Schiehallion - the Avine experience.
It's not easy to look down on a flying golden eagle from above but I can confirm that it can be done on Schiehallion. The eye and brain must be swift because the eagle is away in an instant - 120 miles an hour in a fast shallow glide. When seen like this it's wings are half swept back and it is gone leaving only mountain air and adrenaline. Golden eagles are a rare sight on Schiehallion but a memorable one to be etched on the retina.
As you climb the excellent John Muir Trust path the most common sighting in summer is likely to be meadow pipits. At the start (or indeed finish) of the route you may see wrens, whinchats or reed buntings in the willows that border Dun Coillich and distant hooded or carrion crows may be peripherally perceived, searching for carrion. In this part of Scotland there exists the curious situation that hooded and carrion crows interbreed to produce hybrids and yet the two species do not coalesce, for to the south the carrion crow is dominant and to the north the hooded crow holds sway. Crows are very intelligent and can make a living even in harsh mountainous areas. At the start of the walk in the woods around the Schiehallion car park you may see that relative of the crow, the jay which usually gives away its presence with raucous cries and a disappearing white rump as it flies off. You are very unlikely to see Rooks, Magpies or even jackdaws as you climb Schiehallion.
There are two long winged birds of prey that might be seen on the heathery approaches to the rocky ridge - hen harriers and short-eared owls. Although these birds are not closely related they have similar hunting techniques. They quarter the hillside on buoyant wings. When a vole or meadow pipit is discovered it is pounced upon. The short-eared owls visit us from the north and in a good vole year will have many young. In Scandinavia their numbers are controlled by the number of lemmings and in a lemming year they have many chicks but their population explosions lag behind those of the lemmings. Hen harrier populations are now recovering in Scotland as they have legal protection following much persecution by gamekeepers. In England the numbers are dire and it is there a rare bird indeed. As with other birds of prey the female is larger than the male and in the case of hen harriers the male is grey with a white rump while the female is brown with a white rump. This difference between the sexes is known as sexual dimorphism and is thought to have evolved to allow the males and females to take different prey and so expand the possible food source. The males are more agile and catch smaller animals and birds while the females can tackle bigger stronger prey. If you see a bird that from a distance looks like a gull but which is behaving strangely, flying low over marshy ground or moorland and then pouncing into the vegetation it may well be a male hen harrier.
Other birds of prey that can make an appearance include, kestrels, merlins, peregrine falcons, buzzards, sparrow hawks - even white tailed sea eagles and red kites. White tailed sea eagles have been reintroduced to both western and eastern Scotland by the RSPB. Sea eagles are enormous with very broad wings, hence the epithet ‘flying barn doors’. They will snatch fish from the water with their talons and are powerful enough to prey on geese.
Red kites have a feeding station at Argaty near Comrie. Once upon a time red kites were commonplace in Britain, feeding on carrion and waste as well as predating small birds and mammals. Persecution resulted in there only being a handful of birds left in mid-Wales at Tregaron Bog. With protection and reintroduction there are now places where they are quite common, as in the Black Isle and along the M40 in Oxfordshire. The birds used in the reintroduction programs came from Spain, Sweden and Germany. They are only rarely seen in the Rannoch area although that may change in the future. They are large birds with graceful wings and a forked tail used for balance in aerobatic flight. They get a mention in Shakespeare’s King Lear where Lear’s daughter Goneril is described as a detested kite. Kites in medieval times often fed on discarded offal and human waste, even taking washing. They gave rise to a place name - in Warwickshire there is a hamlet called ‘Kite’s Nest’.
This suggests an undistinguished past but the reality is that they are marvellously competent and beautiful in the air.
Kestrels are regularly seen in the region of Schiehallion where they hover with precision using their high visual acuity and their ability to see the ultra-violet reflecting from the urine trails of voles in order to locate their next meal. The name kestrel is derived from the French name crécerelle which in turn comes from crécelle which means rattle. I suppose the call sounds a bit like a rattle?
In Britain the bird is sometimes called the windhover which is easier to understand than rattle. Kestrels numbers suffered a disastrous decline but happily the populations are now recovering. Kestrels are beginning to patrol the motorways and cliffs of Britain again.
If you see a sparrowhawk it is most likely to be flashing out to the woods at the Braes of Foss car park where they will surprise and catch both small birds and birds up to the size of pigeons and jays. Unlike kestrels sparrowhawks have rounded wings which allow them to manoeuvre with startling speed through the tangled mesh of branches in dense Woodland. Look into the eye of a sparrowhawk and you see something wild, atavistic and merciless. It is not all joy being a small woodland bird.
Merlin are moorland birds and are definitely in the area. They are the smallest of the British falcons and their typical prey is meadow pipit sized. They catch small birds by out flying them like agile arrows. No wonder magicians are called Merlin. There is something magic about the fleeting glimpse, the kaleidoscope of shifting flashing images as the diminutive falcon shows a desperate meadow pipit how to fly.
Buzzards are well know and now, common birds of prey, which recovered well once they acquired protected status. They wheel high above the ground searching for prey or sit on telegraph poles scanning the ground. The mewing sound is the iconic sound of Rannoch and Schiehallion. It speaks of blue sky soaring and wind-swept moors, of the high tops, of farmland and winter Woodland. Once the pressure of persecution was relieved buzzards have proved to be very successful and have spread from their west coast strongholds to occupy all of Britain. They are very versatile and can take rabbits, carrion and are even humble enough to feed on earthworms, looking like overgrown blackbirds hopping in the fields.
