Am Bratach No. 198
April 2008
editor@bratach.co.uk

by Paul Castle

Nature’s call

The early part of the year is a relatively quiet period for us countryside rangers before the mad, head-down rush of spring and summer really begins. Just recently I have been building and erecting bird nesting boxes and bird feeding tables with the local school children in Tongue and Farr. At Tongue nursery each child built a bird box and we hung them on the trees around the building. Ten minutes later, once back inside and having a cup of tea we witnessed a blue tit inspecting a box. It’s amazing how quickly birds will find the nesting boxes and hopefully we will get a breeding pair in at least one.

Watching a bird feeding table is a great way for anyone to begin learninabout the local birds. If you do decide to put in a bird table try to ensure you place it somewhere you can comfortably see it from the window, then bird watching becomes much easier as the birds come to you. Buy good quality seed and a bird identification book. Then just regularly sit down with a cup of tea and enjoy seeing and learning about the species making an appearance.

When putting in a bird table avoid placing it near low shrubs as cats may hide in there and try catching your feathered visitors. Cats often prove a serious problem for garden birds and something as simple as a bell on their collar can be so helpful. There are an estimated nine million domestic cats in the UK and they outnumber all other wild terrestrial mammalian predators by about 5:1. Nearest to the domestic cat population size is the stoat, with a breeding population of approximately 462,000. Imagine if each domestic cat just killed one bird each year, that’s nine million birds lost. Please remember cats don’t just help control mice problems. Be a responsible cat owner.

If you have trees in your garden try and place the table near to the ends of the lower branches. Many birds are more comfortable hopping from a branch onto the table and this also allows them an easier escape route should a natural aerial predator appear. If the table can periodically be moved to different suitable locations, this too will help deter predators and also reduces the development of harmful bacteria from bird droppings. Clean the table regularly and most importantly remember to supply clean water for birds to drink and bathe.

On a recent trip to Borgie Forest with the Farr nursery kids we noticed the local amphibians had been busy and one particular pond had several good clumps of frog spawn in it but there was no sign of any adult frogs. During the mating season the males arrive first in the pond and begin calling and searching for a suitable mate but only find other rival males. After the males have been in the pond a while, the females arrive, usually on a mild night and the frantic scramble to successfully fertilise the eggs begins. I have seen females with up to ten males desperately trying to cling to her back to be in prime position to fertilise the eggs as they are released. As soon as the spawning is over the females leave the pond and once again there are only males left in the vain hope of another female arriving.

If you can creep near a pond full of male frogs without disturbing them, try and imitate their call out loud (after first checking for potential witnesses of course). With luck it often results in a chorus of croaking replies, which never fails to make me laugh. They obviously believe another rival is showing off his credentials and are quick to try and assert their own dominance.

I remember a while ago there was a gruesome news story on the radio concerning a pond on an estate where lots of live frogs were discovered with their rear legs removed. In the early radio reports local youths were blamed for this so called act of barbarism by the estate spokesman. Throughout the morning it was interesting to hear the story develop, as people had obviously called in who had witnessed this scene before (as I have) and knew the real identity of the culprits. Otters were responsible for this distressing site. As the only real meat on a frog is on the back legs, some otters catch them and simply bite the rear legs off leaving the poor animal still alive. This is a very unpleasant site to witness and thankfully not that common but it’s interesting the conclusions people jump to.

It will not be too long now before the sky is filled with the familiar V-formations of thousands of migrating geese heading back to their northern breeding grounds after spending the winter in this relatively milder climate further south. This month I will particularly look forward to my first sighting of newly arrived wheatear. This to me is the real signal that summer is definitely just around the corner. I often get my first glimpse of them at Strathy Point. The male bird is such a handsome fellow, with his smart grey crown and back and fine black mask. Seeing that distinctive white rump disappear over a stone dyke accompanied by the familiar “tak” call (not dissimilar to two pebbles being tapped together) is a real uplifting highlight for me after a long winter. The name wheatear has nothing at all to do with wheat but is derived from the white (= wheat) of its rump.

I was pleased to recently photograph a plant I had been meaning to capture for some time and kept missing, as it flowers early in the season. The plant is purple saxifrage Saxifraga oppositifolia (see above) a creeping, mat forming plant, with tiny oval leaves in opposite pairs along the stem and rosy-purple petals on the flower. It is usually found on mountain rocks but can be seen at sea level in northern Scotland. It shows well, from mid-March, on the rock face adjacent to the roadside parking area above Coldbackie Beach, near Tongue, and is a welcome flash of colour in an otherwise grey landscape.
My colleagues and I hope to see some of you along on our events and walks and we’re also hoping the weather will be kinder to us this season. Fingers crossed the waterproofs can just stay in the pack this summer. All the ranger events and walks for the coming season are advertised in our Sutherland-Caithness 2008 events booklet. Contact your local ranger for a copy or visit www.highland.gov.uk and search for “ranger events”.

Paul is a Highland Council ranger, based at Bettyhill.