I saw not one Squirrel Nutkin but two Squirrel Nutkins this morning (and by Squirrel Nutkin I’m referring to the very elusive red squirrel). I went out by myself just after breakfast and it didn’t take very long to spot them. They’re much smaller than I thought and very, very cute. They’re incredibly agile and quick and leapt from branch to branch and even tree to tree with great speed. They’re a lovely ginger colour with a white tummy and quite different to the grey squirrel which now seems rather large and sluggish. I tried to get photos but it was tricky because they move so fast and they were quite skittish. I did get this 9-second movie though.
We went for a little walk this morning and saw some pretty scenery.
Then we went to the fish ladder. This is a very interesting place. It’s a hydropower station which was constructed mid-last century on the River Tummel. Hydropower stations of this type dam the river and prevent fish from traveling upstream. This is a problem for salmon stocks as salmon like to swim upstream during the breeding season to lay their eggs. An Act of Parliament in 1943 required the hydroelectric board to exercise a duty of care to preserve these fish stocks and so they built a fish ladder as a way for these fish to swim upstream past the power station. The fish ladder is the series of pools on the right in this next photo:
You can peek into the power station too although you can’t see all that much.
From the outside it looks like this:
I can remember learning about electricity generation at school and how it sounded like magic. That spinning a magnet inside a solenoid (coiled wire) can generate electricity is pretty amazing.
Then we wandered home and Daniel had a haircut at this cool barber’s on the way:
We’re heading back to Aberdeen tomorrow but will go on another short walk somewhere in the morning.
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