Cottage Diary - Aspenwood self catering luxury Holiday Cottage overlooking Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland.

Saw our our friendly female deer -our resident lawnmower - at Aspenwood on Saturday. She had a good munch by the sign to the entrance of the cottage and then enjoyed the grass clump under the bird table. After filling up she trotted casually down the bank to our house below. We've seen a very large brown hare several times on the path in front of our house and also on the grassy path to the wee beach. The birds are constantly feeding at the bird table now and more females of the species appear to have a ferocious lunch away from the nest. On the return journey from Foyers we spotted three red squirrels chasing each other around a tree trunk near Easter Boleskine - much too fast for a photo but I'll keep trying. Friends in the next village of Dores have seen an otter crossing back to into the waters of Loch Ness. We have seen our regular 'Ollie the osprey' flying over the loch a few times - he returns every year for rebuilding the same old nest and awaiting the wife for breeding purposes. The ospreys at Loch Garten have produced two eggs lately and we follow their progress through the local radio and news with enthusiasm. Bluebells are flowering profusely in the low damp undergrowth and on the banks all the way into Inverness - a ribbon of colour to match the yellow gorse. and primroses.

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