Walter and the Sparrows

There are lots and lots of Sparrows at Treshnish, and they are a delight to watch. There are lots of fledglings around and still some chirping from nests in the eaves of the steading.    However Walter doesn't like them.  I don't know if it is that their chattering is too high pitched for his ears or what, but when he hears a big gaggle of them, he runs at high speed to the base of the tree or bush they might be in, and tries to disturb them.  They then fly off in a cloud to another bush, and he runs after them.  Luckily he cannot fly so they are perfectly safe. 

Cap, at 14, takes life quite slowly these days.

Walter was shorn last week.  He has such long hair, he must feel a lot cooler now! 

Foxgloves are still flowering, and attracting lots of Bees. 

This year we are in a new environmental scheme and the change in focus of the scheme has altered our grazing management.  Today Farmer put sheep into the Black Park.   For the last 15 years or so we have had to exclude sheep from this field until the end of August or even September.   This long summer grazing break allowed all the flowers to safely set seed before being nibbled off by the sheep.  It goes against the grain to graze it now, as if the wild flowers don't matter this summer.  

I am relieved that the Greater butterfly, Fragrant and Northern marsh orchids have all finished flowering and started fruiting - hopefully the sheep won't give them a second glance now.    The Devils bit scabious hasn't started flowering yet, and the sheep are bound to dine out on them once they do flower.  Same with the Knapweed.  

So after 5 years of this new grazing management, it will be interesting (slightly nerve-racking) to see how this affects the abundance of wild flowers we have been used to in the past.  

Left to right: Coco, Nyje, Jan, Farmer and Walter (as always at Farmer's side). Cap is leading the way ahead of Farmer, not really visible. 

We have about 30 Rock doves now hanging round the farmyard all the time.  Checking out the bird feeders, which Farmer keeps moving in the hope they won't be able to extract any grain.  But they always outwit him.  They fly into the hen run and just help themselves from the hopper of grain.  

Every now and then we find feathers, and know that a bird of prey has caught one. 

A good day for dung spreading.

Found a nest of eggs in the montbretia this morning so have boiled them for the dogs.  They were not consumed as a special treat for Mother's Day! 

It was a good day for dung spreading.

Farmer loaded this hay onto the trailer this morning as he fears it is the source of the eye infection (blindness) some of the Zwartble hoggs have got now.  It is obviously not good for the animals, but involves alot of work for Farmer too.  He has separated them now and treated them, but as they are all hugger mugger round the troughs at the moment it is likely more will show symptoms.  Not good.

Anyway back to the dung spreading.  The spreader is empty so Farmer is coming back to load up again.

Loading up.

Not a bad view from the tractor.

Quick look over at the deer fence - where it leans in (centre right of picture) to the wood is where a feed trough was blown against the fence in a storm!

Down to Calgary.

Full load again and off he goes.

Spreading!

And more. It is slow going.

Another ship passing.

Back to the house for lunch.   The hens love scratching around under the bird feeders.

And in the afternoon, Farmer and I went for a walk with the dogs. It was a nice surprise to be re-united with the long lost dog bowl, which must have blown off the back door step in a storm, into the burn and been washed down the beach.

The green in this picture are the daffodils, planted in the 1970s as part of the Hebridean Bulb venture. A government aided project..which failed. The turf covered wall is part of the late Medieval graveyard.

Putting a home made gate back on to keep the hoggs away from the daffodils.

Cap was happy. He found a ball on the beach.

Interesting things happening in the rock pools, but no sign of any frog spawn yet along the shore.  This picture is salt drying on the side of rock pool.

I dont know the name of this seaweed but we do eat it sometimes.

The dump! (pre 1994 I might add)

Geese and a couple of dredgers working away.  In the winds the last few nights they have come right into Calgary Bay.

And some strange things happening here as well.  We assume it is rotting seaweed from the storms.

Rubbish collection.

And a Mother's Day crocus or three in the garden.

The burn is running dry

Some ups and downs this week.  Ups include the builders starting to put Toechtamhor's windows in, the doors for Shieling and Toechtamhor arriving from Perth and having lovely guests in 4 of the cottages all enjoying the amazing weather! Downs include the phone call from the Duill bathroom manufacturers saying that there was a fault on the shower screen and it was being replaced 2 days before guests arrived - couldn't make it up - and the phone call telling us that the scanner (coming to scan 120 ewes to find out if  they were carrying singles or twins) wasn't coming as he had broken his machine and was going home to the mainland.

I bought a second hand lens for my camera which was being sold locally.  Steps up the opportunities to try and capture some wildlife on the beach.

What a difference a fence makes - trees or no trees. 

And peering into the bird boxes.

What glorious weather to be working in. We are very relieved these huge windows are being installed in still windless weather, and not raging gales.

At Toechtamhor there is a hive of activity. Holes in walls and piles of pallets which the windows arrived on. The builders are using the airtight spec., so using tape and special expanding foam to ensure there is no heat escape.  The big windows for the kitchen living room are heavy and the old ones were really difficult to get out!  They will help improve the energy efficiency of the cottage, and look really good too.   It has been reassuring to see that the cavity wall insulation has been done really well too, as when the old window comes out you can see the foam all around the opening.

A haar has been rolling in and out of view during the last few days.

Farmer was clearing out the cattle shed this week, and the pile of dung was popular with the hoodies.

Disappointment about the scanning not happening is major.  Not only does it involve time in gathering the ewes in from various points to be ready and waiting for the scanner to arrive.  But the results of the scanning would have meant that the ewes would have been fed according to the number of lambs they were carrying, and those who were not in lamb would have been kept separate.  This is obviously good proactive management and having decided to start scanning again, it was irritating to be thwarted at the very last minute.  The scanner, with his faulty machine, has returned to the mainland!

This birch tree is in one of the woodland schemes, fenced off from stock. You can just make out the deep colour of the profusion of new growth around the base.

This wall was built for the film Eye of the Needle.  The moles are busy everywhere - meandering lines of molehills appearing all over the place. 

Jan, with a head for heights. On the Dun, at Haunn.

Looking at flowers on the Dun - today! Skylarks were singing.  

Out and about in Calgary bay and beyond.  The weather has really shortened the winter.  March - and it feels like spring is here.  The 2 turbines have been having a rest, while the PV and solar have been flat out! We are very lucky to have a mixture of renewable technologies.

Some escaped sheep in Salen earlier in the week. 

More of the mists. No more calves to report. The male calves have been castrated, and those cows who have calved are going out to the hill above Toechtamhor any day.  

This hair is from a Red Deer.  They jump the fence by the Ensay bridge, looking for a way into Treshnish's green and pleasant land.