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May 2009 - Snow, Snakes, Salmon & Sun |
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Written by Neil Robertson
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Thursday, 04 June 2009 |
May started with a snowfall on the high tops at Alladale and finished with blazing sunshine for several days so we have certainly seen a contrast in the weather this month.
The clear patches created by the spring heather burning are beginning to green up very nicely providing the variety in habitat required by the wildlife.
Salmon are back jumping at the Glencalvie Falls which is always a spectacular sight as they try to find their way back to their spawning grounds further upstream.
 Two roe bucks have been seen extending their range further up into Glen Mor which is very encouraging and the red deer stags are in velvet now.
Alladale Lodge itself and the surrounding buildings are alive with sounds of swallows, house martins and starlings busy in their breeding season. We also seem to be lucky that several pairs of cuckoos are in the area as we hear that sightings further south have been relatively poor this year.
Several adders have been seen across the estate and three adder shelters have been set up in an effort to improve our chances of seeing them.
The highlight of a bird survey early in the month was a great view of a pair of dotterel high up in the montane habitat and the survey also gave a spectacular of a fox crossing one of the lingering patches of snow. The only disappointment from the bird perspective is that we have had no sightings yet of our merlins.
Finally three silt traps that were created when the hydro-electric scheme was built are alive with tadpoles and newts and a common sandpiper is often seen there as well which just shows how easy it can be to create good wildlife habitat.
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Meet some of the wildlife you can expect to find on the reserve - including Wild Boar and Elk!
