, mammals and, of course, ourselves.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Survival of the fittest

23rd February 2009 - Survival of the fittest - February 09

The wintry conditions of February this year caused major problems for people in a variety of ways. It is interesting to assess what effect it had on wildlife bearing in mind that in some areas there was over a foot of snow and night temperatures were down as low as minus 16 degrees Centigrade. The photograph shows the extent of the snow near Beinn Dearg just south of Ullapool. In the foreground is a loch with a conifer on the right and this is at around 650 feet. Beyond the loch is a burn and then further over is a river. Beyond is Forestry Commission plantations mainly of Sitka spruce, Scots pine and some lodgepole pine. Beyond and above are the snow covered hills and the 3,000 ft peaks are those of the Beinn Dearg massif which is Gaelic for red mountain.
At this time of the year on the hills the red deer, mountain hare and red grouse will survive mainly by clearing snow to get at food such as heather. In prolonged snow lying all three species may move to lower grounds. In such weather ptarmigan may join them although they still tend to stay high. Ptarmigan and red grouse are specially adapted to combat the cold and snow as they have feathers all over their legs and feet to keep them warmer. Predators such as peregrine falcon and golden eagle are a problem and the mountain hare and ptarmigan are both white in the winter for camouflage. With severe weather driving the red deer to lower ground they can do damage to trees by de-barking them, including conifers in the plantations.
The conifer plantations are one of the safest habitats in the area as often the snow does not form a layer below the canopy. There is some evidence to suggest that in the Highlands some brown hares spend most of the winter in woodland and do not go onto open fields until there is a first growth of grass. There is little food in the fields and no cover from predators. Badgers tend to stay in the woodland around their setts and roe deer are mainly woodland deer so stay in the comparative shelter. The absence of siskins in gardens at the moment suggest that they are finding seeds from pine cones and so do lesser redpolls. The foraging bands of mixed titmice can still find food in woodland. Woodcock in woodland can still find some open areas of ground to feed on worms.
Before the cold spell the loch in the foreground attracted around 20 mallard every evening at dusk when they flew in to feed either from the burn or the river. When the pond froze they first stayed in the burn but as stretches of that froze they moved to the river. Even after the low temperatures formed there were still parts of the river open but apparently not enough for the mallard and they flew to the coast. Even with only about half of the river open and free of ice the large male goosanders with their creamy flanks and dark head and neck still persisted in fishing. What was quite remarkable was that the dippers still stayed in their territories and on sunny days could even be heard singing their rippling warble. They sing from October to July and one of the reasons it is so attractive is that in the middle of winter it is so unexpected. It is all a question of the survival of the fittest.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Wildfowl

16th February 2009 - Wildfowl

Among the attractions for birdwatchers in the Highlands are iconic birds such as golden eagle, sea eagle and peregrine falcon and part of the attraction is the "wild" countryside in which they can be found. In contrast there is a group of birds that is a Mecca for many bird enthusiasts and they are simply called "wildfowl". Within the group there are geese, swans and ducks and the latter form the largest numbers of species. By looking at freshwater, such as lochs and rivers, and the coast, including firths and open sea, you could possibly see 21 species of duck at this time of the year.
Some people are attracted to particular groups of ducks such as the seaducks and these include long-tailed ducks, scoters and eiders. There are assemblages of these seaducks at various places in the Moray Firth and you can see them off Chanonry Point, Lossiemouth, Burghead, Loch Fleet and Whiteness Head. If the weather at sea is stormy then some birds seek the shelter of harbours such as the ones at Nairn and Burghead. Some of these sea ducks occur in flocks particularly eider ducks. Winter counts for Whiteness Head east of Inverness and off Eathie on the Black Isle often total 500 birds. These two sites also attract even larger numbers of long-tailed ducks with one count in recent years of 9,000 birds. There are also much smaller flocks sometimes with only a few pairs and this is the case at Udale Bay where a small number of eiders feed on the localised colonies of mussels at Newhall Point. There, when the tide is right, you can sit in your car and watch eiders feeding only twenty yards away.
Ducks are often specialised feeders such as the sea ducks feeding on mussels, crabs and shrimps and where these are plentiful they attract more birds. Such is the case with the relatively shallow water off the Burghead Point. You can sit there and watch common and velvet scoters, eiders, long tailed ducks and goldeneye. There can also be goosanders and mergansers with them and red throated and black throated divers. On freshwater lochs there can also be a good variety of ducks but it really depends on the vegetation in and on the margins of lochs. On Loch Duntelchaig for example there are large areas of water virtually devoid of vegetation wehere there are few ducks there. Loch Flemington on the other hand, a few miles east of Inverness, is well vegetated and shallow and at this time of the year you could see ten species of duck there. If you were lucky you might also see some of the Highlands rarities there such as smew and garganey.
Hides are a convenient way of watching ducks as the birds are not disturbed and they often feed quite close to the hides so that good views can be obtained. There are a number of hides on coastal sites mainly because there are often so many birds feeding or resting on the exposed mud and sand. There are hides at Udale Bay, Nigg Bay, Findhorn and the Longman in Inverness. We could do with some more inland hides such as the one at Loch Ruthven. This RSPB hide was refurbished a few years ago and most people go there in the summer to see the rare Slavonian grebes breeding. A winter visit can also be rewarding as, although there are relatively few ducks there apart from mallard and teal, each winter normally brings a smew, sometimes one of the fabulous looking male birds. For more information look in the popular guide "The top 52 birdwatching sites in the Highlands" especially the up-dated one published in 2006 by the RSPB.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Deer

