A Blog from the Bog

The village website (www.gartocharn.org) has been full of photos showing the snow-covered mountains and frosted trees and plants. Although the cold weather is back again with the easterlys blowing into the front door there have been a couple of days of relative thaw. The ground has not been quite as hard and after the snow the fields have been wet and boggy on top but still quite firm beneath which has made for easier walking to parts of the reserve I don't usually reach.

On the walk through Shore Wood to Net Bay there was a sudden whoosh and roar that preceded the raucous honking as a flock of

Canada and Greylag geese were disturbed on Lime Hill Field and all took to flight together. This is a favourite feeding ground for geese and there must have been two or three hundred in the cloud that flew over my head towards Ring Point at the mouth of the Endrick. We went on to Net Bay and observed how low the loch is still. Even after the snow the level hasn't risen much but that is probably dependent on the thaw that has yet to come.

After disturbing a heron, Rosie discovered she could walk on water. There was still thick ice at the base of the channels but these had thawed on top and then refrozen with a thin layer of ice on the surface. This meant that she could run and slide across the surface which she did very excitedly. It is going to be a long time until the ice fully disperses where it is so thick and hard.

We looked out for otters as there was evidence from the spraints (droppings) that we found that this was part of their territory. I guess that the ice will have forced them into the Endrick and the loch to search for food.

Although the signs of Spring are very hard to find, (the poor snowdrops that were delayed by the thick January snow get knocked back every night with the hard frosts but revive when bathed in what little sunshine there is) the last couple of days have felt spring like and it's hard to figure out why. Everything in the wood is grey and brown, the bracken flattened and no signs of green shoots yet. However, the quality of light seems somehow different which lifts the spirits and makes me feel that it will not be long until the telltale signs appear. All we need is a few warm days.