Delving into Dalriada or beavering in Argyll

[Towlersonsafari]

We have been going to Mull, Skye and less often,the Outer Hebrides for 30 years or more, but never have we stayed on the mainland below Oban and so early in September we spent a week in a glen about 5 minutes south of Oban, with the aim to try to get a sighting on the Wild beavers of Knapdale, and generally seeing what the area had to offer.sadly a friend who was with us was in poor health so the walking jane and I would normally have done was curtailed. it is an area full of history , fine coastal scenery and whilst it is much easier to se wildlife on Mull for example, there is the chance of a wider array of species.

We will certainly be back, probably in spring or summer, for the redstarts, wood warblers etc, and for a very important beaver viewing fact that we now know!

[Towlersonsafari]

A long long time ago (dont worry I am not going to sing) one was taught at school, or even read, that the Scots wre originally Irish, and that they took over what is now Argyll, and eventually dominated the picts, an even more mysterious folk, who then politely vanished from history and thus Scotland was born! This has been the accepted view and even the Venerable Bede had a similar tale in the 730 ad's. In the last 15 years perhaps that accepted wisdom has been challanged. the Scots seem to have been in Argyll, possibly as long ago as the 2nd century ad as part of a political entity with orsimilar folk in Antrim, only about 15 miles away, and at various times until the 10th century the scots, picts, a "british" kingdom based in Dunbarton and later an "English" kingdom based in what is now Edinburgh all had periods of success.

 

 

[Towlersonsafari]

but old habits die hard so we did nip over to Mull for the day to get a fix of wildlife viewing before the expolration proper began. we ave been on Mull Charters boat trips 5-6 times now and we have always got splendid views of White tailed Eagles picking up the fish thrown for them.there is therefore no excse at all for my choice of the wrong lens- a 40-150 zoom ( full frame 80-300) which although tracking the birds wondefully, made tem much to small in the frame for me to show here. others have taken  much better shots.As soon as I changed to a 300 (full frmae 600) the eales stoppd coming and we saw-Common dolphins- and for a wonderful 20-30 minutes had splendid views of about 40-50.

if planning a mull charters trip-and you should- book at least a month in adavance and perhaps more.they now do a general wildlife trip with a maximum of 12 and a more expensive photoraphers trip of i think a maximum of 5. we were fine with the general trip.

Taking the the infinite number of monkeys writing Shakespeare maxim as my guide, i did try to photograph them , of course very badly indeed but i spared you the Eagles, so now you must suffer

[Towlersonsafari]

That day  also had 2 views of otters, one where what seemed to be 2 males, one chasing the other were both porpoising out the water , and a distant male hen harrier so a normal wonderful day on Mull

[Towlersonsafari]

the cottage did hint at red squirrels and pine martens but sadly now whilst we were there, and we did put out the usuual lures, but we did have pretty regular Roe Deer, although mostly at dusk- this was taken at 3200 and 1/25th o a second

[Towlersonsafari]

we vsited the isles of Seil (by bridge)and luing (pronounced ling)(by small ferry) and had a fine sighting of a peregrine - and there should be oters, hen hariers and the odd eagle.a mixture of fine coastal scenery and    the remnants of the Slate industry that dominated these islands and others nearby during the 18th,19th and early 20th centuries with at one time 80 quarries. the remains are quite evocative

[Towlersonsafari]

There did look to be some fine walks, and at the Atlantic Centre on Luing, there was some very fine cake indeed. there is a scottish wildlife trust reserve on seil, a damp lichen filled hazel wood, and luing is the home of luing cattle, a reddish hardy breed, as well as this medievil graffiti

[Towlersonsafari]

One of the reasons to go to this area, for us anyway, was kilmartin Glen, one of the largest collections of neolithic and iron age structures-stone circles, burial mounds etc-which although are not as impressive as say the remains on orkney, are well worth a look.they range from about 4,000-2000 years ago and the glen was in use as a centre for what appear to be burials over this period. the whole region is known for cup and ring marks but sadly whilst i wanted to look at all the sites where they can be found, by companions were not so keen1. my photo's do not do justice -it is an evocative place-but i did manage to find what appears to be an early Pict emrging from one cairn and a stonechat

