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- May 23, 1953. Eskadale, Inverness Is. [Islands]
Left Edinburgh at 11:30 + drove to Inverness, then
Beauly + then to Glen Strath Farrar [Strathfarrar] where we arrived at
6 o'clock - a total distance of 259 miles. The
country for the 15 miles E [east] of Kinussie [Kingussie] was made
up of big hills of glacial drift, forested at one
time but now heath on the drier slopes + grass
where the soil was finer. Here + there birch was
invading.
Glen Farar [word crossed out] Strath Farrar [Strathfarrar] was visited in the evening, along
with Archie Macdonald; a game keeper on Lord Lovats
estate but now working for the Nature Conservancy
or the deer survey. In the Glen is a large area
of mature forest of mixed pine + birth with
an undergrowth of lush heather + vaccinium.
Roe + red deer about in it while the wild cat
are common + fox increasing. I am most
interested to learn that here the fox fills the
coyote niche + preys regularly upon lambs +
young deer. Saw my first cuckoo.
Deer [underlined] So far the deer tally has covered 300 000 acres
+ stands at 4500 +/- head. On some properties harvest runs to 20% of the stags
Nature Conservancy [underlined]:- Scottish group consists of [Dr John] Berry - who [word crossed out], [Robert Aylmer] Haldane
(Secretary), 2 male + 1 [female symbol] botanists, + a chap working on ant populations
[Sir Frank Fraser] Darling is merely under 2 year contract part time at L [pounds] 1000 +
expenses per annum. The work is concentrated
on soil ecology + the examination of proposed
reserve areas. No one is working on birds or mammals
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