March 2024

At the beginning of this month, a 110 year-old 'veteran' stayed in Meall Mor Lodge. Richly carved with stylised thistles, a snake, a drinking goblet and a heart, all surmounted by a stag’s head framed by the word KILDERMORIE and the date 1914 below the crooked handle, this walking stick is a treasured possession.

Its early provenance is unknown, but was acquired by a former factor at a nearby sporting estate and has been in that gentleman’s family for almost a century, and is thought to have never been taken out of the county of Ross-shire.

It is photographed in the drawing room of Meall Mor Lodge, propped against an elaborate carved staircase which was preserved when the original Kildermorie Lodge was demolished. (See the History page)

March 2023

March is a notoriously fickle month for weather in the Highlands; clear blue sky and bright sunshine can be followed by leaden sky and a fall of snow the next day.

Photos: M Rudzinska

March 2022

Starting with storms Malik and Corrie at the end of January and continuing through to storm Franklin on February 21st, Kildermorie was impacted time and time again by the ferocious weather.

So, March begins with a major recovery project!

Notable casualties within sight of the dwellings include (as shown below)

• a mature beech tree with a girth of 7 metres which fell across a deer fence and gate,
• a few of the twenty uprooted 80-year-old Caledonian pines,
• a mature birch tree, now mostly removed, which flattened much of its understorey of 25-year-old hazel trees.

However, there are moments of light relief, as when witnessing an otter breaking through the ice around the edge of Loch Morie.
[Video R Crawford]

March 2021

There are times during the winter when the snow is so deep that the deer cannot access the underlying grass. Various food supplements, including silage (see photo), are put out at strategic points around the estate to help keep winter mortality to a minimum.

March 2020

The daffodils may be blooming in Hyde Park but it is still 'Winter Wonderland' at Kildermorie.

This winter, Meall Mor Lodge has been the venue of choice for a number of weekend parties, variously celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or - just being alive!

Photo: H Stefankova

March 2019

Migratory birds are an excellent indicator of a change of season. Normally whooper swans are seen on Loch Bad a' Bhathaich at the end of March/early April; this year they arrived a month earlier than usual, taking a rest on their way to their summer breeding grounds in Iceland.

Photo: N Heggie

Typically, this is the month when the weather offers a glimpse of spring, then quickly reverts to winter. Sika deer venture from the woodland in search of fresh grass.

Photo: M Romero

March 2018

An excessively long, cold and wet winter will seriously affect the survival chances of the red deer on the open hill. At Kildermorie, a variety of supplementary foods are provided for them at strategic locations along the glen. Though completely wild, hunger overcomes their instinct to flee from proximity to people, thus enabling the keepers to assess the general condition of the herd.

Photos: M Y Romero Valdes

March 2017

As soon as spring takes a tentative step forward, winter pulls it back. This has proved to be the typical repetitive weather pattern for these months at Kildermorie.

Photos: J. Smith

March 2016

A red stag and two hinds enjoy a spell of sunshine on an icily cold day.

Photo: J Smith