Scruffy and the Harriers part five.
22nd March 2011
The 'ruin' has proved itself a superb place for observing, and photographing raptors.
From April 2009 until the present day, I have used it whenever possible, but the peak months appear to be March to May, and again from late July until November.
Out with these times, Golden eagles can be seen at any period of the year, if your lucky.
If you remember, in an earlier episode of ‘Scruffy and the Harriers’ I described how the collapsed gable end of the ruin could be used as a ‘hide’ with a little modification.
The following is the story of how I did this, and then utilised the opportunities offered to me in this cracking wee spot.
As the name would suggest, the 'ruin' is basically a remote ruined farmhouse situated on a moorland/grassland area in south east Kintyre.
A small fast burn runs straight past it, and lining this little watercourse are a few mature deciduous trees.
As well as these, rowans, gorse and various small shrubs are found around the buildings, offering an oasis in the bleak heather clad moors for smaller birds and animals.
To the east, a low wet grassy hill lies, to every other direction it is heather, occasionally interspersed with bracken, rough pasture, and gorse.
This eastern hill proved to be the main focus of my attentions. Firstly because the potential ‘hide’ wall of the building faced it, and secondly because this was to prove the area where most of the action occurred.
So, essentially I had a wall twenty feet wide, and around ten feet tall.
The middle of this wall had collapsed, leaving a gap of about four feet looking straight onto the hill in front.
I had seen the potential with the female hen harrier hunting above the rushes right in front of the building, and thought that if I could build up the collapsed area - leaving a gap for viewing and photography - the results might be spectacular.
So one rainy afternoon in the very late Summer when photography was impossible, I decided to devote some time in getting the ruin up to scratch.
The first thing on the agenda was building up the base of the collapsed area with the stones that had fallen in the past.
This proved relatively simple, as most of the boulders were flat and even, and before long the gap had been filled to waist level. After that I was dubious about piling more stones on, as if the structure proved to unstable and collapsed Kosi - who likes to sleep at my feet as I wait for things to happen - could be injured, or even killed. So I racked my brains on how to build up the remaining void in a safe manner.
Finally I decided to use a piece of camouflage netting that I kept in my bag, and stretched this tightly across the rest of the gap.
The netting came to a height of five and a half feet, leaving me (at six feet three) able to comfortably see the hill over the top of it.
I knew however that this would have to be strengthened, any gale would make short work of the netting, it was see-through anyway, more work would be needed.
I decided on dead bracken, held in place with some old fencing wire I had found lying around.
It was all packed in place, and at the top a flat plank was wedged. This would enable me to rest my long and heavy camera lens, and track any potential targets with ease.
When I had finished, I sat back and admired my work. Any birds hunting on the hill opposite would only be able to see my head and the camera, and theoretically by the time they came to be aware of me, I would have what I wanted anyway, I was looking forward to trying it out in the very near future.
As an afterthought, I positioned two potential perches 20 or 30 yards in front of the hide.
I fantasised about Hen harriers using these perches, and whilst they never did whilst I was there, other birds certainly did.
One was a thick long stick, slightly higher and hopefully more tempting than the nearby fence posts. The other, a more natural looking dead branch I had found below the small pocket of deciduous trees lining the burn.
That was enough work for the day, and in the gathering gloom Kosi and I started the five mile trek home.
All through the Winter I returned periodically, but soon found that the area became almost deserted after the end of November. The only really interesting birds I saw during the short days of the Argyll Winter were: Golden eagles, Sparrowhawk, and the occasional Jay, or Red Grouse.
One warm morning in late March I visited again.
I can’t explain the feeling, but sometimes you just get the inkling that today something might happen.
Obviously Weather conditions, and time of year play a part, but there is something almost like a sixth sense that I get occasionally on photography outings; and it it’s rarely inaccurate.
That day proved to be one of those occasions.
As I made my way up to the ruin, the sun shone, the songbirds were in full voice, there were lambs in the fields, frogspawn in every pool, and that indescribable feeling of expectation, and ’anything can happen’ was firmly in evidence.
More soon.
From April 2009 until the present day, I have used it whenever possible, but the peak months appear to be March to May, and again from late July until November.
