Eriska, Scottish Island

First Grass growth

No sooner does the ice recede and the ground soften up just a little than spring is most definitely upon u. the first sign was the snowdrops peeking through the ground but we are certainly well on our way out of winter now as I met gerry on his grass cutter setting off to the golf course.

It already seems like months ago that we were winterizing the machines and preparing them for a hibernation of a few months and here we are not only preparing to cut the grass but having seen the box full of grass cuttings and been able to smell the fist signs of spring are definitely here. No sooner will we have started than we will be back in our schedule of cutting grass on an almost hourly basis. Once we are up and running it is nearly a full time job to keep on top of the list with greens 3 or 4 times a week, fairways twice a week, semi rough weekly and tees and approaches more than once a week.

Howeer before we become to frenetic we will have to remind our new inhabitants of the third fairway that they need to move on. they have to date down a fine job fertilizing the fairways , although we have had to advise players to clean their balls and not to lick them! before there second shot to the green but the grass is already glowing with nutrients and I am certain it will pay off in the long term. It does however act as a double edged sword firstly keeping the fairways shorter without machinery for few weeks longer and secondly because there is more grass on the fairways the birds tend to avoid the greens and there shorter grass. maybe next year they will return with more friends and do some more fairways for us- I have already asked Gerry to prepare signs to move them out to the new holes that would certainly benefit from more fertilizers!

Pond replanning

It now seems an age ago that we decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and created a huge ditch across the front lawn with believe it or not a raised water feature to try and help the drainage issue in front of the main house. Whilst the victorians were definitely shrewd architects locating the house behind a slight rise in the land to allow it both views out to the ocean and a layer of protection from winter storms and wind when it really blows they were not so clever at there lawn management.

The front lawn is formed behind a bank of raised beach which had allowed itself over time to become a reservoir for peat and as we all now know from digging around on the golf course peat is not the best medium for drainage. The plan with the front lawn had been to dig through the peat and create a natural drainage line for the excess water to escape. This has worked in many ways however we neglected to include the fact that peat seems to be a magnet for the rain and therefore it seems to retain much of the water that falls from the sky leaving it to remain damp, at least, underfoot in most conditions.

However we also decided that in order to break the view and to help the local wildlife and flora we would create a simple pond, and to make this safe- health and safety as ever being on our minds-  we made it shallow but this therefore gave issues with getting water to it and insuring the water remained. For this we piped a pond from the hillside to import the water and lined it again with peat but this seemed to work well until the weed started to overtake the pond and no amount of wading and pulling of weed seemed to keep it under control so this week we removed by mechanical extraction much f the excess weed and cleaned out the boundaries of the pond leaving a much improved vista. Especially as with a bit of snow on the ground last night any devastation caused by the tracked vehicles removing the debris was all covered in a white layer of snow.

Anyway as ever it is progress and now we will wait for spring and the new grass to recover and camouflage the paths and hopefully by May the water Lillie's will have returned and all will be right with the world!

Golf between Rock and a hard place!

When I leave the hotel for a couple of days I am always slightly concerned how much will be achieved in my absence and probably in truth I always imagine more will happen than actually does so I return to a disappointment however this week I was delighted to see the progress on the golf course. As I have mentioned in one of the earlier blogs, the work on the course hard to be postponed as with water pouring from above and even rising from below it became very difficult for Ronnie Macoll to see where the drains were most urgently needed and where the water was flowing so we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and agreed mutually to stop work.

I had seen the stop as a postponement and Ronnie had seen it as abandonment but after a moderate discussion and helped by the fact that we held some of his equipment for ransom, we persuaded him to return and probably in the back of his mind he imagined the weather would drive him off so he could get back to proper work and I had a feeling that would happen too but it was all worth a try. In reality the weather has been perfect with cold nights making soft ground stable and warm sunshine keeping operators hands warm.

So now we have broken down the rocky outcrops and used the material to refill the old drains making the fairways long and rolling rather than short and dangerous with cross drains every shot. It has killed two birds with one stone removing unnecessary hazards from the fairway and also giving good drainage material for the ditches which have now been piped. Although I accept they will take a bit of settlement and need a chance top let the grass grow back I also can now really see potential and the 6th hole especially is a real proper golf challenge with a narrow fairway- imposed by the nature restrictions not allowing semi-rough because of the wonderful butterfly collection in particular- but at least with three good shots the green is achievable and even for a short hitter such as me I have the chance of getting there with the same ball.