9th February 2009 - Deer

Some of the latest figures for the number of deer in Britain are disturbing as there are believed to be 2 million and this could be an under-estimate. Many people think that from this 2 million there should be an annual cull of 500,000 whereas in fact the present cull only takes out around 350,000. The increase in numbers is reflected to a certain extent in the Highlands as regards red deer and roe deer are concerned. Elsewhere in Britain they also have to contend with increasing numbers of not only red and roe but also fallow deer, muntjac and to a lesser extent Chinese water deer.
The problem lies in peoples perception of deer, including in the Highlands. For some people deer are iconic emblems of the countryside such as a red deer stag roaring away in the rut. All deer are valuable sources of venison and when handled and cooked in the right way the meat is superb and is healthy to eat. The problem is that it has to be handled correctly and in the past this has been a problem and put many cooks off. In the last decade large sums of money have been spent in attracting the average household cook to try venison and at last it seems it is working. Deer are also an attraction in the tourist industry and of course to trophy hunters. For the right heads and antlers of deer, both red and roe, considerable sums of money can change hands. In contrast some of the more fragile habitats in the Highlands have been overgrazed by too many deer. Too many deer mean that overall the condition of deer can suffer and there is always the problem of increasing collisions with traffic.
Along with the latest estimates for deer numbers and estimates for cull figures, there have been current distribution maps for all the six species of deer in Britain. These are quite fascinating, including coverage of the Highlands. Surprisingly the roe deer are more widely distributed in Britain and even in the Highlands there are a few parts where roe are present but not red. One of the reasons for this is that in the last few decades roe have been venturing out onto relatively open moorland. At one time roe were essentially woodland animals and only came out to the margins during the cover of darkness. Roe deer venison has always been more prized than red deer and in the past most roe carcases were exported to the Continent. This has been reflected in venison prices paid by game merchants in the Highlands that have nearly always been higher.
The distribution of fallow deer in the Highlands shows some records from just west and north west of Inverness. These may well be descendants of those that were let out of a wildlife park near Beauly some years ago. The sika map is intriguing as we tend to forget that the sika in Scotland, including the Highlands, is the main concentration for the whole of Britain. One of the problems with sika is that they hybridise with red deer and nobody seem to know how widespread this hybridisation has become. One difficulty lies in the fact that you cannot identify a sika/red hybrid by eye so there may be far more than we think, let us hope not. The map for the tiny muntjac deer again raises the possibility of it being present this far north. The map shows some records for around the northern part of the Great Glen. Is it possible they are there and have gone undetected?

