September is fading fast, and as we both have to return to Britain for a while, there is a distinct end-of-the-holidays feeling about what we do. We had friends from Scotland staying, and we wanted to show them a few of our favourite places so, of course, went up to the Batere Highlands. Actually, it was reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands in one way: an expanse of bracken (an invasive plant I detest) was golden-to-russet in the autumn sun and, I hate to admit it, looked lovely.
By Robin Noble Photos by Martine Howard September is fading fast, and as we both have to return to Britain for a while, there is a distinct end-of-the-holidays feeling about what we do. We had friends from Scotland staying, and we wanted to show them a few of our favourite places so, of course, went up to the Batere Highlands. Actually, it was reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands in one way: an expanse of bracken (an invasive plant I detest) was golden-to-russet in the autumn sun and, I hate to admit it, looked lovely. There were few birds and only two plants that we found in flower: one, a perfect autumn crocus, and the other, quite a fine houseleek. Otherwise, grazed and bleached grass... It was the marmots that provided the highlight of the day; altogether we had sightings of nine. One or two looked rather elderly, and had clearly been feeding up for the winter – they were taking the sun outside their burrows, or pottering about gently. A couple of youngsters were much more lively but, naturally, rather more difficult to photograph. Some of them inhabit a slightly elevated mound, which gives them a good, all-round view; in the past, Martine has spent frustrating minutes trying to approach them unseen, but on this occasion she had more luck. I was watching from a distance, through the binoculars, and it looked as though she could have reached out and touched that rather solid figure on the grass. Another place, an old quarry that has evolved into a rather enchanting little amphitheatre, gave us views of quite a few; one posed against an attractive background. Although this is quite a popular area for folk to walk in (and some that day were rather noisy!), it does look as if this population is faring reasonably well.
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