Willow Warblers

08/08/2005

Pleasant summer weather over the weekend, dry, sunshine with northerly breezes. The temperature has not been high; however, I quite like that, as years in Glen Trollaigh have tuned my systems for cold rather than heat. It is very satisfying to see that our plans for wildlife have worked well this year with a good crop of chicks from our summer visitors, the swallows and house martins filling the skies around the Tower of Glen Trollaigh eating an unusual diet of flying ants that have also appeared this year. We have seen willow warblers, flycatchers and redpolls for the first time for some years, a good-looking young buzzard fills the air with cries for its mother who has stopped feeding and the youngster is finding the change to self-reliance a bit hard. Stags have moved nearer the Tower in the new long grass areas that will cause some friction when dearest Dottie stands in front of the guns when the season clicks in! The only disappointment has been the lack of water for fishing; certainly, I have seen fewer fish than normal and there could be hundreds of reasons for that. Hard work keeps me pinned to the desk gazing wistfully out at Lachie toiling in the sunshine, I would love to join him, but stern glances from Dottie and Mhairi keep the nose to the grindstone. With the girls here, we did have plenty of the young around the Tower of Glen Trollaigh on Saturday and Sunday, laughter filled the house, although they do watch some strange Telly. I noted the loss of poor Robin Cook; his accent had certainly changed from the early days as a councillor in Bellshill, but he stuck to his principles and stood up to President Blair, more that most of the ninny MP’s would do. Talking of the President, there are some very odd rambling sound-bites issuing from his holiday residence. He seems to propose that if I send a fiver to a Palestinian children’s charity I will end up in gaol, however if a Palestinian pops over here on holiday and persuades a chum to slit my throat, he gets away scot-free. I am sure he is well intentioned, but he does come up with some half-baked rubbish from time to time. He will be spending a few weeks in Tuscany hoping that no one has spotted the odd dodgy cleric slipping through his fingers. Hey-ho a dram and bed I think. Oh and to Old Sea Salt; Yes. Yours Aye, Archie, The Baron Trollaigh.