We were so lucky to see a female Pine Marten visit the other night and luckily the photos our guests Jesse and Liz took were great, see below.
Female Pine Marten
Female Pine Marten
We awoke this morning to snow on the hill opposite called Sron Na Muic – amazing as it is 13 May !
Snow on the Hills in May
We are so lucky to have Pine Martens visiting us in the garden. This photo is of a male Pine Marten we have called Peanut due to his liking for them, and he visits nearly every night.
Pine Marten on our garden step
We have treated ourselves to a chainsaw carving of two Pine Martens in a tree to celebrate our three years of our new life in our Bed and Breakfast business.
Pine Martens in Tree
Fort Augustus is a village at the south west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands.
The Gaelic name for the modern village is Cill Chuimein and until the early 18th century the settlement was called Kiliwhimin. It was renamed ‘Fort Augustus’ after the Jacobite Rising of 1715. It is generally accepted that the settlement was originally named after Saint Cummein of Iona who built a church there.
In the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising in 1715, General Wade built a fort (taking from 1729 until 1742) which was named after the Duke of Cumberland. Wade had planned to build a town around the new barracks and call it Wadesburgh. The settlement grew, and eventually took the name of this fort. The fort was captured by the Jacobites in April 1745, just prior to the Battle of Culloden.
In 1867, the fort was sold to the Lovat family, and in 1876 they passed the site and land to the Benedictine order. The monks established Fort Augustus Abbey and later a school. The school operated until 1993 when it closed owing to changing educational patterns in Scotland causing a decline in enrollment. The monks employed Tony Harmsworth to devise a rescue package which saw the site converted into the largest private heritage centre in Scotland which operated between 1994 and 1998, however the heritage centre failed to generate sufficient profit to maintain the buildings. In 1998 the monks abandoned the site, and it reverted to the Lovat family which in turn sold it to Terry Nutkins. He also owned the Lovat Hotel that stands on the site of the old Kilwhimen Barracks, one of four built in 1718. This site houses the west curtain wall of the old Fort, intact with gun embrasures. The Lovat was originally built as the local Station Hotel.
Fort Augustus, Loch Ness (courtesy Scotland Scenery)
An Teallach
A fantastic pic of AnTeallach, a mountain southwest of Dundonnell which overlooks Little Loch Broom.
The mountain is mostly made of Torridon sandstone. Like the peaks around Torridon(for which the rock is named), An Teallach has terraced sides riven with steep gullies and a sharp rocky summit crest at Sgùrr Fiona. The steepest section, known as Corrag Bhuidhe, rises above LochToll an Lochain. Corrag Bhuidhe’s most spectacular feature is an overhanging pinnacle known as Lord Berkeley’s Seat.
An Teallach is a complex mountain massif, with ten distinct summits over 3,000 feet (914.4 m). From 1891 to 1981, only the highest of these, Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill, had the status of a Munro– a separate mountain over 3,000 feet. In 1981 the Scottish Mountaineering Clubgranted Munro status to Sgùrr Fiona, in recognition of its considerable topographic prominence(150 m) and distinct nature.
Carrbridge’s most famous landmark is the old packhorse bridge, from which the village is named. The bridge, built in 1717, is the oldest stone bridge in the Highlands.It was severely damaged in the “muckle spate” of 1829 which left it in the condition seen today. It is now unstable and is recommended only to be viewed from afar. Jumping off the bridge into the River Dulnain below had long been a popular pastime for younger locals and the more adventurous tourists.
Packhorse Bridge, Carrbridge
Scotland still has several Wickerman festivals that take place.
Wickerman
A lovely pic in the fantastic weather we have been enjoying recently – the hill of the Thunderbolt, Loch Leven, Loch Linnhe and the Ardgour hills, from the Pap of Glencoe.
View over Glencoe – Courtesy John O’Brian
In this momentous occasion, we see two baby common goldeneye ducks leaving the nest and taking to the air for their first ever flight. The expressions on their face are priceless! (Courtesy Facebook Aurora Borealis page)
Goldeneye Ducklings First Flight
