A Dump of Snow

We've had the sort of dump of snow we oldies remember from our schooldays - though last night's was even deeper than in this picture from my days at boarding school, so deep that....

....Highland Council called out the local farmers and other contractors whom they retain for just such an event. Although a number of local roads were closed - for example, the Littleferry road was impassable - their efforts did ensure that the main roads, such as the A9, were kept open.

By morning we'd had a good foot of snow, much deeper where it had been blown into drifts. Getting out to....

....feed the birds was an expedition - and it was painful to watch the way that some of the bigger ones monopolised the grain, which was often then covered by yet another layer of snow.

Fresh-fallen snow is a pretty sight when the sun comes out but we had to restrain the urge to go out for a walk, something which will be more and more difficult if, as is forecast, this cold spell continues.

Blizzard

This was this morning's view from the kitchen sink, with the snow a good 5" deep where it hadn't drifted and considerably deeper where it had.

We decided that an expedition to collect the paper from the village would be foolhardy so....

....we walked a short distance up the track towards the forestry in what were, at times, blizzard conditions, noticing that....

....the farmer had already been out to feed the cattle and sheep in the fields near the houses.

We didn't walk far, the purpose of the exercise being to burn off a little energy rather than punish ourselves, so we retuned to the house to find, with some pleasure, that....

....the latest bird table design had successfully created a snow-free platform on which to feed the small birds. And the birds are out in quantities, desperate for food. An estimate of the numbers visiting us at the moment is four blackbirds, two dunnocks, two robins, a bluetit and a coal tit - most of the tits are on the feeders at the front of the house - two goldfinches, a siskin, and at least twenty chaffinches.

The forecast is for a continuation of this weather for several days.

Snow

We have a choice of routes for our walks down to the village, the shortest and quickest of which involves  a section of the A9, something we don't enjoy, particularly on a snowy day like today when the more thoughtless drivers splash salty slush over us as they pass.

We took this route today as the paths through the woods were likely to be slippery, to find the A9 almost deserted and....

....the village centre empty of pedestrians.

Shopping, which consisted of buying some milk and the day's paper, took minutes as there were almost as many staff as customers in the shop, but as we headed back up the hill more snow arrived to add to the inch or so that has already accumulated.

So, with the small birds fed, we can batten down the hatches and....

....dream of warmer climes.

New Year's Day

We woke to find that there was no sign of snow overnight and that a ship had anchored off Golspie, a sure sign that the weather would deteriorate.

On checking the Marine Traffic website we saw that no less than three ships had taken refuge. 1 is an old friend, the Esvagt Alba, while 2 is the FS Aquarius and 3 the Vestland Artemis.

Despite increasing snow showers, most of them wet enough not to leave any settled snow, we walked down to the village to buy a paper from the Co-Op, finding a trickle of traffic on the A9 and....

....Main Street deserted of humans.

We wish all our readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026.

....and thank you for your support through 2025.

Wildlife of the 2025 Year

The bare branches of the winter trees offer no hiding place for the small birds, which made possible this picture of a tiny, shy goldcrest.

Because I don't keep records of wildlife sightings it is difficult for me to estimate whether populations have increased or decreased. However, I can say with some certainty that, with the possible exception of the oystercatchers, the number of shore birds has decreased since last year. This is a curlew against a backdrop of the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness.

2025 will be memorable for an explosion in the number of adders and for a single sighting of....

....a kingfisher near Loch Lunndhaid, a long way north of its normal range.

Early in the year the roe deer were coming close to the houses - this picture was taken from our kitchen window - but by the year's end the deer had almost disappeared.

It's also some time since we saw red deer close to Golspie, the population having been culled to make way for trees.

We don't know what has hit the rabbit population in the fields near us. Early in the year on a typical walk we'd see ten or more within a few hundred metres of our house, some with unusual white markings. Recently they can only be seen in local gardens. By contrast, the red squirrel population has thrived this year, mostly thanks to the support of the home owners who live near the sites where they were re-introduced some years ago.

Some insect populations have faced an almost catastrophic decline. The only butterfly which has done well is the speckled wood, and our carefully selected wildlife-friendly shrubs, such as verbena, michaelmas daisies and buddleia, have done little to draw butterflies into our garden.

Despite having a pond in the middle of it, the one thing we have not managed to attract to our garden are the dragonfly and damselfly populations. This may not have been helped by the pond drying up for most of the summer.

2025 was a relatively good year for fungi, which, as usual, brought with them the agonies of whether or not to try to identify them. In general, I've given up on identification, freeing myself for the simple enjoyment of their variety and beauty.

The one group which don't seem to have been in decline are the local wildflowers and, of all of them, the orchids continue to give the greatest pleasure. This is a common spotted which, logically enough, is the rarest of the five species we've found here.

Some wildlife remains elusive. It is years since we saw a hedgehog or a fox and, despite leaving signs of their presence, we have yet to see a pine marten. We've had distant views of eagles but we would love to have a close encounter with one of the sea eagles which are reputed to have moved into the area.

The wildlife is precious to us. Let us hope that 2026 sees some of the more threatened species making a come-back.

The Colours of Sunset

The old saying, "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight....," may not hold true for the next twenty-four hours as the forecast here is for grey skies tomorrow and, over the next ten days, temperatures dropping below zero and a good chance of gales and drifting snow.

This sunset reminded me of similar African sunsets, like....

....this one, taken on the east coast of Zanzibar and of....

....this one, in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania. Both of those fulfilled their promise of warm, dry days with light winds.

Would that I could see another African sunset.