Out with these times, Golden eagles can be seen at any period of the year, if your lucky.
If you remember, in an earlier episode of ‘Scruffy and the Harriers’ I described how the collapsed gable end of the ruin could be used as a ‘hide’ with a little modification.
The following is the story of how I did this, and then utilised the opportunities offered to me in this cracking wee spot.
As the name would suggest, the 'ruin' is basically a remote ruined farmhouse situated on a moorland/grassland area in south east Kintyre.
A small fast burn runs straight past it, and lining this little watercourse are a few mature deciduous trees.
As well as these, rowans, gorse and various small shrubs are found around the buildings, offering an oasis in the bleak heather clad moors for smaller birds and animals.
To the east, a low wet grassy hill lies, to every other direction it is heather, occasionally interspersed with bracken, rough pasture, and gorse.
This eastern hill proved to be the main focus of my attentions. Firstly because the potential ‘hide’ wall of the building faced it, and secondly because this was to prove the area where most of the action occurred.
So, essentially I had a wall twenty feet wide, and around ten feet tall.
The middle of this wall had collapsed, leaving a gap of about four feet looking straight onto the hill in front.
I had seen the potential with the female hen harrier hunting above the rushes right in front of the building, and thought that if I could build up the collapsed area - leaving a gap for viewing and photography - the results might be spectacular.
So one rainy afternoon in the very late Summer when photography was impossible, I decided to devote some time in getting the ruin up to scratch.
The first thing on the agenda was building up the base of the collapsed area with the stones that had fallen in the past.
This proved relatively simple, as most of the boulders were flat and even, and before long the gap had been filled to waist level. After that I was dubious about piling more stones on, as if the structure proved to unstable and collapsed Kosi - who likes to sleep at my feet as I wait for things to happen - could be injured, or even killed. So I racked my brains on how to build up the remaining void in a safe manner.
Finally I decided to use a piece of camouflage netting that I kept in my bag, and stretched this tightly across the rest of the gap.
The netting came to a height of five and a half feet, leaving me (at six feet three) able to comfortably see the hill over the top of it.
I knew however that this would have to be strengthened, any gale would make short work of the netting, it was see-through anyway, more work would be needed.
I decided on dead bracken, held in place with some old fencing wire I had found lying around.
It was all packed in place, and at the top a flat plank was wedged. This would enable me to rest my long and heavy camera lens, and track any potential targets with ease.
When I had finished, I sat back and admired my work. Any birds hunting on the hill opposite would only be able to see my head and the camera, and theoretically by the time they came to be aware of me, I would have what I wanted anyway, I was looking forward to trying it out in the very near future.
As an afterthought, I positioned two potential perches 20 or 30 yards in front of the hide.
I fantasised about Hen harriers using these perches, and whilst they never did whilst I was there, other birds certainly did.
One was a thick long stick, slightly higher and hopefully more tempting than the nearby fence posts. The other, a more natural looking dead branch I had found below the small pocket of deciduous trees lining the burn.
That was enough work for the day, and in the gathering gloom Kosi and I started the five mile trek home.
All through the Winter I returned periodically, but soon found that the area became almost deserted after the end of November. The only really interesting birds I saw during the short days of the Argyll Winter were: Golden eagles, Sparrowhawk, and the occasional Jay, or Red Grouse.
One warm morning in late March I visited again.
I can’t explain the feeling, but sometimes you just get the inkling that today something might happen.
Obviously Weather conditions, and time of year play a part, but there is something almost like a sixth sense that I get occasionally on photography outings; and it it’s rarely inaccurate.
That day proved to be one of those occasions.
As I made my way up to the ruin, the sun shone, the songbirds were in full voice, there were lambs in the fields, frogspawn in every pool, and that indescribable feeling of expectation, and ’anything can happen’ was firmly in evidence.
More soon.
Comments
By JOHN REX MULLEN: Left wanting more, breathing heavy with anticipation, and excitement, wondering what we are going to see from the ruin.
a five mile walk ? like those going to Everest I think you could do with a base camp about i/2 mile from the ruin, and camp there for a couple of days at a time, save getting up at 3 : :00 am.