Country Diary: Highlands

Golden eagles would have had their full clutch of one to three eggs by the beginning of April; laying them in their huge nests mainly on cliff faces and sometimes in trees such as Scots pine. Ravens would have also nested early: the eggs could have been in the bulky nests in mid-February and these nests may have been used by generations of birds. The heron is also an early nester, nesting in colonies - sometimes large, although single nests do occur. These three are generally considered to be the early breeding birds in the Highlands but there are others that are often overloooked.

One is the tawny owl and the nearest nest to us is in an artificial box, containing five eggs, on the side of the River Nairn. As with other birds of prey she will have started the incubation at the first egg which is a technique for survival. If food is short during their stay in the nest, then the larger chicks will take the most food and the smaller and weaker ones may succumb - and may even be eaten by the older siblings. This year the food supply is more than likely to be sufficient as there are more brown rats in the strath than anyone can remember. Another seemingly unlikely early nester is a water bird; the dipper. These birds, because of the mild winter, have stayed in territory on the river all through the winter months. Unusually, dippers sing throughout the winter and their song, a sweet rippling series of notes, is a delight. In the nest box under the nearest bridge, a female is incubating four small white eggs that could well have been laid in late February. Who would think that at one time dippers had a bounty on their heads as they were killed for eating a few fish eggs.