Summer grazing

After a hectic day in Inverness I escaped up the glen to walk Nellie.

I thought a nice blip of the purple heather covered hills would be in order....this is the best time of year for heather.

However as I was driving through I spotted the cattle grazing on the hill and thought it might be interesting to show how high they graze in the summer. The tiny little dots on the hill are the cows!! In winter they are "in by" and graze the fields around the farm. They have their calves there and then in the summer go to the hill with them. This allows the fields to grow and provide the hay/silage for the winter feed.

I hope you can get the perspective and appreciate how high it is!! My crofter neighbour is still shepherding and gathering sheep from these hills at the age of 81!!

You can always tell when the weather is changing and the cows are beginning to get hungry because they decide to come down lower and "tell" the farmer it's time to go home!!