Ray Collier Country Diary- Grey Seals

2nd February 2009 - Grey Seals

Grey Seals and common seal have been very much in the news recently with old reports and new ones. All of them are related to the killing of seals both legally and illegally around the coasts of the Highlands and Islands. To put all this into perspective it is worth remembering that for centuries the culling of both species of seals took place. The grey seals were easier to kill as both pups and adults are at their breeding grounds for a few weeks in the Autumn . These gatherings are called rookeries and the cows have their pups there and mate with the bulls. The pups cannot enter the sea until the whitish coat has moulted. Likewise the cows are tied to the pup to feed it and so they could be approached. The common seal has a different life cycle as they have pups on islands or sand banks and the pups can swim on the next tide so they are difficult to approach.
Culling of grey seals took place so that people could use their oil for lamps, their skins for waterproofs, rubber boots and export. The meat was also eaten and when many of the even smaller marine islands were occupied seals and their killing were a necessity of life. Before the depopulation of many island such as the Monach Isles in the Western Isles so many seals were taken that the numbers reached an all time low. In 1914 it was thought, probably mistakenly, that there were only 500 grey seals left in the whole of Great Britain. Legislation was then brought in to protect the grey seal. The low numbers of grey seals probably led to the comments in a local newspaper dated 20.11.1908. A Mr Berry was out wildfowling in the estuary of the River Beauly when he shot a score of common seals. Amongst them was an eight feet long grey seal. It states that "This species is usually found on the Scandinavian and Icelandic coasts". Perhaps the small, remote colonies of grey seals off the Scottish coasts were unknown apart from any local people.
Grey seals and their pups were still being culled in the 1960s and beyond and it reached a peak, as reported in the press recently, in 1978. The government planned a cull of 5,000 grey seals and their pups in Orkney and North Rona, north of Lewis because of their depredation of fish. Norwegian marksmen were called in and the boats were assembled for the cull despite protesters trying to stop them. However, there was such a public outcry that Jim Callaghan stopped the cull. To save the government’s face the Scottish secretary was invited to review the evidence. It is still being reviewed despite increasing opposition from fishermen.
Common seals have not done so well in recent times mainly because of the phocine distemper virus also called the "seal plague" that broke out in 1988. The disease affected both common and grey seals but particularly common seals. 18,000 of them died in Europe with 3,000 of them around the British Isles. Although a previously unidentified virus was found to be ultimately responsible, many aspects of the disease are still not fully understood. What did come from the deaths was a much greater interest and concern of people as to how we were, and are, abusing our oceans and seas. Now the latest cause for concern is the falling numbers of common seal in the last few years. Nobody is quite sure why but it is emerging that large numbers have been illegally killed every year.

Ray Collier Country Diary-Corn Dollies

26th January 2009 - Corn Dollies

Corn Dollies, figures and designs made from plaited straw, have been used for a variety of purposes such as brooches, an omen of good luck, decorating Christmas trees, love tokens and as a variety of symbols. The origin of the first Corn Dolly goes back a very long way in the myth and folk-lore of the Highlands, ever since the first corn was grown as opposed to gathering wild grain, and it is based on the important customs surrounding the harvest of the corn. In the early days, it was felt that because of the wonders of crops with good years and bad years there ought to be some way to appease the Gods. This developed from what was then thought of as a mystery and so the supposed myth of the Corn Mother, Corn Spirit or more commonly Corn Maiden came into being. In the early days these would have been almost pagan rites but for a long time it has been associated with a more Christian view of the harvest and the countryside. This spirit was thought to live in the cornfields and it was essential that the last straw being cut in the field was kept so the life-force of the field was preserved. The Corn Dolly or straw ornament was made from the last sheaf of the field and carried on the last processional load to the farmhouse where it was preserved until the next spring. The last sheaf would be made into the likeness of a girl, hence the Corn Dolly or Corn Maiden, although the size and shape varied from parish to parish or even from farm to farm. There were also variations as to who cut the last sheaf, with sometimes the farmer cutting it while in other areas it might be the youngest person out in the field, whether boy or girl. Sometimes the Corn Maiden was simply kept in the farmhouse, while in some cases they were always kept in the local church. What happened to it in the spring also varied, with some giving it to the horses to eat at the first ploughing of the spring, whilst others felt it should go back into the soil, and it was turned in at the first ploughing. In some cases the Corn Maiden is simple in design, while others were more complex and they often have local names like the one in the photograph which is known as the Ivy Maid, although as Corn Maidens go it is small at about 13 inches high. Until a few years ago there was still someone making Corn Dollies near Inverness. with a wide variety of shapes being made for sale and a number of craft and gift shops stocking them. None seemed to have been made for some years and they were difficult to find in the shops. Perhaps it is one of the countryside traditions in the Highlands that had gone forever. People in England still make them and glossy leaflets with the old designs can be found. Some farmers still make the traditional crops specifically for Corn Dollies with long firm stalks, especially of wheat. One such leaflet has 44 designs as well as Christmas tree decorations. As for the Highlands all is not lost as in the last few years a lady living in Inverurie in Aberdeenshire has been making a whole range of Corn Dollies with old and new designs. She is Elaine Lindsay and she obtained her Craftsman Award with the Guild of Straw Craftsmen in 1999. Her wide range of work can be found on her website under - www.somethingcorny.co.uk

