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

There must be a bumper crop of hazel nuts on the trees as we have never seen so many red squirrels in all the years we have lived here. There is a drey very nearby and we often notice the branches of an individual tree swaying violently and then catch a glimpse of these little red acrobats leaping from branch to branch. This one ran along the side of the garage towards the house and leapt into the forest behind the bird table. He emerged a few minutes later with a mouthful of hazel nuts and sat on the tree stump about 5 metres away from us enjoying his nutty breakfast. After a good wash and brush up he sprang into action and disappeared back into the forest. Read more about the red squirrel.