Wildlife of the Beinn Bhuidhe Plateau

We walked recently across the area of rolling, open grasslands around Ben Bhuidhe, just to the north of Camas nan Geall.  Each time we go into the area we disturb small groups of red deer.  This one consisted of hinds with some young at heel, accompanied by two stags, one of which lagged behind, watching us, as the herd moved away.  At this time of year the stags are collecting hinds ready for the annual rut, but it's early for that: the stags' antlers are still covered in velvet.

This young stag was alone when we came across him.  Unfortunately, he was close to a new section of fence: in his anxiety to get away, he charged into it, before finally escaping along the wire.

There were plenty of wildflowers amongst the grasses.  Specimens of this Scabious, which may be Devilsbit Scabious, were just coming into flower.

In the damper areas near Lochan Mhadaidh Riabhaich we came across this wildflower, which we identified, rather uncertainly, as Grass of Parnassus.

The single flower stood on the end of a long, thin stalk, with only a few, small leaves curled around it.

While Bell heather and Cross-leaved Heath had been in flower for some months, the Ling, Calluna vulgaris, was only just coming into flower.  Its flowers are tiny, yet they appear in such masses that, within a few weeks, the hillsides are covered in pale purple.

The orchids should have been coming to the end of their flowering season, yet some of the slopes still had groups of them in full flower.  Most of them were closer to Common Spotted than Heath Spotted.

We also saw two birds, one a Kestrel.  The other we took to be a female Hen Harrier, but, if it was, she had an entirely white tail, not the single bar across her rump, so we may have been mistaken in our identification.  Sadly, she flew off before we could take a photograph.