Ray Collier Country Diary- Corncrakes

19th January 2009 - Corncrakes

"Crex crex" are two unique words as they not only admirably describe the call of the corncrake but they are also its Latin name. At one time the birds were widespread in Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands. On the Isle of Rum there are old game books that record the fact that corncrakes were at one time shot on the island. By the early 1990s the numbers had drastically declined although there were still a few birds on the Western Isles when the recovery programme was started. As with all such programmes it is the hidden costs that are significant, such as monitoring the birds. Grants enabled farmers and crofters to manage fields, particularly hay fields, in such a way that the vegetation afforded protection to young and adults and food. The photograph shows the flower rich vegetation called "machair" on South Uist with orchids and other plants such as silver weed and buttercups. These are important areas for feeding corncrakes.
For various reasons only the "core" areas have been monitored on an annual basis and these include many of the off shore islands such as Coll, Tiree, Iona, Oronsay and Islay, along with the Outer Hebrides. The RSPB worked with the farmers and crofters to produce corncrake friendly hay meadows and, just as important, the field margins that also give cover and rich insect life. All the signs were good as the numbers of calling males, called "crexing males", steadily rose. In the first study year, 1993, there were 446 then in the year 2000 there were 591 and it still rose year by year until in 2007 there were 1236 calling males. Then there was the unexplained dip in 2008 to 1140 males that is still being investigated.
Compared to the osprey, sea eagle and red kite the efforts in the Highlands to increase the number of pairs of corncrakes has had little publicity in the various media. Even less is heard of the innovative "Nene Washes Corncrake Project" in eastern England. Studies in the 1990s made it clear that corncrakes need vegetation ( 20 cm +) which the birds can easily walk through. The vegetation must also be rich in insects and should only be cut late in the summer. In 2001 a re-introduction programme was started with birds reared at Whipsnade Zoo being released after acclimatisation in pens. It is too early to say if the programme has been successful but 23 adult male corncrakes have been recorded on the site and 12 males were calling there in 2008.
To give an idea of its former distribution in Britain the birds have attracted a number of poets including John Clare who lived in Northamptonshire. In the 1820s he wrote two poems about what he called the landrail and he also included it in his written notes. His poem "The Landrail" starts with the lines "How sweet and pleasant grows the way/Through summer time again/While Landrails call from day to day/Amid the grass and grain." The corncrake was obviously a common breeding bird in Clare’s time and he recorded the fact that the young could run as soon as the egg hatched and the adults were seen dust-bathing. The bird has also attracted Scottish poets such as Robert Burns who in his poem "Elegy to Captain Matthew Henderson" wrote "Mourn, clam’ring craiks at close o’ day/ ’Mang fields o’ flowering clover gay;".
Local names for the corncrake include corn drake, craik and grass quail whilst the Scots names include weet-my-fit, king of the quail and daker. The abundance of such names may be indicative of its secretive habits and its incessant calls. Even the Gaelic names are varied with four indicated in one book including Traona and Racan-arbhai with one interpretation being "Croaking one of the corn sheaf"

Ray Collier Country Diary- Winter migrants

12th January - Winter migrants

Birds have been very much in the news in the last few weeks as the various forms of media have highlighted various aspects. The RSPB’s press release about its report "Bird of Prey Persecution 2007" highlighted the fact that the illegal killing of birds is still high. The facts are increasingly disturbing especially when it was revealed that it was the worse year on record for red kite poisoning in Scotland with 12 birds taken. Another aspect was that certain birds, including wildfowl and waders that regular winter in Britain are declining in numbers. One of the reasons was believed to be that global warming meant that birds from arctic regions were staying where they bred and not migrating. What was, unfortunately, not made clear was whether they were declining on their breeding grounds. If they were not declining then this meant they did not have to face the hazards of long range flights.
These accounts, whilst very interesting, was not the talking point of the last three weeks by any means. What was on many peoples minds and thoughts was a bird about the size of a starling that suddenly appeared in large numbers. Sometimes they were in hedgerows, sometimes in parks and sometimes in peoples gardens and they were waxwings. Large scale movements of birds are often called "eruptions" and one involving waxwings is always exciting partly because the birds are so attractive and partly because they are often very tame. They have never bred in Britain and visiting winter numbers can vary from a few dozen individuals to up to 12,000. Waxwings breed in Scandinavia and beyond and the main reason for them visiting Britain is if the crop of berries, rowan in particular, is small.
Waxwings always make the news because they look so exotic but there are many other such birds and in gardens in and around Inverness you are likely to see them. Blackbirds are a good example as one day you may not see a single bird in the garden then the next day there may be two or three. Most breeding blackbirds in the Highlands are resident but some move to southern Europe. Blackbirds in northern and eastern Europe are migrants and some of these come to the Highlands. So the blackbird you may see in your garden may well have bred in Scandinavia. Even the robin in your garden may not have bred there. Most robins in the Highlands are sedentary and do not move more than 5km from their nesting site. However some of these breeding birds move away and are replaced by birds from northern Europe. They arrive along the east coast of Britain, including the Highlands, between August and November and will stay for the winter.
In the last week there has been movement of other winter migrants we are more familiar with such as redwings and fieldfares. There are a number of mixed flocks of these birds around the Highlands and they are easy to identify even in flight. The birds are constantly calling as if it holds the flock together as "contact" calls. The "chack chack chack" calls of the fieldfare is loud whilst the "seeip" call of the redwing is more shrill. A small number, just a few pairs, of both species breed each year in the Highlands but their main breeding grounds are in Scandinavia. Both species feed mainly on various sorts of berries but these are in such short supply in and around Inverness this year that the birds will just have to fly quickly on, south and west, until they find a berry source.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Rooks

