Hibernation

November, once it had recovered from the deluge it brought at the beginning of the month, has been unusually kind to us, bringing some beautifully warm and sunny weather.  This looked as if it was changing yesterday, with a fine morning giving way to a steady buildup of cloud, and the wind swinging steadily into the west and, by midday today, into the northwest.

This picture shows the Bronze Age standing stone at Branault, where members of Ardnamurchan Community Archaeology spent a very enjoyable morning exploring the stone, the remains of an old graveyard, and the four ruined 19th century cottars' cottages on the west side of the township.

For some, a winter chill and a miserably wet day are irrelevancies.  This pipistrelle bat was found the other day in an old bothy on a local croft, but it had ensured a very snug winter by burying itself deep in the sleeve of a coat.  Pipistrelles are the most common as well as the smallest of British bats, and are often to be seen hunting in the twilight of a summer's evening.

Like all bats in the UK, pipistrelles are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is illegal to harm them or disturb their roost sites so, after this photograph was taken, he was tucked back into the coat sleeve and will be left undisturbed until it's time for him to emerge in spring, probably around April.