[Towlersonsafari]

nearby is the national nature reserve moine mhor, a raised blanket bog which earlier in the eyar should be full of drgaonflies, and a site for hen harriers and Short eared owls, and Dunadd  the coronation site of the kins of Dalriada. there is a footprint in the rock that legend has it, all kings had to place their trooters in- i am good at putting my foot in things so was keen to stake my claim as the rightful king of Scotland.here is a black dater and the Dunadd rock as seem from moine mhor

[Towlersonsafari]

so, the beavers. the official beaver reintroduction trial in knapdale started in 2009 and here are now beavers on about 10-12 lochs radiating out of Loch Coille Bharr. for anyone wanting to see them I reccomend the Heart of Argyll Wildlife charity and their visitor centre  https://www.argyllbeavercentre.co.uk/    

they run walks around the loch timed to end when the beavers emerge-ours was the penultimate walk of the year. the walk shows signs of beavres dams etc and they seemed very keen to talk about all aspects of wildlife in the area.

i assumed that beavres would emerge at roughly the same time depending on the light- so a certain quality of dusk- but apparently they emerge at the same time, roughly , all year round.this makes midsummer by far the best time to get good views.the beavers at Loch Coille Bharr are more tolerent of noise and people.the walk ended at about 7.45 and we had an anxious wait to see if they would emerge whilst it was liht enough to see them....and at about 8.15 Hurrah!

there now follows a very bad picture of Mrs Beaver

[Towlersonsafari]

it was great fun to see them- we also saw teenage beaver-the light was just ok- the above photo was at 3200iso at 1/4oth.

tthe area is well  worth exploring.next time we will be nearer kilmartin - there are  national nature reserves  and there are some fine walks.ospeys breed there and lovers of histroy and wildlife will have lots of fun.Thank you for your indulgence!

[Galana]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:26 PM, Towlersonsafari said:

Thank you for your indulgence!

No trouble at all. Most enjoyable. Kilmartin is a joy. We dipped on Beavers so will try harder next year.

[Towlersonsafari]

It is a very interesting area  @Galanaand we did not get the chance to explore Lismore for example. good luck when you attempt the beavers!

[TonyQ]

Thank you for the report, and well done with the Beaver!

[Galana]

8 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

good luck when you attempt the beavers!

It won't be for the want of trying. Our Hostess this year was not in the best of health and may not take us next year which is a shame due to the Martens and Squirrels. Fingers crossed. Lady G is very much into the history due to her lineage so I tag along too. I have just read 'Border Fury' over the last two weeks or so. It's bit heavy to go from cover to cover. Interesting Tome and I earned more from those pages than I ever did at School or since. More as you would suspect about the Marches but a lot of why it all happened.

And for light relief I read  "John Burnett of Barns" by John Buchan (mainly because we are sleeping there next month) as I am not a fan of Buchan. Again the history was illuminating.

[Towlersonsafari]

that looks a fine read @Galanai will try to get it- am re-reading The Picts a history by Tim Clarkson and Warlords and Holy men which deals with Scottish history to 1000ad is good although probably  a bit old. Jane is a Robson- and descends from one of those murderous thieving  border clans so I always have to keep an eye out when we are near sheep in case old habits re-surface and she tries to steal one!

[Galana]

16 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

Jane is a Robson

You think YOU have problems? Before being ennobled by marriage Lady G was McKenzie Graham and her gene pool contains a fair dash of Pringle and Armstrong. I have to keep a strict eye on her when Autumn comes as she loves a good bonfire.

[Towlersonsafari]

We are clearly very brave in our choice of partners @Galana have you red "Steel Bonnets" a history of border clans/reivers?

[Galana]

5 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

We are clearly very brave in our choice of partners.

Well it does have fringe benefits.  And I do have her permission to say that.

Not read "Steel bonnets" yet but it will form part of my winter reading for these dark nights.