At the western end of Loch Quoich, where the single track road rounds a headland near a burn called the Alt Nighean Eobhain, I came upon a small group of grazing Red Deer (Cervus elaphus).
I was struck at first that all of the deer in the group were stags until I read that for much of the year the stags and hinds lead separate lives, forming separate-sex herds. Male calves live with their mothers for a couple of years, but with the onset of maturity they leave to join male herds. This group were quite nervous of me but with care I was lucky enough to get close views and take the following pictures ...
A young stag with the steep slopes of Sgurr Mor, on the south side of Loch Quoich, in the background
Another of the group with Loch Quoich in the background
This second piece describing my recent wildlife cruise on Loch Carron looks at Common Seals (Phoca vitulina).
Shortly after leaving Plockton on the Sula Mhor, we passed a small rocky island where a group of Common Seals were basking.
The Common Seal, referred to as the Harbour Seal in other parts of the world, is associated with sheltered seas and is widespread on the east coast of England and the coasts generally around Scotland and Ireland. They have a rather friendly-looking face and are little more than half the size of the Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus) I more commonly see on the Farne Islands and at other locations along the Northumberland coast. They tend to be rather nervous and wary animals and in most circumstances are less inquisitive than their Grey cousins.
There are believed to be over 350 Common Seals resident in the Plockton area. You can see more picture pictures of Common Seals at Loch Carron on Callum Mackenzie's website
After spending the first three months of 2011 decorating almost all of my house, and taking the time since to recover, I took myself off to Scotland for a short break last week to stay with my Invergarry friend at her home on the shores of Loch Oich. Sadly, as she is moving to the south of England in June, this was to be the last holiday I would spend with her in her Highland home.
On Wednesday we travelled to Plockton, to the north of the Kyle of Lochalsh, meeting another friend for lunch before taking a wildlife cruise on Loch Carron. The cruise turned out to be one of those never-to-be-forgotten moments.
A rather cold and damp Loch Carron seen from the departure point (cruise boat not shown in this picture)
Our cruise boat, the Sula Mhor, followed a course up Loch Carron towards a fish farm where Calum the captain told us we were almost certain to see the dolphins. We didn't but kept on cruising further up the loch towards Strome Ferry and beyond to Lochcarron village, hopeful but still without a view of them. The return trip, however, proved successful and the Loch's resident pair of female Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis), known locally as Gin and Tonic, put on a great show for us.
Above and below: the Dolphins coming to the surface
And here, in this short video, the dolphins can be seen swimming at the bow of the Sula Mhor ...
If you are travelling in the Plockton area, do take one of Culum's cruises ...
See more here at Calum's Seal and Dolphin Trips website.
