In June we visited the Marine Aquarium at Macduff - on one of the few sunny days last summer! The journey alone, along the coast through Cullen, Portsoy and Banff was worthwhile and we are tempted to return to Cullen to explore tseashore there. The aquarium concentrates on species from the inner and outer Moray Firth. (They import no exotics from elsewhere.) These range from the invertebrate world of sponges, corals, fanworms and anemones through the Molluscs, Crustacea and Echinoderms to the higher world of the vertebrates - the fishes, which include members of the shark family like the Smooth hound and the dogfish, and the marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, Pilot and Minke whales and it may surprise you to learn that killer whales occasionally visit the outer firth. The largest whale, the Blue, has also been sighted.
We found the staff very helpful, guiding and answering queries and we arranged our visit to include the regular feeding time so that we could watch the divers entering the tanks to feed the fish before returning home.
July found us back in Glen Strathfarrar where we met Hugh Brown, the warden of the reserve. We had to hose down the cars before entering the Strath in an attempt to exclude Foot and Mouth disease.
The previous year we had encountered a host of insects and spiders so "Glen Strathfarrar II" concentrated on what was feeding on these creatures. We located the insectivorous plants - Round-leaved Sundew and Bladderwort in a peaty pool, both with their particular techniques for capturing their prey. These pools support a population of dragonflies and damselflies (do you know the difference - the YNs do!) and they provide a nursery for the young of toads and frogs.
Three hundred Pipestrel bats roost in the store half way up the glen. All of these feast on insects and spiders.
Hugh discussed the insect-eating birds that inhabit the Strath and which, in turn, become food for the larger raptors seen soaring and hovering above.
Due to Hugh's expertise in locating these, some of us had the opportunity to handle a Slow worm and a few sharp eyes spotted an Adder retreating hastily into the heather.
Peter Burton, one of our more adventurous young naturalists, thanked Hugh for giving of his time and his vast and intimate knowledge of the Glen to make our visit such a memorable one - this was after it took three of us to pull him out of a bog into which he'd sunk in pursuit of things amphibious and which threatened to devour him - and us!
On a wet morning in August we met by the Strathrory burn near Edderton. Despite the poor weather Susann Barr organised a really interesting day. She and her daughters set up a simple but most effective model to demonstrate how glaciation had helped to mould the landscape around us.
Reay Clarke took us onto his land where lay the remains of a sizeable township, long since abandoned. We progressed up to the hill above Edderton - the place between the duns - and we looked across from the site of one to where the second dun had stood.
The flat area we had reached had been farmed and the old farmhouse is still standing. We were able to enter and see a kruuk roof in situ and then the young folk, supervised by Susann and Reay built a model of a kruuk construction on site from pre-cut timber. The barn attached to the farmhouse had been converted for dwelling and a brother and sister had lived there, one in the house and the other in the barn, and they did not speak to one another for ten years!
The young folk had a "whale of a time" as Reay carried them hither and thither in the back of his pickup truck. Before leaving we found a vantage point from which we could view the notched hills to the North west of Edderton and were treated to an explanation of how the standing stones were possibly arranged and used to determine seasons, etc. during early times. Anne Mackay set up miniature stones to support her theory.
Michael Cripps thanked all the people who had contributed to what had been a most informative and interesting outing commending especially the practical aspects of it.
The fossil hunt at Brora had to be put on hold because of illness but we hope to go ahead early in the coming season.
Michael Cripps has now left the Highlands to take up a place in Cambridge University. He has been a very regular attender on our outings for a decade or so and has proved most helpful in the past year or two with our younger members. He has taken with him, as a personal gift from us, the photograph taken by Geoffrey Gill for the cover of "Loch Ness and Thereabouts".