Birds...little and large.

A few private yachts and cruisers have been braving the elements this week on Loch Ness as well as the usual trawlers and working craft. The cruise ship 'Lord of the Glens' glided quietly by with passengers looking forward to their Easter break. I don't think they will be doing much sunbathing on the upper deck though as the temperature has dropped to single figures again and snow is forecast for next week on lower ground. When we moved up here 14 years ago it was snowing in late April then and we thought it was really wonderful as we still do.

The birds have been singing their hearts out lately and it can be really noisy at certain times of the day, making you feel as if you are in the tropical rain forest somewhere. Flocks of colourful green and yellow male siskins have arrived along with their rather dowdy female companions and are gorging on the sunflower hearts.

Down at Loch Garten Osprey Centre EJ, the female osprey, has recently returned to the nesting site for the 8th season and is awaiting Odin her mate to arrive from Africa, a journey of 3,000 miles. The Osprey Centre opens on April 1st and is a good visit as you can watch these magnificent birds of prey up close on the giant webcam as they dive for fish and rear their young chicks.
We will be looking out for Ollie - the osprey who has a nest somewhere near Loch Ness and we often see him from April onwards hovering over the loch looking for a fishy lunch.We have seen him dive into the water and emerge with a fish and also seen him chased off by a brave gang of hooded crows.

Spring is here at last.

The weather has been improving this week and we have been able to sit outside although a jacket is required due to the slight chill off the water of Loch Ness. The temperature has been into double figures and the forecast is for it to stay that way but with the possibility of a ground frost some nights. Had a few welcome rain showers which has washed alot of the snow away from the mountain tops opposite and the roads are now quite clear. Last Friday was very windy here and a spectacular wind speed of 113mph was recorded at the top of Cairn Gorm...luckily we did not have it that bad!

The level of the loch has been very high although the family of resident swans near Fairigaig Pier seem to be enjoying life... Fred MacAulay should have chosen this week to camp on the pier. We met some young lads eager to fish off the pier after seeing the TV programme. Looking forward to this Sunday when the clocks go ahead one hour so it will be lighter later.

Sport Relief Challenge.

On three of the coldest days of the worst winter for 30 years Fred MacAulay and Dougie Vipond set out on a Sport Relief Challenge. Their challenge was to paddle a tandem kayak the length of the Caledonian Canal from Fort William on the west coast to Inverness on the east coast of the Highlands of Scotland. Unfortunately at 8am on day one [22 Feb] they found the Canal at Neptune's Staircase near Fort William was frozen solid with thick ice so they had no option but to carry their 25 ft boat and paddles and walk alongside the canal. They covered more than 7 miles by lunchtime mainly by foot and managed to pitch their tent near Loch Oich for the night. On day two we just caught sight of them as they passed our house in their kayak with a TV crew in the parallel orange craft.They made better time than we expected and nearly caught us out. Above them was a TV crew in a helicopter filming scenes of the Great Glen for the forthcoming TV programme. Although the temperatures were well below zero day and night the sky remained a clear blue so the Great Glen and Loch Ness should look spectacular in the film.

Unbeknown to us they actually camped on Farigaig Pier for the night...we thought they would stay in Dores village or camp on the beach - so Farigaig Pier could be famous at last!
This TV programme is called 'Up a long Creek' and is to be shown this coming Wednesday 17th March on BBC1 Scotland from 9 to 10pm - so do take a look.
Loch Ness has increasingly become a very popular holiday destination for kayak enthusiasts.

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Chanonry Point dolphin display.

Guests staying in our holiday cottage on South Loch Ness Side went to Chanonry Point on the Black Isle where they were lucky enough to see about 15 bottlenose dolphins.
It is one of the best dolphin spotting sites in Europe with a large resident population of bottlenose dolphins.
Chanonry Point is a spit of sand that juts out into a narrow but deep channel of the Moray Firth opposite Fort George. Here different currents converge bringing fish close to the surface and thus the dolphins close to the shore. Prime dolphin spotting time is the hour or so before high tide as the dolphins come in on the tide in their hunt for food.
Bottlenose dolphins are very adept at leaping clear of the water often in unison with other dolphins in their group and can sometimes put on a spectacular display. Although we have been to Chanonry Point several times we have not always been lucky enough to see them as they cannot be guaranteed to show. Even so - there are picnic tables to sit at and enjoy lunch while watching and hoping for them to appear.