5th January 2009 - Rooks

At this time of the year the most obvious flocks of mixed birds around Inverness are members of the crow family. These flocks vary in size although up to 100 birds are not uncommon. Such flocks are conspicuous partly because of their size and generally black looking plumage. They also spend most of their time in open fields and are often very noisy with their harsh call notes. The flocks generally contain four members of the crow family namely the rook, jackdaw, hooded crow and carrion crow. At dusk some of these flocks gather together in large roosts sometimes numbering a few hundred birds and they normally resort to woodland to spend the hours of darkness. The birds start to gather together late in the afternoon whilst it is still light and their calls can sometimes be heard from some distance even after they have gone to roost.
There are a number of advantages in forming flocks during the winter and one of these is to guard against predators. One element of this is the fact that the fitter and stronger birds tend to be in the middle of the flock so that the weaker birds are on the outside. The predator, such as a peregrine, will often go for one of these outer birds. There is also the fact that a predator may get confused with so many birds milling around as selecting just one can be difficult. Such flocks of the birds also means there are so many eyes that can see a predator and raise the alarm. With so many birds a food source is easier to locate although the offside of this is that there are many more birds to feed once the food has been located.
This communal gathering also takes place with some smaller birds and such is the case in woodland. A recent large flock in woodland near Loch Ashie just south of Inverness was a good example. The woodland was dominated by oak, rowan and birch with some conifers and the mixture was obviously providing much needed food after the recent snowfalls. There seemed to be birds everywhere with possibly forty or more involved although with such small birds the actual number was difficult to see. The most active and vocal birds were the great tits, blue tits and coal tits. Some of the coal tits were feeding under the twigs and needles which gave them an advantage over the others. The treecreeper, only a single one apparently, gave itself away by its short, high pitched call as it went up a trunk and then flew down to start again. Treecreepers can be so difficult to pick out in woodland as they camouflage so well. Goldcrests were also present and the bunch of seven long tailed tits seemed to keep roughly together although within the flock. The most exciting birds were the two crested tits.
These birds will stay together for the rest of the winter exploring woodland, scrub and hedges in their endless search for food. The first to break away for nesting in the spring will be the long tailed tits. They can breed in mid to late March and last year they gained by doing this. They already had young off by the time the cold weather appeared in late May whilst the great and blue tits did not fare so well. Whilst the great, blue and coal tits have been common garden birds after peanuts in gardens some of the others have been more recent visitors. Long tailed tits are now frequent visitors to peanuts holders in gardens.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Brown Rats

Brown Rats - 30th December 2008

Brown rats can be readily identified as adults by their eleven inch long head and body and the nine inch tail. The colour of the coat varies from brown to black but is generally brown or grey streaked above and paler grey below. Sometimes there is a white patch on the chest and light coloured forelegs. The tail is thick, dark above and pale beneath and is often scaly and the ears are short with some hairs. Tracks of prints are star like and the tail is rarely dragged unless in soft mud, sand or snow. Pathways or runs between holes appear as depressions in soil or plants. One feature of the runs or paths is that if they are used over long periods whenever the rat’s body touches an object the fur leaves a dark greasy deposit. They are found in many places associated with man such as farmyards, refuse tips, sewerage systems, game rearing pens and gardens. They can also exist away from these places such as the bottom of hedgerows and in field crops. Shore lines such as the firths around Inverness often attract them and they take virtually any carrion that is found washed up. They swim readily and will colonise islands on lochs and lochans if the food supply on them is adequate.
The origins of the brown rat is thought to have been in Asia, possibly China, and it arrived in Europe in the first part of the 18th century and was first recorded in England in 1720. It was also known as the Norway rat but did not occur in that country until 1762. The black rat came to Britain with the Romans but despite being widespread and in large numbers they were eventually ousted by the brown rat. The population of black rats now in Britain is estimated at fewer than 1,300 which, ironically, makes them one of the rarest mammals in Britain. There is a colony of black rats on the Shiant Islands off the west coast of the Highlands. In contrast the brown rat population for Britain is a minimum of 7 million and in the Highlands they are widespread and only absent from the exposed tops of hills and some marine islands
Part of the success of brown rats is due to their varied diet that includes live food such as slugs, snails, frogs, young mammals and birds eggs. They can travel three to four kilometres a night and can climb well, such as up rough walls and high into trees after birds nests and eggs. They are predated by a wide range of birds and mammals including weasels, stoats, badgers, foxes, tawny and barn owls. Currently tawny owls are taking advantage of the large number of brown rats in the Highlands and are probably the main predator.
Controlling numbers of brown rats has always been a problem and even more so in recent years with the series of mild winters we have just experienced in the Highlands. Predation on sea birds has been a serious problem on islands such as Canna and Handa and there are also problems on the Isle of Rum where predation has taken place on the world famous Manx shearwater colonies on the tops of the hills. There are various poisons that can be used but some of these can cause serious problems to other wildlife and pets by secondary poisoning if they eat dead, poisoned rats. This was so serious with red kites on the Black Isle that a code of conduct was produced.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Snowberries

