Hello from the Highlands (1 Viewer)

I am from a small village called Newtonmore, near Aviemore in Inverness-shire in the Highlands of Scotland. I am a hill farmer / crofter and have a keen interest in birds. I recently won an award from the RSPB for the work we do to encourage lapwings (peeweets) on our farm.
We live close to the RSPB Insh Marshes Reserve (3 miles) and graze some of our animals there. We also have a holiday house business that runs alongside the farm.
We keep mostly Highland Cattle and Highland Ponies which are native breeds. Infact we have 7 rare and native breeds on our farm as listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and that is before we even start looking at the birds: Lapwings, Redshank, Snipe, Curlew, Oyster Catchers, Whooper Swans, Grey Lag Geese and many Raptors.
Hope to meet some of you in our area if you are up birding.

Hi Highlander, a very warm welcome to Birdforum.net from all the moderators and admin staff. We hope you enjoy your time here.

Congatualtions on your work in helping the Lapwings, I think most birders have a soft spot for that particular bird (one of the first birds I took an interest in as a child, when they were so numerous in my area)

Very nice photo of your stock up there in the snowfields.
Regards,
Andy

Hi Highlander,

Welcome to BirdForum!

Hope these won't seem silly questions, but it is something I've long wondered, and never had the opportunity to ask . . . How can Highland Cattle see what they are doing? And do they ever injure each other accidentally with their long horns?

Michael

Great looking cattle!

Hi Highlander, Welcome to BF! Visited your area back in the 70's, great countryside.
Great pic of Highland Cattle, here in U.S., New York state, a neighbor, James Cagney, the actor, raised them on his farm. Massive animals but very good tempered.
Congrats. on your award, and thanks for looking out for our feathered friends. bob

Dear Michael
Yes they do struggle to see sometimes with their hair but they have managed for years with this handicap, cattle tend to look out more to the side rather than straight forward if you ever study their eyes. They seldom hurt each other seriously, but they can be very bad for fighting with each other when in confined spaces or when being fed. We also have to be very careful when they have young calves as they are very protective, they could easily kill somebody. This government has a ridiculous rule that we have to put ear tags in calves before they are 3 weeks old. Believe me this is a very dangerous exercise with a horny mum looking on !! I know of several people who have been quite badly injured doing this job, so much for the HSE. (Health and Safety Executive) But normally when they do not have young calves they are very friendly, they cannot help their instincts and mothering nature. Anybody visiting the country side needs to aware how dangerous cattle can be when they are protecting young, especially if you have a dog. If it is on a lead they will chase you and your dog !!! In fact our cattle will chase a dog even when they do not have young. Nature again, they always see a dog as a predator. Highland cattle have maintained more natural traits than other breeds and are therefore less "domesticated".
If you click on the picture below it will give you an idea of how sharp and pointy the horns are ! This cow is called "Frosty" (real name Victoria of Strathmashie) and had a very succesful showing career before retiring at home to have babies. She is one of our pets !
This picture will give you an idea of how well insulated they are. See the snow and ice on her back, yet she is still perfectly warm. They live outside all year round even in our cold climate.

Hope this helps, Highlander

Hi Highlander,

Thanks! - I knew cows can be very protective of their calves, I always give calves (any breed!) a wide berth to be on the safe side, so have never had any problems myself (don't have a dog, either). Didn't know about the ear-tagging rules, that they have to go on so young.

Michael

Highlander, your cattle are so interesting-looking. There are winter days when I would long for a coat so warm myself!

Now how about a picture of your horses as well?

Welcome to birdforum

Highlander said:

I am from a small village called Newtonmore, near Aviemore in Inverness-shire in the Highlands of Scotland. I am a hill farmer / crofter and have a keen interest in birds. I recently won an award from the RSPB for the work we do to encourage lapwings (peeweets) on our farm.
We live close to the RSPB Insh Marshes Reserve (3 miles) and graze some of our animals there. We also have a holiday house business that runs alongside the farm.
We keep mostly Highland Cattle and Highland Ponies which are native breeds. Infact we have 7 rare and native breeds on our farm as listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and that is before we even start looking at the birds: Lapwings, Redshank, Snipe, Curlew, Oyster Catchers, Whooper Swans, Grey Lag Geese and many Raptors.
Hope to meet some of you in our area if you are up birding.