Now we need the same weather to hold till the middle of the week and the finishing touches can be made before the rain can return and wash the excess dirt from the surface.

End of an era at Eriska

It is now over 35 years since my uncle George first arrived at eriska towing a horse-box with the first arrivals on Eriska from his trekking stable outside Edinburgh. My father always told the story that he was asked to look after a few extra Icelandic Ponies for a short spell- a wee holiday- while they were reorganizing the herds around Scotland. They became such firm favorites and were lent out to guests for riding that he agreed to keep a small number on a permanent loan.

This all seemed sensible and after a brief peak a stable number around 5 was suggested. However by chance or design a stallion was slipped into the five and we soon started to grow the numbers until the reasons for increase was spotted and removed back to the Pentlands. They did however have a great life living all over the island and being used for "light trekking" indeed I remember when they lived at the back door of the house and I would often catch one and ride it up to the main house in the morning where it was left for the guest to use until lunch time when I would ride it back home again!

They were all real characters and really well suited to Eriska. the grass was always abundant and they lived outside all year round. there were many wonderful tales but I always remmebr watching guests departing from the stables with animals they called stubborn who would take them where only the ponies wanted to go and then as soon as their heads were pointed for home they would speed up and head back.

My mother remembers the foals we had and the fact that they used to lie in the sunshine by the Tennis court and play around but as soon as guest passed by they would stand ready for  apples and carrots by the fence. Anyway we had many happy years and as the herd dwindled we gave them company with other horses but in truth they were never as happy as they were when we had a large number roaming the island but it was then really a Ponies playground.

Anyway yesterday the last of the line, Ethan, passed away aged 36, whilst the end of an era it was also definite a chance to reminisce about all the great time we have had with them and the many characters they were. they will be missed but not forgotten!.

Swan Lake - Loch?

Earlier in the year when we revisited our web site we made the decision to add a video link to the front page. This is nothing new to the site as we had before had images set in a musical slide show to a background but as with many things we try we were possibly ahead of our time so withdrew it and again we have decided to revisit the video idea. In reality i had wanted to put up an ever refreshing video camera on the tower but the web site company had pointed out that we may be invading guests privacy by screening unknowing clients in shots and worse still we may simply be publicizing for half the time how dark it is at night at Eriska!! So warned off the idea but not despondent I switched to a video.

By Chance I was introduced to David Whyte who is a golf course correspondent turned videographer and photographer and he offered to help with the project. But as usual time was always of the essence and we had to take the window of opportunity Dave had and squeeze it into visiting Eriska so the first draft of the video whilst good was never as good as either of us had envisaged so we agreed to revisit the production in the autumn when we both could devote a little more time.

So this week he returned to Eriska and whilst there may be less leve son the trees the colors and images will be just as stunning especially as we have picked- by good fortune- a couple of great clear days. Whilst the main aim was to update the images and increase the clarity I also suggested that Chay should take Dave out in Rose of Argyll, my mothers boat, for a wee tour round to allow him the chance to get a different perspective of the island.

Clearly they were engrossed in camera discussion as they were spotted passing the island unaware of ALL around them and one of our passing guests- the coopers - were left with a quandary. As Chay and Dave were deep in conversation a pair of swans flew passed the boat. Should the coopers alert Cahy and potentially disturb the swans or should they remain quiet and capture the image them selves. By more fortune than skill Chay and Dave spotted the swans just ion time to catch a great shot of them passing the boat but the Coopers image was better showing little attention being paid on the boat and the two swans gliding by!!

Watch out next time Chay and thank you to the  Coopers for their endeavors!!

New addition to the Hewitt Collection

Some time ago we were generously gifted a wonderful collection of Frogs for the library and they came with their own stone lilly pad and we were simply instructed to water them regularrly and look after them. Having coaxed and encouraged them for over a year successfully the next visit we were again the fortunate recipients of a family of hedgehogs and this time they were placed in a wonderful field of lavender which simply required regular ploughing to allow the scent to wander round the library.

