Paul Shorrock – One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks

Mythical beasts (and public art) – The Kelpies near Falkirk

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Regulars to this blog will know that I mostly photograph landscapes, but recently I’ve been trying my hand at photographing wildlife – with various degrees of success!   Our Scottish trip in September 2020, sandwiched between Covid-19 lockdowns, was the ideal opportunity to try for some wildlife, but my first ‘beasties’ were mythical ones – the Kelpies.

Impressive in the daylight

Even more impressive at night!

A few posts back (see post #285) I told the tale of the Kelpies near Falkirk.   In Scottish folklore, kelpies are mythical water spirits, with a habit of enticing young men to a watery grave.    The Falkirk Kelpies are a magnificent sight on the Scottish tourist scene, and they don’t do that watery grave enticement thing – they are also kind to photographers, as they don’t move around like most wildlife.

Swans in Helix Park – working up to take-off speed (note the poor duck!)

The day after we had admired the kelpies, we were looking for a decent length walk for Border Collie ‘Mist’, and the nearby Helix Park and Lake seemed to fit the bill.   Boating and similar human activity was out of the question due to Covid restrictions, but the water fowl were making good use of the peace and quiet.   I got some practice on my wildlife subjects by tracking a couple of swans in take-off mode.

Finally getting airborne

In flight, or swimming, swans are the epitome of grace and elegance, but the bit in between where they run across the surface of the water is usually not a good look!   It was only after I downloaded the series of images that I noticed the poor duck on the flight path (first swan image above).    As the swans took off, the duck was gallantly trying to outpace them – not a chance!

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The Braemar ‘golf-playing’ deer herd ….

…. looks like a boys day out

It wouldn’t be a complete trip to Scotland without a mountain or two, preferably more.    I described our hill day on Morrone in post #286 and the photos of the ‘boys on the golf course’ amused several readers.   They seem to be doing the greenkeeper a good turn by cropping the grass, but I bet those pointy hooves will add a few extra holes to the course.

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Red deer near Loch Assynt

There was a low ‘deer count’ on this trip, but we weren’t actively seeking them out.   The largest herd I ever saw was some years back – a huge stag with his harem of 20+ casually strolling across the road in Glencoe, just as I came round a blind bend at around 70mph on a motorcycle!    No damage to the deer or my pride on that occasion, thankfully.

They soon become aware of our presence

This small group of four was spotted in the early evening near Loch Assynt when the tourists were heading for their hotels.    Being in the camper often gives the opportunity to watch (and photograph) the local wildlife – the young male on the far right didn’t notice me at first, but it wasn’t long before his head went up, probably after smelling me or my Collie ‘Mist’.     Even then, they were not alarmed, and they just sauntered off quietly.

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 The Isle of Bute was a late addition to the trip.    We had planned to head for home in Wales at the beginning of October, but it was announced that from October 1^st, Welsh residents would be restricted to their local area (county).   The four nations of the United Kingdom have failed to employ ‘joined-up thinking’ since the start of the pandemic, each one taking a different approach, but this time the situation was crazy.

On Bute, a big seal catching up on the sun ….

….with his mate, the oyster catcher, also getting some rays

Free movement was still permitted in England and Scotland, but if we returned home, we would have to drive straight to Denbighshire and stay there.   Now don’t get me wrong, Denbighshire is a lovely county, stretching from the sea to the Berwyn mountains, but we didn’t really fancy being trapped there.    The solution was simple – don’t go back!   Which is why we found ourselves on Bute.

Not too far away from the seals, a group of cormorants also enjoying the sun

The only thing I knew about Bute before this visit, was that the main town of Rothsay was the subject of a folk song about a drunken Hogmanay party (New Years Eve for those who don’t understand Scottish) – the fact that we were usually ‘well-oiled’ when we sang it usually added to the hilarity.   This trip was a much more sober affair, with a visit to Scalpsie Bay to see the seal colony being one of the highlights

There’s something in the water in front of this character

It looks like another seal

Then, all of a sudden, it’s time for a sharp exit ….

…. leaving the original seal with a bemused expression

Swimming seals are unbelievably graceful, but on land they are just big lumps!    They do enjoy sitting in the sun though, and why not.    We watched the antics of these two for a couple of minutes – at first it looked like just one seal soaking up the sun, then it became obvious that the one seal was watching another seal (second image above).   Then, the second seal decided enough was enough, and left in a big splash of water.  Yep, a busy day down on the beach!

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The pair of golden eagles we saw near Lochnagar ….

…. keeping their distance …

….but the shape is unmistakable

Several times on the trip we had hoped to spot (and photograph) eagles, but our first ‘hit had been a fluke.    We were on our way back from our hike out to Meikle Pap of Lochnagar (see post #287)  when I saw a pair of golden eagles flying above us.   Chris was unconvinced at first, but there was no mistaking the shape.   The camera lens wasn’t long enough to get more detailed pics, but being there in that moment was more than good enough.

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Over on Mull, hoping to spot a white-tailed eagle (sea eagle)….

…. but in the meantime, the gulls give some practice on photographing a moving target

Straight in for a fish supper

I had been given a recommendation for a good place to see white-tailed eagles on the Isle of Mull, and a happy afternoon was spent there, parked up by the lochside.   This was towards the end of the trip, and I think I was just starting to appreciate that patience is just as important as a good camera or a long lens.    So, as I watched and waited, I practiced panning the camera on gulls who were diving for an early dinner.

Out on the island in the sea loch, one sea eagle isn’t going very far just now ….

…. then the unmistakable shape flying overhead

The largest British bird, the white-tailed eagle, also known as ‘the flying barn door’

A passing photographer pointed out the ‘bump’ on a nearby island – apparently, it’s a favourite spot for one particular eagle to sit.    Then, finally, there was a flypast – yet again it was a bit far for a detailed shot, but no mistaking the shape or size of a sea eagle, also known as ‘the flying barn door ‘ because of its 2-metre wingspan.

