Dyemill News and Offers
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Short Breaks in 2010 Short breaks in one of our comfortable lodges may be available during the Spring and Autumn. Starting from £180 for 2 nights Please note that during our busier periods we may not be able to offer bookings of less than a full week. For availability, information or price for a particular date, please phone us on 01770 600419 or email: enquiries@dyemill.co.uk ~***~ |
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> Arran's 2010 Festivals < |
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Arran Wildlife Festival Wednesday 12th to Wednesday 19th May 2010. The festival is your opportunity to enjoy and learn more about the wildlife of this special island in the company of experts who can show you how to get the most out of your wildlife experience and protect the wildlife itself. The festival will give you a real taste of what Arran has to offer from moorland birds and woodland plants to the hidden life beneath the waves. Follow the link below to find out more information about the many and varied activities that took place last year - most of these will be available again this year, and some new events may also be available. The 2010 schedule will be issued as soon as it is finalised. If you have any questions about the festival, please feel free to email or give us a ring and we will help if we can. *** |
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Arran Folk Festival Saturday 5th to Sunday 13th June 2010. The Arran Folk Festival was for many years an extremely popular annual event attracting visitors from far and wide as well as being one of the calendar highlights for many locals. For several reasons the festival was absent for a few years, but last year a group of enthusiastic local musicians put together the 15th festival for 2009 which was a big success, and the 16th festival will take place this June. Follow the link below and go to the Festival website where you can also see some video clips of some this last year's events. *** |
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Arran Outdoor and Walking Festival 17th to 20th September 2010 If you enjoy getting out into the hills, or onto the water check out the link below: www.arranoutdoorfestival.co.uk ~***~ |
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Dyemill Nature Notes for 2009 2009 once again brought a wide range of birds to the site and the surrounding area. There were numerous sightings of Tree Creepers, Wrens, Goldcrests, Buzzards, Barn Owls, Hen Harriers, Merlins, Woodcock, Pheasants, Song Thrushes, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Blackbirds, Robins and others throughout the year. Many of the sightings were of young newly fledged birds in the spring and summer, including Song Thrushes. Swallows were back in both our garage (which was the original Dyemill) and the woodshed (which wasn't used in 2008) with great success. The garage pair successfully produced 3 broods with a total of 15 youngsters fledged. The woodshed pair had 2 broods, not so easy to count but we think at least 4 in each. Our resident Barn Owls were certainly in situ, but we didn't get any clear indication of breeding this year. For those of you interested in finding out more about the birdlife on Arran, follow this link: www.arranbirding.co.uk .
The attic of our house is a maternity roost for Long Eared Brown Bats which are often around at dusk. For the previous 5 years we have had to rescue young ones from our wood burning stove in the kitchen (not lit in the summer) during one or two weeks in July. The young bats seem to get a bit confused when trying to find their way back to the roost, and got into the chimney instead of the attic. This year before the breeding season under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage we had some work done on the roof and chimney which thankfully seems to have stopped them falling into the stove! We rather missed our close encounters with them this summer, but a much better outcome for the bats! To ensure continued easy access we have a "bat entrance" under one of the tiles which seems popular with them. We also have Pipistrelles around which are much smaller.
This year we had lots of Red Squirrels around the site again, including quite a few young ones , so they are probably breeding close by. It’s amazing their range of colours – from the classic red, to almost black, one regular visitor is very easily identified, it's almost black with a large white tip to his/her tail. Arran is one of the last sure footholds for Red Squirrels as there are no greys here. A local group has recently been set up to try and get more rope crossings for them to cut down on road casualties.
We didn't have any close encounters with Otters at the Dyemill again this year (there were two in 2006 but none since) although we suspect either an Otter or Mink is hunting along the burn occasionally. We have been lucky enough to have numerous good sightings around the coast when we've been out and about, as well as lots of Seals and a couple of Porpoises. Some guests also had good sightings of Basking Sharks and Dolphins again this year.
In September 2008 the Scottish government created the first No Take Zone in Scotland, here in Lamlash Bay resulting from the hard work of C.O.A.S.T. (Community of Arran Seabed Trust). Part of the bay is now fully protected. Follow this link for more info on C.O.A.S.T . including some stunning photos: www.arrancoast.co.uk
We had our two Midge Eater machines running during midge season again this year, and they do seem to make a big difference. Midges are of course part of life in the west of Scotland, and nothing is going to completely get rid of them, except possibly global warming!
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