Peregrine falcons are the jet fighters of the bird world. They are the fastest living thing on planet earth apart from men in machines. They hunt by stooping on their flying prey from a great height and in doing so they reach 200 miles and hour. Stooping is the term for closing your wings to form an aerodynamic arrow before plunging down at terminal velocity. The strike is effected with the talons and the prey will have its back broken or may be decapitated. The strike produces a crack like a gunshot.
The corpse is caught before it reaches the ground. Even eagles have reason to respect peregrines and steer clear of their nests. A peregrine can kill an eagle.The saker falcon which is a close relative of the peregrine have been recorded breaking the neck of a Spanish imperial eagle that foolishly strayed to close to its nest. A pair of peregrines nesting in Exeter would not tolerate buzzards coming close to their nest. The pair worked in unison with the male stooping first. The buzzards response when attacked is to roll over in the air and present its talons. This is sufficient to deter the first attacker but the buzzard has to right itself to remain airborne and it is then the the female strikes at its now unprotected back and kills it. Never mind the Jabberwocky, beware the peregrine, my son.
On reaching the sheep fank which lies on the path before it starts to climb with any serious intent the well informed and wise walker will know to look towards Dùn Coillich. The admiring glance towards this community owned land will take in the host of growing native trees planted by volunteers but will also alight upon a bare grassy area to the south east. It is here that black grouse males (blackcocks) dance to impress the females (greyhens). They are most likely to do this on spring mornings but they may be there in the evening and they may even be there in the autumn. Black grouse are fond of the edges of woods and the management plan for Dun Coillich intends to maintain this the second largest Blackcock lek in Perthshire.
Higher on Schiehallion there are wheatears (more strictly northern wheatears) white rumped migrants from Africa about the size of a starling, noted for their upright stance on boulders. The name wheatear does not refer to wheat but is a derivative of the Anglo-Saxon for white arse. It seems the Anglo-Saxons were not as refined as they might have been. Some wheatears carry on past Scotland (foolish indeed) to Iceland and Greenland and in doing so have a longer migration than any other songbird.
If you are very lucky you might see the ‘mountain blackbird’ - the ring ouzel. Were it not for the white crescent on its breast, called a gorget, you might easily mistake this songbird for a blackbird. Indeed the female’s gorget is light brown and so less conspicuous. They nest in high rocky places and migrate to and from North Africa where they feed on juniper berries amongst other things. Unfortunately they are in decline and this may be because there are fewer junipers in North Africa.
At altitudes where the ling, bell heather and cross-leaved heath persists there will be red grouse shouting ‘go back’ ‘go back’ ‘go back’. Ignore them and continue to the rocky quartzite ridge that leads to the summit. Red grouse are farmed for the wealthy to shoot. It is red grouse management (heather burning), sheep and deer that are responsible for a great deal of the treeless moorland seen in Scotland. This includes Schiehallion where, if nature, had had its way there would be trees up to a height of about 2000 feet. Without management the red grouse would be a rare bird and the race which is unique to Scotland might be endangered. With management it is a common, if short lived bird, when the 12th of August arrives. Now that the John Muir Trust owns East Schiehallion there is no grouse shooting on Schiehallion and there is a tree planting management plan.
Above about 2000 feet there are ptarmigan. As with most forms of wildlife there is no guarantee that you will see them on any particular visit. After the winter they moult to mottled brown and then mottled grey which colours blend in wonderfully well with the lichen strewn rocks. In winter they are dazzling white and are again camouflaged to hide them from the eagles and foxes that prey upon them. They are the only British bird to turn white in winter. As they stay in the mountains throughout the winter they need feathers covering their nostrils, legs and the soles of their feet to insulate them against the bitter cold. They feed on heather and bilberries, digging through the snow with their feet to reach the twigs and leaves. They even dig snow holes to shelter from the wind. Ptarmigan are really rather tame and allow you to approach quite closely before they fly with whirling wings and churring call. As climate change proceeds and temperatures rise the ptarmigan population may be forced higher and higher on the mountain until it is forced off the top to nowhere. Snow buntings are another high mountain possibility but Schiehallion is not, I think, broad enough for dotterel although they are to be found on nearby mountains.
Perhaps the ‘piece de resistance’ is that aerial master, the raven. This corvid is surprisingly large - much the same size as a buzzard yet it gambols in the air with alacrity, sometimes flying upside down for a short while. Ravens are the ‘Mensa’ members of the Avine world. They play - a sure sign of intelligence, which is shared by otters. Both these disparate species have been seen enjoying snow slides for fun. In the case of ravens they slide down on their backs and then run back up to repeat the process. In Norse mythology the god Odin was served by two ravens, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory). The ravens sat on Odin’s shoulders and he sent them out every dawn to fly all over the world, returning by lunchtime to keep him informed. Nowadays we use the Internet but ravens but I prefer ravens.
May your Huginn and Muninn return to you laden with knowledge and understanding as you climb Scotland’s ‘Fairy Mountain’.