Snowberries - 8th December 2008

There have been reports from around Inverness and other parts of the Highlands of a shortage of wild berries and fruits this Autumn. Whilst this will mean shortages for wildlife such as the Scandinavian thrushes it will also affect people. The Autumn ritual of collecting berries and fruits for making wine, jams, syrups and soups just did not take place in some areas. In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in what is popularly called "food for free" and the numbers of books on the subject is a testimony of this pastime. This year, in many parts, people were out but either found a complete lack of berries and fruits or in such small quantities they were not worth collecting.
Blackthorn is a popular source of small blue-black plums called sloes and they are used for making a superb jelly and the traditional liqueur, sloe gin. A less known fact is that the juice of ripe sloes can be used as an indelible marking ink. A well known source of sloes is a line of bushes along a field on the southern edge of Inverness. The normal plan is to assess the crop in late summer but a walk along the two hundred yard long stretch this Autumn revealed just six berries. There were many disappointed people after the first frosts when you are supposed to collect the sloes. In the same area are some old and very large beech trees but very few people bother to collect the mast as the fruits are called. For some reason very few books mention food from the beech although it is in Richard Mabey’s book "Food for Free" the latest edition published in 2001 by HarperCollins. The brown three sided nuts of the beech can be used for cooking oil and for beechnut butter. This Autumn these very impressive beech trees were a rich golden brown as the leaves shone in the sunlight. Not a single beech fruit was found although one explanation could be that good crops only occur every three or four years.
The rowan trees seem to vary considerably although in some areas there were very few berries compared with the last few years. Rowan berries are used to make the famous rowan jelly recommended to be served up with venison. The fresh juice can also be added to gin imparting a flavour like Angostura bitters. Those berries that were there attracted the chaffinches and family parties of mistle thrushes and most trees were soon stripped. This means that the Scandinavian thrushes simply moved through and any fieldfares and redwings still to come will also move south or west until they find some berries.
A look in various parts of the countryside gave a mixed picture for many other berries and fruits. Some areas had a reasonable crop but others were so devoid of them that there is cause for concern. Interestingly in one area the white form of berries of the raspberry seemed to be doing well whilst the normal red form was very scarce. Brambles also seemed very patchy and there were few people out picking them although the poor weather could have been another reason. One exception seemed to be the introduced snowberry that had a rich crop of the conspicuous white berries. These berries are up to 15 mm in diameter and the photograph was taken on the roadside on the Black Isle. Ironically we cannot put this surplus of fruit to any use as it is poisonous. Perhaps all these berries and fruits are cyclic and will be back to normal next year.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Collard Doves

