Today was a grey, cold and rainy/sleety day in Fife. We had two sets of experiences booked - one for falconry and archery. How do the birds behave when it's wet and windy and what do we do if the weather isn't good when you are booked to come to us for an experience?
Read MoreFly-fishing in the scottish Highlands
When the conditions are right, I don’t know of a more relaxing way to spend the day than fly-fishing.
I’ve fished since I was a wee boy growing up in a fishing community on Scotland’s north-east coast. Mr grandfather taught me how to bait a hook and encouraged my keenness but I didn’t learn to fly-fish until I was in my late teens. My job afforded me access to some of Scotland’s best fishing lochs and rivers and I’ve spent many happy hours on bank and boat and beat.
I offer a fly-fishing experience local to my base here in the north-east of Fife and, for this, I use local fisheries or rivers that best suit folks who are new to fishing or have never fished in Scotland before. But, for the more experienced or more adventurous, I can also incorporate fly-fishing into one of my custom driver-guided tours to the Highlands, depending on the water and the season.
The Scottish Countryman fly-fishing at a local reservoir.
Recently, I took a two-day trip up to the West Highlands where I fished on a river, at the mouth of a sea-loch, and on a Victorian-built dam. The weather was ideal: a mix of cloudy skies and light rain but some occasional sunshine, too. I fished at four locations over the course of about 4 or 5 hours and just had the most wonderful time. Fishing is such a contemplative pastime - great for some head-space and time to reflect or refresh.
Yes, but only some very small fish that I put back - nothing for the pot and certainly nothing I could brag about over a wee dram that evening! I’m ever hopeful of a salmon, of course, but I typically catch brown trout and, sometimes, when I’m lucky, a sea trout up here.
The Scottish Countryman fishing on the dam at Kingairloch in the west Highlands of Scotland
There are fishing seasons for certain species and rivers, but Scotland’s range of fish and fishing spots means we can, in theory, fish on any day of the week and throughout the year.
If you’re interested in having a go at fly-fishing, take a look at my fishing experiences with a picnic lunch or without a picnic lunch or send me an email. I provide you with all the gear you’ll need along with full instruction on a rod that is bested suited to your height and ability. And if you’re keen to fish in some of the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer, I can customise a tour to feature some fly-fishing, too. Just get in touch!
St Monans in the east neuk of fife
If you’ve been for an experience with me, whether it’s been fly-fishing, birds of prey or archery, you know that I am passionate about making sure you have a great time.
I’m now adding driver-guided tours to my list of experiences and I’d love to show you Scotland! Or, at least, some of the places in Scotland that I know and love. Let’s start with the East Neuk, since that’s on my doorstep…
The East Neuk (or ‘Nook’ or ‘corner’), is a strip of land in the north-east corner of the Kingdom of Fife. Along the coast, it runs from Kingsbarns round to Elie and Earlsferry taking in the seaside villages of Crail, Kilkenny, Cellardyke and Anstruther, Pittenweem, and St Monans. Inland, there are the hamlets of Carnbee and Arncroach and the hill villages of Kilconquhar and Collinsburgh.
Although most famous for its coastal villages and seafaring history, the East Neuk’s inland strip means a focus on farming and food production, too: we’ve got farm shops and fishmongers, artisan bakers, and beer and cider brewers, a gin and whisky distillery, makers of jams and pickles cheeses, Michelin-guide restaurants, and everything from street food to cosy cafes. (If this is your thing, check out the Food from Fife site.)
With my half- and full-day tours of the East Neuk taking approximately 4 or 8 hours, I tailor the route and stopping points to your interests. I’ll create an itinerary to show you the best bits based on your wish-list and I’ll recommend the best places to grab a coffee or sit and have lunch, depending on the time available and your preferences.