Yesterday the collection was yet further enhanced by the addition of two new Hewitt Mice, these, it was explained to me are extremely rare and much sought after. The donors have made several expeditions to try and see the mice and despite excellent directions they have either just missed them or they have been away on holiday but at last this time perseverance paid off and they managed to catch two of these elusive creatures.

The two figures , named David and Mark, stand at a small but respectable inch but whilst they are wee and tender creatures now we have been told and assured that with the correctt nurturing and encouragement, regular claret or red burgundy and only the best Mull cheddar will see them blossom and grow. We will do our best!

Midge Forecast?

One of the questions asked by many visitors to Scotland is when is the midge season closely followed up by a question about ferocity of the wee insect. In truth we are very luck at Eriska being by the sea and almost always the breeze keeps the little pests at bay. Indeed we have three midge magnet machine to tempt the bugs away from the main house and we also now sell excellent repellent called "Stop bite". However it is still an issue in that people are dissuaded from trying Scotland because of the horror of the midge when in reality if you stay away from still damp areas you may never meet a midge.

Anyway I think hysteria is about to hit as I was alerted to the start of the new midge forecast on STV tonight. The Daily  express  has covered the story and makes it sound like an epidemic and I think grading areas from 1-5 whilst giving the hay fever measurer and pollen counter a summer job may dissuade even more. Anyway lets wait and see what the mass public think and indeed I wonder who will be sponsoring the event- not Visit Scotland- I hope!

Training by Example!

When new members of staff come to Eriska to join the team much of the training is carried out back of house with books and manuals however the majority is on the job learning by following others and watching and experiencing. Hopefully not making mistakes but learning form others and then emulating them.  This is nothing new and recently we have been able to see nature in action. At home I have a family of swallows living in my garage and yesterday watched the first flights, Four out of six chicks made it out of the nest and off flying on the first attempt but two failed to take the right leap and dropped to the floor but after a few more demonstrations they all managed to get in the air and by tis morning all have left the garage and are swooping in on the bird table and enjoying my special takeaway!! A tru example of if at first you don't suceed try and try and try again!

The same was happening at my mothers who shot the picture of the geese out for their morning swimming lesson. Clearly this is two families sharing their knowledge and learning. Having said that - given the sunshine and still conditiions it must be a perfect venue for your first dip! 

No Sea Eagle- Yet

Having raised expectations preparing you all for a possible Sea Eagle Nest on Eriska my hopes were first dashed by a local ornithologist who was visiting yesterday for the annual Heron count. The good news was that there has been an increase by one to the number of nesting herons on Eriska but then he denied the possibility of the Sea eagle setting up nest so close to the Heronry. This was confimrfed last night by the spotting guests sending the image which they had enhanced om their computer to show the nest and a possible chick, if you are the kind of believer in the the Loch Ness Monster!

 To be fair they were the first to admit the error and whilst this can be easily done given the small camera screen the good news was that not only was their other shot of a bird in flight definitely a Sea Eagle, now confirmed but it is also highly likely that it is one of a pair now in Loch Creran.

The other great news is that there is a high chance that we may somewhere on the island eventually attract another nesting pair as the trees and habitat seem ideal for them combined with the Sanctuary aspect of the island. In addition whilst the nest may have been misdiagnosed they did manage to get two other great shots first of a Willow Warbler

and then one of a Dunnock. Neither of which has our resident photographer been able to get so close to.

Possible Sea Eagle landing?

Yesterday morning I spoke with a couple, who were leaving, and they were recounting their weekend wildlife sightings but expressing dissapointment at the lack of a promised sea eagle- clearly they felt that my blog had led them slightly astray. Fortunately a guests overheard them and mentioned he had sighted the birds to the north of the island so they packed up their cameras and set off reinvigorated in persuit of their prey.

By lunch time they were back not only basking in the spring sunshine on the front lawn but also in the delight that not only had they sighted and got some shots oif the Sea Eagles in flight but might- just might - have spotted a nest. However due to a technological hitch we could not download the image for confirmation ( In reality I will have to forward the image to our resident ornothological expert) but they promise to send it to me and I wiull post it if confirmed.

Having mocked his large bag and camera lens I now stand humbled as he looks to be on the verge of a great discovery- keep watching and hopefully we will have good news- if not at least we will have a definite buzzard nest marked for viewing!