I MAKE no excuses for mentioning the Handbook of Highland Land Mammals again, although I have raised it two or three times in this column this year already.
It is such an important atlas in that it lays the foundation on the status of mammals in the Highlands at this time. There is always a great deal of media publicity about what is happening to butterflies, wild flowers, birds and other groups but people tend not to think that mammals are declining or increasing.
A good example of the changes in recent years is the huge areas now colonised by sika deer and sika/red deer hybrids. As far as this change is concerned, this has been happening in the Highlands far more than in other parts of the UK.
Then there is the surprise, and concern for many, caused by the realisation that wild boar are not only living in a small area of the Highland west of Loch Ness but actually breeding. We watch that development with great interest.
The title of the atlas is worth explaining as the "Land Mammals" covers terrestrial mammals, but includes seals and airborne bats. It does not therefore include the truly marine whales, dolphins and porpoises. This is because they require different methods of recording and there are a number of groups dealing with their studies.
So the atlas covers 37 species of mammals regularly found in the Highlands. To put it into perspective, the distribution maps are based on 25,000 records contributed by more than 1,200 recorders between 1999 and 2010, plus some historical records. There are a series of colour photos that show a selection of species and typical signs.
For me, the essence of the atlas is not the distribution maps, although they are fascinating in their own right. It is the other information on each species such as the appearance and signs of their presence, their ecology and behaviour, their conservation status, history in the Highlands and their past and current management.
There are so many interesting and intriguing mammals it is difficult to choose one or two. One must be the pine marten which is one of my favourites. It used to breed on a cliff behind the house I lived in at Inverpolly many years ago. In those days it was a rare mammal and restricted, as far as we knew, to some isolated pockets. Their distribution map in the atlas even surprised me as to their current extent.
It's interesting that they were apparently absent on the Isle of Skye until the bridge was opened in October 1995. I recall there was a roadside casualty on the Black Isle side of the Kessock Bridge when that was opened.
One of the interesting sections was on the species of bats found in the Highlands. Before this I would not have thought there are seven species. This includes one of the largest bats in Britain, the noctule, which is listed as a "rare visitor to the Highlands". These pages must be the best and the only current analysis of bats in the Highlands and are therefore particularly welcome.
We are fortunate in having brown long-eared bats in our roof space. However, I understand that I need be trained even to look at them closely.
The mole distribution map is interesting not only for where they occur but for where they do not. I heard the story that they were not found on Skye until someone carried some there to transport to one of the islands off the west coast. Because of poor weather and the absence of boats, the moles were just released on Skye, hence their current distribution there.
The atlas is £7 plus £1.50 p&p but no contact details are to hand, so watch this space.
* The record of the week is an interesting but negative one and it is the absence of many birds, which are still not coming in to the various feeders in our garden.
Comments from readers would be welcome as to whether this is widespread. It could well be that many of the smaller birds are still finding enough more natural food in various types of woodland.
For example, at this time of the year, particularly with the ice and snow we have had, we would normally get up to 15 or even 20 siskins in after the nyjer, peanuts or sunflower heart feeders. The highest number I have seen in the last few weeks has been one male and one female.
Likewise with the goldfinches, where are they? There was one on the peanuts this morning and that was the first for a couple of weeks. Even the various tits - blue, coal and great - seem to be fewer than usual.
The only two species that have kept their numbers up in the last few weeks have been the blackbirds and chaffinches.
When I looked at the main feeding station this morning, there were 14 blackbirds on or under the fruit trees. Most of them were still adult males, with their blackish beaks indicating they are from Scandinavia.
One mystery surrounds the wren, because we possibly heard one yesterday - the first of this once common bird in the last two years or more in our gardens. When will the wrens return?