Collard Doves - 22nd December 2008

There are plenty of pigeons and doves, sometimes called doos in the Highlands, in and around Inverness. At this time of the year large flocks of feral pigeons sometimes form of over a hundred birds or more. They will rest on the tops of buildings and, increasingly, they plunder bird tables and feeders in gardens. They compete on the tables and feeders with collared doves and, increasingly, wood pigeons. There seems to be a very variable range of colour in the feral birds and it can all be rather confusing. So what should be called doves and what should be called pigeons? The woodpigeon is straightforward with no other birds interbreeding with them. They are large plump birds with grey upperparts and pinkish underparts. Collared doves often feed with them on bird tables and the photograph was taken of one of these attractive doves on a table near Inverness. The collared dove is now widespread in the Highlands and the Western and Northern Isles. It seems difficult to accept that it did not breed in Britain until the 1950s.
The flocks of so called feral pigeons are a different and more complex matter as far as their origin is concerned. Despite their wide range of variations in colour including black and white ones they are all from the same source namely rock doves. A few decades ago there were three groups of the pigeons. One was the true rock dove that was a species in its own right. It was mainly found along the coasts of the Highlands and Islands where it bred in caves. These colonies were not necessarily remote as there are "doo" caves along the coast of the Black Isle near Ethie. Charles St. John in the 1850s went there and stood outside whilst the rock doves were disturbed and he shot them as they flew out.
Another group of pigeons were in the doocots scattered throughout the Highlands and Northern Isles, but for some reason, not the Western Isles. As these very old buildings fell into disuse the pigeons fared well in the general countryside and as they spread they met and paired successfully with the rock doves. The third group were the pigeons of the lofts holding birds for racing. Some of these birds just never came back, for a wide range of reasons, from their races. They moved into the countryside and they too made contact with rock doves and paired successfully.
The result of the masses of feral pigeons in various parts of the Highlands is that it seems likely that there are no true rock doves now breeding anywhere in the Highlands and Islands. A decade or so ago, perhaps even longer, there were claims that true rock doves still bred in the Western and Northern Isles. The current picture is unclear but what is the fact is that even 15 years ago there was a feral pigeon with a small party of rock doves on North Rona, forty miles north east of Lewis. The current feral flocks cause damage to structures by their droppings and compete with other birds for food, even in gardens within Inverness. To many people they are treasured and people just love feeding them. To others they are called " rats with wings" because they consume so much. Part of their success is that they have been found breeding in every month of the year even in winter. Such is the case in Inverness and other towns simply because the temperature is often several degrees higher that the surrounding countryside.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Herons

Herons - 15th December 2008

Herons, with their very long legs, long necks and large dagger shaped beaks cannot really be confused with any other bird in the Highlands. Whilst there is pink colouring on the beak and legs the plumage is essentially black and white and varying shades of grey. These large birds can be found in wide variety of places and seem equally at home fishing the shallows of the firths to the burns inland. They can be seen in fields where they hunt frogs and small animals such as voles or in the shallow bays of freshwater lochs. They are not averse to coming into garden ponds, even small ones, after goldfish and other types of fish, and if they come in at first light, as they often do, they can take fish before anybody is up in time to see them. They take a very wide variety of freshwater and saltwater fish from sticklebacks to fish so large you wonder how the birds cope. The studies on the herons diet that have been undertaken show that the largest percentage of food in rivers are eels. With such a powerful looking beak it would seem natural to pierce a fish but this approach is unusual. Normally fish, even large one, are gripped rather than skewered, and then there is a great deal of manoeuvring as the fish has to be positioned so that it can be swallowed head first. If the fish is large and struggling then the heron will walk or fly ashore so that if it drops its prey it is not lost in the water.
Whilst part of the success of the heron in recent years is its ability to feed in a wide range of habitats the range of its food is also important. They tend to take fish but will also take large numbers of frogs especially in the spring when the frogs are active and vocal during the mating season. Water birds are also taken especially ducklings whilst dippers have been on their diet. They will also go for larger birds and water rails and moorhens have been recorded. Historically there were few enemies of herons although they were much valued at one time as falconry targets for the peregrine falcon. The problem was that the heron was considered a coward as rather than confront its pursuer it chose to fly ever upwards. Herons also featured on old recipes and were on the menus in many banquets as "heron pudding". Apart from persecution by anglers and fish farms, which still take place albeit illegally, it is severe winters that take their toll. The continuing series of mild winters has meant the birds have increased at some colonies. Another factor has been the clean up of some river catchments areas in recent years which has meant an improvement in numbers and health of fish.
Herons can be seen virtually anywhere in the Highlands and surveys have been carried out at regular intervals so the distribution of their colonies, called heronries, are fairly well known. In last years two volumes of "The Birds of Scotland" from the Scottish Ornithologists Club there is an interesting map of the heronries. Those with more than 30 nests are marked and there are ten of them. Two are near Inverness, on the Black Isle and near Clachnaharry on the west side of Inverness. There are two on the east coast, two on the west coast and four on the Western Isles where one is in a reed bed. There are many other smaller colonies and sometimes only one or two nests are involved.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Mink

