At Glensaugh our first lambing (crossbreds) is virtually over and we are now into our second (blackfaces). The “blackies” as they are known colloquially are lambed out of doors and require less supervision that the crossbreds. Ewes with single lambs are returned to the hill within a few days of giving birth.

On the hill there are visible signs of new growth and heather burning finished on 15 April. The season ended well with a fail-safe north east wind and dry conditions allowing us to burn into new areas and further expand our area of managed moorland. The photograph shows the burning pattern on the Cairn hill; this year’s fires are the black patches. A large area of rank old growth was burned close to the top of the Cairn o’ Mount which can be seen in the top left of the photograph.

Our capital projects are beginning to move forward. At Bows Cottage, the slates have been stripped from the roof of the building which is scheduled to be demolished and trees have been felled to make way for the installation of the new water cistern. At Glensaugh Lodge we are busy removing the contents from the flats and have furnished No 11 Cottage with the best of what was available. Although we have spent the last eight years throwing stuff out there’s still some way to go before we have a totally tidy site. Every shed and cupboard we open yields up more junk and the flats in particular have been used as a dumping ground over the years.

We recently hosted a visit from a group of Aberdeen University biological sciences students. The theme of the visit was animal husbandry and welfare which we are well placed to talk about and have much to be proud of. A discussion about sheep husbandry took place in the lambing shed and there were some convenient lambs to hand to borrow from their mothers to use for illustration.