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Galloway Forest Park in the Scottish Borders is huge
with 300 square miles of mountain, forest, lochs and rivers. It's
the biggest forest park in the UK, and the scenery is so rugged and dramatic,
it's known as the 'Highlands of the Lowlands'. | | Galloway
Forest Park - a rutting stag. |
Galloway Forest
is home to an impressive variety of wildlife including Golden Eagles, Hen Harriers,
four species of owl, Red Squirrels, and the elusive Otter and Pine Marten.
It's
a great place to explore because it's crisscrossed by quiet roads, tracks and
paths. Exploring the vast park  The
Merrick is south Scotland's highest mountain and from it you can enjoy fantastic
views of the scenery all around.
But climbing it might be a bit strenuous
- and there are no guarantees that you'll see a Golden Eagle. So a better
idea is perhaps to concentrate on two species of wildlife that are very accessible
but also magnificent - Red Deer and Red Kite. Autumn is without doubt the
best time to see Red Deer because early October is when the rut takes place. The
male deer compete with each other for access to females to mate with - and it's
an amazing sight. To see two stags clashing, with their antlers locked
together, pushing back and forth till one gives in, leaving the victor triumphant,
is one of the British Isles' most exciting wildlife spectacles. The Red
Deer is our largest land mammal, and you can see them all over the Forest Park.
An excellent place to get started is the Red Deer range near Clatteringshaws'
Visitor Centre where there's a herd of deer and regular guided tours. You
can even feed the deer in this area as they're used to people being around. Red
Kite feeding  Another
wildlife spectacle that is absolutely guaranteed to take your breath away can
be found just outside the park - the feeding of the Red Kites, one of our most
magnificent birds of prey.
After centuries of persecution, when Red Kites
were almost wiped out, there have been a number of successful re-introduction
programmes including the one at Galloway. These birds are mostly scavengers,
and will take meat that's put out for them. Farmer Ann Johnstone feeds
the kites at 2pm every day at Bellymack Hill Farm near Laurieston. As soon
as the meat is down, Red Kites plus the odd buzzard start circling before swooping
out of the air, and plucking the meat off the ground. But every now and
then, there's a feeding frenzy with up to 30 Red Kites, swooping and diving -
simply breathtaking! Photo
credits Bird images courtesy and copyright
of RSPB Images and Chris Gomersall. | 