Click to expand...

Hi Highlander: I am of Scottish ancestry. My people are lowland from Glasgow. Nearby us we attend the Ohio Scottish games at Oberlin College. Each year a group brings in Highland cattle,sheep,boarder collies, Clydesdales and an army of pipers. It's great fun. Thanks for doing good service to the birds.
Good sightings,
Samuel Humphrey Walker

Dear Beverly
I have a really good picture of our Highland Ponies grazing on the local RSPB Reserve that is being used for a calender for 2004. I will try and get it scanned from the calender and post it here later.
Watch this space !!
Highlander

PS: Sam, glad you are so enthusiastice to keep the Saltire flying over the other side of the pond !!

We also have gotten some highland cattle in Finland during last decade. One herd is kept in Kokemäenjoki River Delta vicinity to manage breeding habitat for Calidris alpina schinzii (endangered subspecies). They also tell that highlanders keep even wolves away. -Wintertime, as we have white xmas, the cattle is kept indoors.

Picture of Highland Ponies

Here is a picture of some of our Highland Ponies grazing on the RSPB Insh Reserve at Kingussie. This is the westerly end of the reserve next to Ruthven Barracks. Anybody who has been there will recognise it immediately. The ponies are all in "big form" with the flush of summer grass on the meadow. This area they are grazing has been known to have in excess of 40 pairs of Lapwings nesting on it at one time.
The ponies do a great job of maintaining a "short sward" and removing rashes which makes it ideal for the Lapwings because they prefer bare ground for nesting, so they can see all around them. Ponies are used on several reserves around the world to control the vegetation so it is "bird-friendly". Several years ago we exported a herd of our ponies to France to manage a National Nature reerve over there.

Hi Highlander,

Am I right in thinking that horses/ponies are also better for grazing fields with nesting waders, as they are less likely to trample nests than cattle or sheep?

Michael

Highlander said:

I am from a small village called Newtonmore, near Aviemore in Inverness-shire in the Highlands of Scotland. I am a hill farmer / crofter and have a keen interest in birds. I recently won an award from the RSPB for the work we do to encourage lapwings (peeweets) on our farm.
We live close to the RSPB Insh Marshes Reserve (3 miles) and graze some of our animals there. We also have a holiday house business that runs alongside the farm.
We keep mostly Highland Cattle and Highland Ponies which are native breeds. Infact we have 7 rare and native breeds on our farm as listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and that is before we even start looking at the birds: Lapwings, Redshank, Snipe, Curlew, Oyster Catchers, Whooper Swans, Grey Lag Geese and many Raptors.
Hope to meet some of you in our area if you are up birding.

Click to expand...

Hello to you, Highlander. Sounds like a great idea for my next holiday in Scotland!

Hello Highlander,
Welcome to Bird Forum. Although I live in south west England, I visit Scotland several times a year. I used to go almost always to the north west area of Sutherland and usually base myself in Durness. I have worked on Handa Island as an assistant warden in the past. Recently I have made a couple of trips to an area much nearer to you, the area of Loch Shiel which I find just as remote as the north west Highlands. Your area is also very beautiful and the birds you have are some of my favourites including the Whooper Swans. I have also done work for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust so if you see any Whooper Swans with plastic rings on them and your are able to read them, send the details to me or to WWT directly and you should get the life history of the swans. You may already be doing this of course. Congratulations on the Lapwing award. I have done some field work on this species in SW England in the last 2 springs as part of a project to try to find the optimum breeding conditions. Maybe I can buy you a beer or a dram or even something non-alcoholic when I am passing one day.

Dear Michael
There is probably some truth in what you say, that horses/ponies are less likely to trample nests, but stocking density during nesting and fledging is also important. We never get too many complaints from the local RSPB wardens who are on the ground most of the time.

Dear Colin
Look forward to seeing you in our area some time. Loch Shiel is indeed a great area and part of our family several generations back came from there.

Highlander,
Thanks, I will email you when I am coming to the south west Highlands.