Friday
22nd July
Light SW warm, 20C sunny intervals
Elizabeth, the owner of The Ferryhouse Bed &
Breakfast, has a Spike Milligan vinyl or two to show me after
breakfast. One of them partners him with Jeremy Taylor with songs
about Pot and Lift Girls!
The other piece of vinyl has Spike Milligan
narrating Paul Gallico's The Snow Goose. I didn't know that Spike had
done such and I find it on Youtube. Listening to it I am somewhat
disappointed by the stupid sounds that accompany a moment when the
'Sky Princess' goes into the kitchen. Spike's narration is short with
sporadic phrases each followed by orchestral themes. The record fails
in my opinion to capture the atmosphere of the saltings and the
emotion of the relationship between Fritha and Phillip. More of
Spike would have improved it.
Away and off north towards Carrbridge, I enter a large
coniferous forest north of the town. I have been given instructions
on how to find capercaillie here and proceed to do exactly not what I
have been told. I enjoy exploring various parts of the forest. The
ground is extremely difficult to navigate, with thick clumps of
heather and moss.
A large stag watches my progress carefully. Clegs, horseflies are following me. I am very allergic to them and hope that my repellent works well. I remember my children calling me Quasimodo due to one bite on my eyebrow years ago during a holiday in Switzerland. Then there was the 'sausage lip' week back in 2010 and I will never forget my balloon hand when fishing one time.
A large stag watches my progress carefully. Clegs, horseflies are following me. I am very allergic to them and hope that my repellent works well. I remember my children calling me Quasimodo due to one bite on my eyebrow years ago during a holiday in Switzerland. Then there was the 'sausage lip' week back in 2010 and I will never forget my balloon hand when fishing one time.
The trees are very dense for a few hundred yards and I
enjoy ducking and diving through it finding a few interesting fungi
and mound after mound of wood ants.
I come across a huge area of deforestation and
devastation. Out in the middle a stag roe deer seems to be stuck,
unable to find a way across the area. I watch it from a hidden
position as it keeps turning and trying different ways to get out.
A male sparrowhawk glides close by and I walk around the
broken trees to get back to an area where the trees have been removed
to allow a line of pylons and telegraph wires to pass through. Method
in my madness, I want to walk down this tree break from an elevated
position, which would allow me to see down a large expanse. The
heather and moss clumps are high and there are water-filled dips
between them hidden and therefore easy for me to fall into.
Progress is difficult and I keep my hand on my camera
expecting a black explosion any second.
It happens! A male capercaillie comes out of a tree from
the left. It flies fast to the south, downhill it goes low over the
heather. After a hundred yards or so it veers off into the forest.
Gone.
Bird number 269 onto the list and another good bird to
see.
Clegs persuade me that my time in my forest is up. The
target bird has been found and I return to my hidden bike.
I cycle a long way around the Nethybridge and find the
place where I camped a few nights ago. Food bought from a shop, I
enjoy a picnic in the late evening sunshine before settling down for
the night.
19.50 Miles 1003 feet elevation up
923 feet elevation down
The Green year list goes to 269, twenty six ahead of
this stage last year.
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