Mink - 1st December 2008

Escapes of non-native mammals into the wild have caused serious problems in the Highlands such as the damage to agriculture by the rabbit and sika deer, either introduced for sport such as in Strathdearn south of Inverness or escapes from deer parks such as Rosehall in Sutherland that brought their own problems. Sika are now freely hybridising with red deer to the extent that some people believe there will eventually be no pure red deer anywhere in mainland Scotland. Perhaps the most calamitous of all the introductions has been the North American mink that was originally imported to Britain in the late 1920s with the aim of breeding them in captivity for their valuable pelts. The first mink farms in Scotland were established in 1938 but everyone underestimated the ability of the mink to escape and they soon became established in the wild.
Mink are about the size of a pine marten but slightly smaller with the original wild ones being dark chocolate brown which looks black especially when wet. There is often a white chin patch and the white varies in shape and size so no individual is the same. The mink in captivity were bred to a variety of shades and colours, but once breeding in the feral state the offspring soon revert to the original colour and pattern. The normal litter is five to six and the young are weaned after eight weeks, reach adult size in four months, and can breed the following year. The breeding sites, called dens, have been found in a variety of places such as in tree trunks, and holes and crevices among stones including scree.
Soon after the mink were brought into the "fur-farms" there were reports of escapes and of feral mink living in the wild, but it was not until 1956 that the first breeding was noted. At first the animals were regarded as pests and they were trapped and shot wherever possible, and although thousands were killed it had little effect on the populations. At one time there was even a school of thought that said we might as well accept the mink as an addition to our wildlife as it seemed to be permanently established and in any case eradification did not seem a possibility. As the mink numbers rose and it spread through much of the landscape from hills to coastline and woodland to moorland their effect became more apparent. Part of its success is the very wide range of food they will predate. Rabbits, where common, are a major food but myxymatosis still effects the numbers of rabbits and other food is sought . Mink on the coast can cause havoc in seabird colonies and any ground nesting birds. Breeding birds on islands are often predated such as gulls and terns and some of these colonies were wiped out. Coastal mink will feed on prey found in rock pools such as crab and blenny whilst in rivers they take all species of fish but especially the slow moving ones such as eels. There is evidence that they have had a devastating affect on water voles and on some rivers and burns these increasingly rare mammals have been wiped out. At one time it was thought that mink displaced otters but now the reverse seems the case so there must have been other factors involved. It now seems that where otters moved into rivers and burns the mink move out. Better techniques for capturing mink have now evolved so there is the chance that the numbers of mink can at last be controlled.

Ray Collier Country Diary- Eels

Eels - 24th November 2008

Adult freshwater eels, sometimes called yellow eels, are dark brown along the back and more yellow below. Its serpentine form and slimy body is unmistakable and it is unusual in that the fins extend all along the body to the tail. The front part of the fish is rounded but towards the tail it is more flattened. The scales are transparent, small and deeply-embedded in the skin and laid down as concentric rings. The migration of eels and their life history has been one of the all-time wildlife mysteries and the very early stages are still being solved. The true story was not revealed until the first three decades of the 20th century and it began 2,500 miles away in the Sargasso Sea - so called after the floating seaweed of that name. The eggs have never been found nor, for that matter, no spawning eel has ever been seen. The smallest eels found in the Sargasso were about half an inch long with remains of their yolk sacs which means they were close to their birthplace. They soon start drifting across the Atlantic and reach the coasts of Europe. Round the British coasts the young eels will stay in brackish water for a few weeks and then they begin to move into freshwater. At this stage they are called elvers and in some rivers millions move with the tides, and their exploitation as food has been overtaken by their use to stock rivers in other countries. In the Highlands, these elvers can be seen entering water courses from rivers to burns, some of the latter only two feet across. These tiny eels have been recorded several miles inland trying to scale the dam walls of hydro-electric schemes. They can wriggle through wet moss on the side of waterfalls and they can scale wet, almost vertical, rocks. They are probably the most widespread fish in the Highlands, for a number of reasons, although mainly unrecorded because of their nocturnal and mud dwelling habits. One of these is that large eels have extraordinary means of reaching even land-locked water bodies such as ponds and lochs. The slimy coat of mucus prevents drying and water loss and helps them survive out of water for long periods and they simply wriggle from one area to another. The eel in the photograph was well away from water but it was raining. The British rod- caught record is about 11 lbs but much larger eels have been found either dead or when a loch is drained. Eels have been found weighing 23 lbs and 27 lbs with both being over five feet long. When underwater cameras have explored Loch Ness there have been many sightings of huge eels sliding away on the bottom. Their food depends on their size and a wide range of prey is taken such as snails, frogs, tadpoles, fish eggs and smaller eels. They have many predators, particularly in the smaller stages, and they are a common prey of goosanders and mergansers as well as pike and ferox trout. Herons can often be seen feeding on eels along the Moray Firth and the birds even have special feathers that produce a powder that is used to coagulate the slime of eels so that it can be removed by the bird’s claw. Some eels mature by the time they are nine years old but others have been recorded over 50 years old before they return to the sea and back to the Sargasso to lay eggs and die. When they start the return journey they change colour and are known as silver eels because they are grey backed and silver bellied.