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

The week began quite calmly and the mother and offspring were often seen wandering casually in the forest between our house and Aspenwood. This is the young deer we first saw last July when it was just a few weeks old-wobbling about on its stick thin legs. It is now nearly as big as the mother, who we can easily recognise by a slight nick out of one of her ears. The temperature dropped by mid week and the snow arrived on Thursday and poured down most of the day although it only laid seriously on higher ground. A large white hare in its winter coat was seen running up the lane to the single track road and off into Farigaig Forest. When the snow eased off the hungry birds descended for a feeding frenzy. There was a mixture of green male siskins,long tailed tits, great tits, chaffinches, blue tits, robins, large blackbirds and tiny coal tits.