But, having teased you all with tales of eagles, here’s a superb image of a sea eagle by photographer Christoph Müller – great inspiration for me on future trips – no pressure then!

The white-tailed eagle © Christoph Müller

Text and images © Paul Shorrock except the white-tailed eagle image shown above, which is © Christoph Müller and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons Licence.

Soon after the start – Chris looking back to the cloudy Tay Valley

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Our September 2020 trip to Scotland was destined to extend into October.   There was still no second Covid-19 lockdown in Scotland at the time, so we could move around freely, but back home in North Wales movement was restricted to the local area.  If we went back, we would be stuck in Denbighshire, lovely though it is, whereas staying in Scotland meant that we were still free.   It was a ‘no brainer’ as to what we should do!

The Tay Valley (centre) and the village of Killin

We had been on the West side of Scotland for a while, but I wanted to head for Glen Lyon for a photographic trip (more of that in a future post).   Somewhere to park up with a mountain dog-walk, seemed to be a good plan, so we headed for the Ben Lawers car park above the pretty village of Killin in the Tay Valley.

Loch Tay and the Meall nan Tarmachan route

The weather wasn’t what you might call bad, just a bit ‘iffy’!   It looked as though things could go either way, so instead of the main attraction of the area (Ben Lawers) I suggested that we might do Meall nan Tarmachan.    At an altitude of 1044 metres it wasn’t a tiddler, but our start point was at 420 metres, giving us a bit of a head start up one of the easiest of the Scottish Munros.

Closer view of the route – out and back

For those not familiar with the term, a ‘Munro’ is a mountain in the UK that is 3000 ft (915 metres) in height.   The list of peaks over 3000 ft was first drawn up by Sir Hugh Munro (1856–1919) for no other reason than they were higher than 3000 ft (Sir Hugh’s other claim to fame was possibly one of the earliest known examples of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder 😉).   At the time of writing, there are 282 Munros in Scotland, six in England and fifteen in Wales.   I say ‘at the time of writing’ because new surveys are constantly promoting or demoting Munros, a bit of a setback if you have just finished the list to find that a newbie has been upgraded.

Just after leaving the car park – pioneer tree species hanging on in there

I don’t claim to be a Munro-ist, and Chris certainly isn’t.    Although I have huge respect for those dedicated enough to hike over the highest of our British hills, I couldn’t bear to drive or walk past a superb mountain that just failed to reach 915 metres, in order to tick off a distant, but less interesting, Munro.   One thing is certain though – a hiker who has completed all the Munros can claim to have an excellent knowledge of the mountains and wilderness areas of Scotland.

The ‘unlovely’ visitor centre (now demolished) and the old car park (replaced) © Dr Richard Murray

The old National Trust of Scotland visitor centre closed in 2009, later demolished © Gordon Brown

The last time I had been here was about 25 years earlier, when a climbing buddy and I were heading back from a big mountain weekend in Glencoe – we wanted an easy-ish hill day for the Sunday and went slightly off route on the way home to walk up Ben Lawers.  The advantage of the high start point had been marred only by the unlovely National Trust of Scotland visitor centre and car park, so it was a pleasant surprise when Chris and I arrived to hike up Meall nan Tarmachan that the visitor centre and ugly car park were both gone.

Looking back again to the Tay Valley ….

…. and Meall nan Tarmachan poking through on the right

Looking down towards Killin – starting to brighten up?

The skies were leaden and the breeze chilly as Chris and I set out with Border Collie ‘Mist’ for our Munro dog-walk.   A combination of altitude and latitude means that only the hardy pioneer species of trees such as silver birch and rowan have much of a chance of surviving, and most of the ascent was over bleak moorland, made bleaker by the glowering clouds.

Border Collie ‘Mist’ below the small unnamed summit at 923 metres

The summit of Meall nan Tarmachan (1044 metres) on a good weather day © David Brown ….

….and what it looked like for us

Chris (and ‘Mist’) officially claim the summit!

A small false summit at 923 metres gave a vantage point of the final steep and rocky ascent of Meall nan Tarmachan – well, it would have done if the cloud base hadn’t dropped to obscure the last 100 metres of ascent.   Apparently, the views down to the Tay Valley more than justify the ascent, but not today and not for us.    The question was, where next?

Map 1 – Our out and back route in blue, with the continuation to Meall Garbh shown in red

Map 2 – From Meall Garbh, the first alternative could have been the Tarmachan Ridge circuit

Map 3 – The second alternative could have been the south Ridge of Meall Garbh

One option would have been to continue southwest from the summit to Meall Garbh (see the maps above) to continue on the first alternative, which was a traverse of the Tarmachan Ridge.    There didn’t seem to be much point in that in the poor visibility, and I didn’t know at the time that there is another descent route down the South Ridge of Meall Garbh.  That left one final option, to return the way we had come.

On the way back – our ‘stalker’ (type unknown) flying just left of centre

The poor visibility also prevented us from identifying the large bird that decided to check us out – I tried for a photograph, but by the time I had the camera ready, our ‘stalker’ was moving out of range.    I claimed yet another eagle sighting, though Chris wasn’t convinced.  We did agree though that the weather was starting to brighten up, at least for the good folks in Killin.   Things were brightening up even more for Collie ‘Mist’ – heading down meant it was getting on towards dinner time.

On the direct descent from Meall nan Tarmachan with the weather definitely brightening ….

…. and it’s time to head for home

Text and images © Paul Shorrock except images tagged Dr Richard Murray, Gordon Brown and David Brown, which are taken from the Geograph Project and are reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence