Doocot's been the focus of many wildlife dramas
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THE Giant has fallen. It may seem a strange way to start an article on wildlife but that is what it looked like after the night storm earlier this month.
The Giant is a doocot that we erected some 23 years ago and it has dominated the garden by the house ever since.
It is six feet higher than me and I have to walk under it every day to get to my study or go out.
It came about after my fascination with the old-fashioned doocots that still persist in the Highlands, and I have visited and photographed almost all of them.
They can vary from the very old ones dating to the late 16th century in Gordonstoun School grounds, to the one on the side of the road at Culloden in Inverness dated around 1800.
These were an essential part of agricultural practices for centuries, with the birds providing fresh meat all the year round, albeit only for the people with money and position.
When the doocot first went up in the garden we bought some ex-racing pigeons from a loft in Inverness and they included two "squabs", which the young are called.
We were told to keep them in a nearby shed for few weeks and then they would more willingly take to the doocot.
When they were ready to come out of the doocot we stood there with bated breath and the birds circled the doocot twice then flew off, ominously in the direction of Inverness.
We were told later that they arrived in their old loft within half an hour of being let out of our garden doocot.
But we persisted and eventually had them homing in on the doocot quite freely. Little did we know the wildlife saga that would ensue with that doocot, and at the same time give us some fascinating experiences, albeit sometimes frustrating and upsetting.
Once the ex-racing pigeons had settled down it was an enjoyable routine of seeing them fly off and then back. But one morning there was something different. The number of birds had gone down and the next morning another had gone.
I thought they might just have gone back to their original loft in Inverness but the owner assured me they had not appeared there.
Then I saw the culprit – a peregrine falcon was actually waiting for the pigeons!
I gave the rest of the pigeons to another doocot owner near Nairn. There was nothing for it but to decrease all eight pigeon access holes in the doocot.
I filled them in to a size that smaller birds could use. Within a couple of weeks starlings took over and the next breeding season all the eight holes were occupied by them.
They even roosted there during the winter months and their "song" each morning was a delight when most other birds were silent. Then came a number of developments. The first was when the young starlings, well grown but still to leave the doocot were predated. At first it was a sparrowhawk and I actually saw the incident.
A well grown starling chick was reaching out of the doocot with just its head and upper neck showing and screaming for food. The sparrowhawk, the smaller male, came round the corner and plucked the starling from the hole.
The bird did not even touch the sides of the doocot then flew with its prize to the pond below. The cries of the young bird and the upset adults still haunt me.
The following season all the starlings had well grown young when a female great spotted woodpecker decided to take some for her chicks and most of them were predated.
The next stage was a happier note as for the last three years swifts have nested in one of the holes and brought up young.
Now we await the carpenter to restore the Giant to its former self, and more wildlife stories.
RECORD OF THE WEEK
Delightful wader is back
This goes down to one of my favourite waders – the turnstone – which is now moving to us from its northern summer breeding grounds, in very large numbers.
When they spend the winter months here, turnstones are drab compared to their breeding plumage, but still more colourful than other wintering waders.
The summer plumage, which we only occasionally see, is superb. Rich brown and orange contrasts with black markings on the head and neck and the orange legs.
Unfortunately, turnstones do not breed in Britain or Ireland but spend the summer in the vast breeding grounds of northern Europe, Greenland and north-east Canada. Some birds may stop over in Iceland but most probably fly direct to Greenland , which is no mean feat for a small bird. There is only one possible breeding record in Scotland, in 1976. In Scotland alone around 35,000 turnstones over-winter. Many more pass through on migration.
They are confined to the coast, sometimes in flocks, sometimes alone, and are surprisingly tame.
I wonder how long it will be before we get another breeding record of this delightful wader. Perhaps next spring will see a pair linger on…
