Bleaton Hill

Creag nam Brataichean in the background.

The aerogenerators of Drumderg poke above the distant hillside.

The turnips will provide valuable animal feed.

The lodge stands beside the B950 and there is an Ordnance Survey bench mark on the stone on the left hand side of the wall.

The Ordnance Survey cut mark is to be found on a stone at the end of the boundary wall of the lodge. For a wider view of the lodge NO1159 : Lodge, Ashintully Castle and for further information on the cut mark and others in the area Link

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) This small, graceful deer reaches up to 28 inches at the shoulder and is the most attractive deer in Britain, delicately built and with an intelligent soft expression. The males have short forked antlers and both the male and females coat is foxy red from May to September but turn dark grey-brown with a white rump in winter. Roe deer are common in England and widespread in Scotland. This buck is still in velvet.

The Roe Deer is a relatively small deer, with a body length of 95-135 cm, a shoulder height of 65-75 cm, and a weight of 15-30 kg. It has rather short, erect antlers and a reddish body with a grey face. Its hide is golden red in summer, darkening to brown or even black in winter, with lighter undersides and a white rump patch; the tail is very short and barely visible. Only the males have antlers. The first and second set of antlers are unbranched and short ( 5-12 cm), while older bucks in good conditions develop antlers up to 20-25 cm long with two or three, rarely even four, points. Unlike most cervids, roe deer begin regrowing antlers almost immediately after they are shed. The Roe Deer is primarily crepuscular, or primarily active during the twilight, very quick and graceful, lives in woods although it may venture into grasslands and sparse forests. It feeds mainly on grass, leaves, berries and young shoots. When alarmed, the Roe Deer will bark a sound much like a dog and flash out its white rump patch. Rump patches differ between the sexes, with the white rump patches heart-shaped on females and kidney-shaped on males. Males may also bark, make a low grunting noise or make a high pitched wolf-like whine when attracting mates during the breeding season, often luring multiple does into their territory. The Roe Deer spends most of its life alone, preferring to live solitary except when mating during the breeding season.

This area of rough grass and old trees is the home of a group of roe deer.

Roe deer are shy creatures, most active at dawn and dusk, and feed mainly on tree shoots and shrubs. The foxy-red summer coat thickens and darkens to grey-brown in autumn, but the white patch on the rump remains visible. These two bucks have been having a bit of a stand off and have now decided to wander off into the trees.

At the side of the B950 road.

At Wester Bleaton.

On the B950.

From B950; east of Wester Bleaton quarries.

By B950; in an area labelled 'collects'.