It was the perfect day – an early start at Inverey near Braemar, and with each passing step, an abundance of wildlife revealed itself on my trek up Glen Ey, including curlews, green hairstreak butterflies and a dazzling array of wildflowers.
Not long into the walk, a group of stags, their antlers in velvet, stood proud on a heathery knoll.
They were not skittish in the least, which enabled me to approach close.
One of the stags had magnificent multi-pronged antlers, a true Monarch of the Glen.
It is strange how these stags were so content in each other’s company, when in only a few months’ time they will become mortal foes as they compete for the attention of hinds during the annual rut.
Curlews and lapwings
As I headed further up the glen, several curlews wheeled about in the air, their liquid and haunting trilling calls drifting across the breeze.
Sadly, curlew numbers are dwindling across the country, but here in Glen Ey they were prospering, with the mix of herb-rich grassland and damp flushes suiting their needs perfectly.
A lapwing spiralled in the sky above me on broad floppy wings, its high-pitched and repetitive ‘pee-wee’ call a warning that it had chicks nearby and that I should move away.
The bird made several low passes, sometimes swooping so close I could hear the thrum of its wings.
Wildflowers
On the ground, there were a multitude of wildflowers, including the delicate yellow blooms of tormentil and blousy pink-petalled lousewort.
A drift of mountain pansies also caught my eye.
They are among our most stunning wildflowers, little purple gems of perfection, with their two large top petals looking somewhat akin to rabbit ears.
In the centre of the flower is a glowing heart of sunshine, gently inscribed with darker lines, which are honey guides to help lure insects into the centre of the bloom.
On reaching the ruins of Altanour Lodge, I struck up the flank of the nearby Beinn Lutharn Mhor, a large brooding mountain which stands at the head of the glen.
On the summit ridge, patches of exquisite purple-pink trailing azalea flowers shone out in a creeping carpet of vibrant colour.
Nearby, a ptarmigan strutted cautiously through a mountain-top boulder field, its grey and white plumage blending in seamlessly with the rough, weather-hewn rocks.
On my descent, I inadvertently flushed a cock red grouse, which trailed its wing along the ground, pretending to be injured.
I have seen female birds use this clever ploy before as a ruse to lure a predator away from her eggs or chicks, but I never realised male birds also utilised the technique.
A mother grouse must be nearby, so I parted the heather with my hands, and there she was, frozen stock still.
The way she had hunkered down indicated that newly hatched chicks were sheltering beneath her belly, so I carefully placed the heather back, and slowly retreated, leaving the grouse and her brood in peace.
INFO
Other birds to watch out for in Glen Ey are ring ouzels and sandpipers, as well as golden eagles soaring high in the sky.
