ONE of the most impressive inland cliffs, as opposed to sea cliffs, is the one on the side of the road at Stronchrubie.
It runs south from Inchnadamph a few miles north of Ullapool and near the eastern end of Loch Assynt with its ruined Ardvrech Castle. The cliff lies on the western edge of the former National Nature Reserve of Inchnadamph which is well known for its flora which includes rare limestone plants.
Whilst the plants, including some rare orchids, were interesting, for me the birds of the cliff were also an attraction. This included a breeding site for peregrine falcons, but just as interesting, and in many ways exciting, was the cliff colony of house martins. I remember being intrigued at seeing them flying backwards and forwards to the sheer cliff face, although it was some years ago. As far as I am aware they no longer nest there and now inland colonies are very rare, although there are still a few colonies on sea cliffs in various areas.
There was also one mammal that attracts and intrigues me and that is the reindeer antlers that were found in the world famous "bone caves". One of the four north-facing caves is actually called the Reindeer Cave, presumably after the very large number of fragments of antlers. Nearly 1,000 of these have been found, dating back to as early as 47,000 years ago up to 8,300 years ago. There is even the suggestion that as the antlers were from females and young male deer, the slopes at the head of the glen might have been their calving grounds.
Some years ago in the Knockan Visitor centre a few miles south towards Ullapool we had a "hands-on" table where people could actually handle some items of interest and one of these was a small reindeer antler to introduce people to the idea of the bone caves.
The antler used did not come from the bone caves, as I went down to the famous reindeer centre at Aviemore to get one. I explained to the person running the centre and the herd, Tilly Smith, what I wanted it for and she kindly gave me one for the centre. Whilst I was there I also bought an antler for my collection and to this day it hangs in the porch at our house.
Last week we re-visited the Aviemore area just to go into the reindeer centre, then up to the Cairngorm funicular railway car park for lunch.
In the car I had Tilly Smith's book which she published in 2006 and which was reviewed on this page. It is The Real Rudolph and covers the whole history of reindeer in the Cairngorms and, just as interesting, in the rest of the world. It is an absorbing book that is a great source of information for anyone remotely interested in these huge and very impressive deer.
At the visitor centre we looked at the wide variety of reindeer orientated goods including some huge antlers off the reindeer bulls.
How intriguing that with these deer both the bulls and cows have antlers. One of the reasons for the antlers on the cows is that they can use them to dig through snow to get at food.
There were three reindeer in the paddock behind the centre and it gives visitors the chance to see these very impressive animals at close quarters and for me the excellent chance to photograph them.
We later had a distant view of some on the hill in their natural habitat. Just fascinating.
* The event of the week - although perhaps it should be more of a non-event - was during my trip to see the reindeer at Aviemore. On the A9 just north of Carrbridge I turned off on the back road at the Slochd which I have been doing for many years.
The reason for the detour in the past has been to see the wild goats associated with this area but there were, as usual these days, none to be seen.
Last year when I asked readers for any information they had on wild goats in the Highlands there was a huge response. Whilst the majority of records were positive ones from Loch Ness to the Mound at Golspie, there were also gaps where people had not seen wild goats for many years.
The most outstanding of these was the wild goats associated with the Slochd on the A9. For many years people had seen these animals, often quite close to the road. I even had one landowner who said they should have been part of our heritage and wondered why had they gone, as they also gave so much pleasure to so many people.
The answer is, unfortunately, that there have been a small number of landowners in the Highlands who for the last decade or so have persecuted wild goats. The main reason seems to be because they are supposed to harbour countless numbers of ticks that they supposedly pass on to red grouse.
Hundreds and hundreds of goats have been killed in the last few years and in some areas, such as the Slochd, they seemed to have been completely wiped out.
As more than one reader pointed out, why should such landowners have the right to decimate wildlife in this way, as they do not own the wildlife as such but have it in their keeping for the future?
I just do not know the answer, I wish I did.
