Cuba came to the Canna in the last weekend of July! The Havana Film Festival was doing a tour of the Small Isles and they dropped in for 2 nights to bring a taste of Cuba to our Shearing Shed. Eirene Houston and her team brought a series of short films made by Cuban directors covering topics from literacy to bees. The community made a feast of Cuban dishes including empanadas and chicken dishes. Everyone enjoyed some Cuban cocktails and a bit of salsa dancing outside in the sunshine. Thanks to the Havana Film Festival for coming to see us!
We are all wondering where Summer is……there have been more rainy days than sunny ones and the latest summer storms make it feel more like Autumn. The grind of constantly getting soaking wet every time we step out the door is beginning to grate a little. However, the grass is lush and Canna has gone that very special colour of Canna green. I’m sure the sheep and cows are enjoying the tasty bounty growing in the fields.
This year has been a bumper year for clover and many other wildflowers. The machair and rocky nooks and crannies are looking particularly good this year with bog cotton, birds foot trefoil, coltsfoot, tormentil, creeping thyme, orchids, yorkshire fog, penny milkwort, stonecrop, yarrow, scabious and wood sage to name but a few.
The only thing that seems to be missing is the gentle hum of bees. The garden’s are in full bloom but the bees seem to be struggling. It is likely because of the cooler, wet weather that the numbers seem low this year. Here’s to hoping August is a bit drier and brighter and the bees can make a bit of a comeback.
Bob Swann and the bird ringing team have made their annual visits to Canna. It's not great news for shags and black guillemots which have almost entirely failed this year. Again, cooler weather combined with a lack of food seem to be the culprits.
We have had a Bio Security Scotland incursion team in Canna for the past month or so. Bob Swann discovered a cache of dead seabirds on the North Cliffs during his bird monitoring - behaviour associated with a predatory mammal. The incursion team jumped quickly into action and have been monitoring the sight with trail cams and daily visits to the site. Ranger Tom has been involved in this work alongside James Crymble, ecologist for NTS and Ellie Owens, NTS Seabird Officer. Fingers crossed it is just an otter but they have been checking for signs of mink including sending scat off to a lab in Edinburgh for DNA testing. The incursion monitoring work will continue for several more weeks.
It’s not all doom & gloom however as the puffins have been largely successful raising chicks who are now practising their flight around the stacks ready to head off to the Atlantic for the winter.
The new visitor hub is moving towards completion. A milestone was reached this month with the installation of the new PV array on the roof and it is already feeding power into the Canna grid! Many thanks to Wind & Sun for coming to Canna to carry out the work and do some much needed repairs to our system.
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