As an example, on a recent full-day trip, I took guests to Falkland for the morning and then we visited St Monans (windmill and harbour), Pittenweem (the habour and cave, with a stop for a seafood platter), Anstruther (Shore Street and the Dreel Burn) and Cellardyke (harbour and tidal pool), before a wander round Crail exploring its beautiful marriage lintels, historic Church, Tolbooth, and harbour. We also called in at the Kingsbarns golf course to preview the location of my guests’ next-day activity.
Make the most out of your time in the East Neuk and let me take care of the logistics. I’ll manage all of the driving, parking, and timings of your trip, so that you can relax and enjoy the sights of this beautiful corner of Fife in Scotland.
You can find out more about my full-day and half-day tours of the East Neuk here or send me an email. These tours can be on any day of the week and run throughout the year.
Late spring in Scotland - April and May at Hammer Inn
Read MoreWhat exactly is a ‘bird of prey’? It’s an odd name, when you think about it, isn’t it? (Even odder when you see it misspelled as ‘bird of pray’.) It’s a question that comes up a lot in our bird-of-prey and owl experiences, so let’s explore what is meant by a bird of prey.
The short answer is that a bird of prey eats meat; it is a predator that must hunt and eat other birds or animals to survive. Whilst lots of birds eat invertebrate animals such as insects and worms, birds of prey typically take larger vertebrates such as small mammals and other birds as their prey. A distinguishing feature of birds of prey is the fact that they use their feet (and sharp talons) to capture and carry their prey away and they have a hooked beak to kill and break into their prey. Most birds of prey hunt live prey but some species, like vultures, will also eat carrion.
Birds of prey can be broadly separated into three (unrelated) groups: acciptrifoformes, which include eagles, buzzards, hawks, ospreys and harriers, the falconiformes (falcons), and the strigiform, which are the owls. In general, owls are nocturnal hunters while the others are all diurnal (daytime) hunters. There are around 300 species of acciptrifoformes and falconiformes and just over 200 species of owls.
Not all birds that hunt and eat other animals are birds of prey. Although birds like magpies, herons, gulls, penguins and storks are predators and eat other animals s
uch as songbirds, fish or frogs, they are not classed as birds of prey because they don’t have the distinguishing features of a bird of prey.
Across the species (eagles, buzzards, hawks, falcons and owls), birds of prey will have distinct and particular features that give them their apex hunter’s advantage. These features include wing shape, flying style and speed, feather colour and type, manoeuverability, leg length and more, but - because of how they hunt and kill - all birds of prey have powerful feet and a strong, hooked beak.
In eagles, the feet are very large and can exert very high pressure. A bald eagle, for example, has the strength to apply 400 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure in its enormous feet, which is ten times the grip of an average adult human. The golden eagle’s prey can include mammals the size of a roe deer or fox, so their feet and talons need to be capable of a strong grip for lifting and carrying away that kind of weight, as well as the killer pressure needed to crush mammal bones.
In the images above, you can see the impressive feet on Altai, our golden eagle. Steve’s falconry glove is triple thickness to protect his arm but, even so, if Altai decides to apply pressure, Steve knows about it! To give you an idea of his size, Altai’s talons alone are each around 5-7cm long…
Falcons catch their prey on the wing, or in mid-flight, so they need to have feet that can bind to their quarry and hold on to it but they also need a quick method of killing their prey before it wrestles free in the air or damages them in the process of struggling to escape. The hooded beak of a falcon includes an extra serrated bit on the upper part of the beak. It looks like a notch - a rough edge - and its known as, a ‘tooth’, specifically a tomial tooth, which is used a little like a can opener. Falcons and (kites) use this tomial tooth to quickly kill their prey by snapping the vertebrae. You can see it in the image below, on Logan’s upper beak.
LOGAN our peregrine falcon showing his tomial tooth.
The two photos below show off the falcon’s tools of the trade: hooded beaks, powerful feet and strong, sharply pointed wing tips, giving them the aerodynamic profile they need to cut through the air at high speed.
