Evergreen News - March 2010

Hello Everyone

As you will know from reading our previous newsletters this year it has been a long, cold but beautifully snowy winter. Although there is still some snow on the ground at loch level, there is likely to be snow in the higher ground around Evergreen and most certainly in the mountains for many weeks to come. In fact there has been so much snow in the Cairngorms that the authorities have had difficulty in keeping the access road open to the ski slopes. But everything was open and fully functioning last week for a rather different charity event. Over 200 skiers and snowboarders took to the slopes wearing kilts. And before you ask, I don't think there were many brave enough to be a "real" Scotsman! Not only did the skiers raise money for charity and for a school skiing programme but also set a new world record for the most people in kilts going down a piste. The participants were led across the finish line by two pipers and drummer - all wearing kilts of course! The adjectives wonderful and quirky spring to mind.

But with all the snow you would think that the water level of Loch Ness and all other lochs in the area would be pretty high. Surprisingly though the opposite is true. The level of the loch is really low at the moment - in fact much lower than we have seen it before, even in the summer months. You could almost walk from Inverfarigaig to Dores along the shore. At one point there is a rock sticking out of the water which we have never seen before - a great spot for birds to perch on.

And talking about birds, in our last newsletter I spoke about the long tailed tits which had briefly visited the bird table. An article in our local paper, the Inverness Courier shed a little more light on the subject. The long tailed tits were originally insect eaters but they have adapted to eat peanuts (hence why I saw them at our bird feeder) and are now much more able to survive cold winters. Also, they are very sociable little birds and any adult birds that have lost their nest or failed to breed help the breeding pair in nest building. But it doesn't end there - at the end of the breeding season several families will band together to defend feeding territories. They also roost together - a very successful social interaction indeed.

Although the Falls of Foyers are just along the road from Evergreen, perhaps the most impressive falls in the area are Plodda. Plodda Falls are on the north side of the loch close to the village of Tomich. Tomich is interesting in itself in that it is a planned village built by Lord Tweedsmouth in the 19th and it looks more like a quaint English village than. a hamlet in the Highlands! When we went up to Plodda the other week there was still lots of snow on the single track access road and I don't think we would have made it to the car park without a 4x4. We followed the lovely circular walk from the car park, past the falls, down to the river and back. Only about 40 minutes but really beautiful. As you can see from the photo, the falls were pretty close to frozen which made them look even more spectacular. On our return home we stopped off at the Bog Cotton Café in Cannich which serves fabulous home made soups, scones, cakes and much more. They also have a small area displaying an excellent selection of local arts and crafts. A wonderful place to stop.

Fiona and Graeme

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