Saturday would have been a write-off had I not taken it into my head to go and spy on my badgers in the evening. The old fella is always a hoot (although I try not to laugh out loud), as he emerges between 9 and 10pm and goes through his habitual "bear necessities" routine against the same tree, then on his back with legs akimbo and not very dignified, dances over some fallen boughs to his next scratching post and then heads off, dead East! Oddly, I've never seen him returning, despite all of the cramped buttocks, dead-legs and resisted fags.
On Sunday night I headed back to a different part of the same ancient woodland -a rare thing in Fife- got a fire going, hanged my hammock and tarp, collected firewood, made a hazel "chair", ate dinner, then sipped a number of miniatures of Glenfiddich with beer chasers and listened to the evening's woodland entertainments, as a couple of Auld Scotch Sangs fae me would have spoiled the ambience!
Wildlife;
A Roe buck emerged suspiciously at the edge of my camp clearing and stood for longer than expected before spotting me and fleeting into the undergrowth
A badger moved around the edge of my fire-glow and I have a strong suspicion it might have been the old fella from a kilometre away.
Tawny Owls hooted in the woods and something that sounded like a p!ssed-off Tawny... a Short Eared Owl? My nerves weren't subjected to that of a Barn Owl.
An immature Great Spotted Woodpecker tapping amongst the trees responded to my poor impersonations... but he wasn't very good at it either. He flitted amongst the trees around my camp before landing about 20 yards away to tear furiously at the sphagnum for a good 3 or 4 minutes. I think he was unhappy and left as I fumbled for my camera.
I wakened in the morning to a Lintie (Linnet) singing in the thicket, what more can you ask?
A Jay did a few fly-pasts in the morning to form a triangular observation zone. I later heard him scolding at something or other in the woods.
A flourish of Long Tailed Tits gave the margins of my clearing a frantic seeing to, accompanied by families of Blue Tits, now they're entertainers.
A couple of Yellowhammers made a guest appearance, along with the usual unidentifiable (for me) Warblers and Pipits.
3 Treecreepers forages on the trunks of birches, hazel and willow, probably a mother and young.
The local Buzzards made their presence known to all.
Unknowns;
After dark, I heard a 1-2 second long, deep throaty rumbling sound, which I at first thought was a trial-bike being sharply revved in the distance. The sound was repeated over about 10 minutes and was coming from a crop of clover 200 yards away. My next thought was Corncrake -which I've never heard personally- but the sound was too deep and they shouldn't be in my neck of the woods anyway. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
I have in the past witnessed "something" grey darting through/between the trees in hunting mode, something that looks like an oversized sparrowhawk.
Dare I say it...
because that's not supposed to be here either.
All in all, a terrific Sunday night out just a 10 minute drive from home. Ye couldnae beat it wi a stick!
Oh, I just tried to post photos and discovered I don't have that permission. Help?
What is this thing you call "Scottish sunshine" I never saw anything like that when I was there.
I returned to work in India with acute sunburn one June after stupidly falling asleep in Glen Etive following an early morning wander on Ben Starav. As an American work-mate sympathised, "Well who'd a' thunk it?", but it took me quite a while to live that one down!