Another feature of birds of prey that makes them different from other birds and most other animals is that the males are smaller than the females, which is known as reversed sexual dimorphism.
In most vertebrates, and in non-predatory birds, the male is typically larger than the female. However, in birds of prey, the female is larger. The most noticeable size difference is in falcons and hawks - in some cases (the kestrel, for example) the female is larger than her male counterpart by as much as 50%.
Ailsa, our female eagle owl (right) weighs approximately 6.5lbs (2.9kg), while Fergus, our male eagle owl, is just 4lbs (1.8kg) - almost 50% lighter!
The size difference between sexes is much less obvious in birds of prey that predate on slower species. Vultures, for example, which rely on team work or others’ left-overs (and carrion) to be able to eat, have little size difference between the sexes.
Ailsa, our female eagle owl
There are several theories as to why birds of prey have reverse sexual dimorphism. These include the suggestion that males and females can more easily share territory if they are different sizes: birds of the same species will not be in competition for the same prey if one is significantly smaller / larger than the other. And perhaps a female’s need to produce and spend time incubating eggs accounts for her larger size - she needs larger reserves of energy.
No, raptors and birds of prey are the same thing. The Victorians called birds of prey raptors, from a Latin world meaning to plunder or take by force. This perfectly describes a bird of prey’s hunting style, which is to ambush its prey and then carry it off to a safe place to eat. (The term ‘raptor’ is also used for the group of dinosaurs known as Dromaeosauridae, the feathered lizards that include the Velociraptor made famous by the film ‘Jurassic Park’. Scientists are yet to confirm a direct evolutionary link between these bird-like dinosaurs and the birds of today, but they certainly share the same design of powerful feet and fierce talons as our birds of prey. )
There are 14 species of diurnal (daytime-hunting) raptors (falcons, hawks, eagles) and 4 nocturnal raptors (owls) in Scotland.
The diurnal Scottish birds of prey are: red kite, honey buzzard, common buzzard, goshawk, sparrowhawk, merlin, kestrel, golden eagle, white-tailed (sea) eagle, osprey, hobby falcon, peregrine falcon, hen harrier and marsh harrier. Below is a photo of Lewis, Steve’s goshawk on a pheasant kill. In it you can see his hooked beak and sturdy, powerful legs but his feet are covered in the pheasant’s feathers.
A goshawk on a kill
The nocturnal birds of prey found in Scotland are: barn owl, tawny owl, short-eared owl and long-eared owl.
The barn owl’s feet, used with such precision to capture thousands of voles and mice in a year, are covered with tiny feathers to minimise the sound of the air passing over them, allowing the owl to fly almost silently, in order to surprise its unsuspecting prey.
Eagle owls are now also to be found living wild in Scotland (having escaped from captivity) and Snowy owls are sometimes seen on the islands of the Outer Hebrides, but neither species is considered native.
I’ve included some reference below but I’m confident you’ll learn the most and get the most out of booking an experience with Steve!
In The Scottish Countryman’s team, we have a barn owl and two eagle owls, a golden eagle, falcons and hawks. You can get up close to and learn more about each of these birds in our bird of prey experience or owl experience. Steve explains each of the birds’ ‘super powers’ and demonstrates their hunting/flying styles for you so that you can really appreciate the specific distinguishing features that make them all such superb birds of prey.
https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Size_and_Sex.html
“Raptor. A Journey through Birds” (2016) James Macdonald Lockhart Fourth Estate
The Harris hawk is not native to the UK, so why is it such a popular bird in UK falconry?
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Read MoreThe Scottish Countryman delivers engaging and entertaining experiences that hep you connect with the Scottish Countryside.
Falconry, Archery, Country Sports and Countryside Consultancy.
Steven brazendale
Steven Brazendale
0044 (0)7801 544 124 thescottishcountryman@gmail.com
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Our entrance on the A917, St Andrews to CRAIl road
