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Stravaigins in Nature | Winter 24/25

Emily Jarvie
from Gordon Shepherd

Stravaig, a verb of Scottish/Irish origin: to wander about aimlessly.


The robin has returned to the garden, thankfully, and was less than a metre away from my spade as it turned its head left and right looking for worms I may have overturned while clearing the flower beds, the annual autumn ritual. We have also had an influx of house sparrows, all the tit species and many blackbirds, partial migrants, en route to warmer climes.


I was mowing our back lawn in late August when a large yellow and black butterfly flew through the garden. The only insect that fits that description is a swallowtail and, having seen them in Europe, I was confident about what I saw - giving me goose pimples at the thought! I have been told by East Scotland Butterflies, "It's a big claim to have seen the biggest butterfly and one so rare, without a photograph it will never be known to be right or wrong. The UK version of Swallowtail is confined to Norfolk, but the European version can turn up as a very scarce migrant anywhere across the east side of Scotland." I am happy to have seen it and I am not concerned whether I am believed or not!


We went to walk round Cameron Loch in late September and we were slightly surprised to see several groups of people brandishing binoculars, telescopes and cameras with very long lenses. Straightaway we thought ‘rare bird’ and we joined them to enquire about their sighting. A ‘spotted sandpiper’ we were informed and offered a peer through a telescope trained on the wader from North America. It is very similar to our common sandpiper but its yellow legs and the position of its white wing bar, both features beautifully shown by a photographer on social media, clinched the diagnosis of this rare vagrant.


Here at home and on a recent break to the Cairn Gorm National Park, I’ve noticed the rowan trees and the hawthorns are displaying an abundance of red berries and certainly this fecundity will attract Scandinavian thrushes, redwings and fieldfares, in early winter. Hopefully, this will also attract the impressive waxwings from their northern breeding grounds in the coniferous forests of the taiga.


We had come together with our extended family and walked with them to An Lochan Uaine, the Green Loch, in Glen More. When we first walked there many years ago we had it to ourselves but nowadays the path and the beach is very busy with family groups. Of course, the grandchildren had to divest socks, shoes and long trousers to paddle in the frigid waters. Their competition to see who could survive the numbing cold didn’t last long!



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