Photo Blog: May 2025

The start of May was a whirlwind! The first calf of the year was born on the 25th of April, then the cows left us in suspense for a whole week until the 2nd of May until the next one came along. It was then a flurry of calves being born all over the place – we had 19 within one week! Calving then slowed down and things became a bit calmer with the last one found on the 28th. In general we’ve had a very successful month and the vast majority of the calves and their mums are already out free roaming in the hills – I can’t wait to head out to see them over the summer.

On top of this we’ve also had two Hill Trips a day and all the usual business in the office. So I’ll leave it there and just let you enjoy the cute pictures…

As a reminder, we won’t reveal the names of the new mothers until after we’ve let our adopters know in the June newsletter so I’ve tried to be deliberately vague.

1st of May: Brew bored of me talking on a Hill Trip and finding a comfy seat on my rucksack! I’m sure a lot of visitors would empathise with her – I do tend to go on a bit.
1st of May: Sisters Zambezi and Juniper hanging out together.
6th of May: A gorgeous newborn male calf.
6th of May: Bordeaux and Turtle wondering what I’m up to on another beautiful day. I’m starting to forget what rain feels like!
7th of May: Amazon looking beautiful whilst out free ranging in the hills!
7th of May: Druid is a shy boy and doesn’t handfeed but he loves eating from the white bag at the end of the visit, as you can tell from the crumbs on his nose!
9th of May: Choc-ice is a bold and rather cheeky fella!
12th of May: This gorgeous wee one is just over a week old and already very settled around us, so long as mum isn’t too far away!
12th of May: A beutiful female calf.
12th of May: Cameron walking a calf into the ‘nursery’ area of our enclosure, the mum is just ahead, off camera and this wee one is less than 12 hours old.
13th of May: Andi feeding the main herd in the enclosure. Look at the size of Sherlock’s antlers next to everyone else! Busby closest to camera.
13th of May: A beautiful calf chilling out in a bog!
14th of May: Another gorgeous calf!
14th of May: Three ‘normal coloured’ calves in the wrong place on the other side of a fence to their (unconcerned) mums! Who do you belong to?!
14th of May: Another calf cooling down in a bog. Look at that row of bottom teeth!
17th of May: Spartan tapping his antlers encouraging their growth.
18th of May: The first batch of calves getting walked out! Here’s Cameron walking with a mother and her calf following on behind.
18th of May: Free ranging mother and calf! A beautiful evening waving them off!
18th of May: Another calf now free ranging in the hills for the summer. Good luck wee one!
19th of May: Kuksa yawning after a Hill Trip. Tiring work being this cute!
21st of May: A really funky coloured calf! What a cutie.
23rd of May: One year old Chai having a suckle from mum Cheer. Usually the calves stop suckling long before this but Cheer and Chai remain closely bonded.
27th of May: How Jimmy spent the majority of my Hill Trip – at my side giving me the puppy dog eyes!
28th of May: Another reindeer calf just for good measure!
28th of May: Elbe, the twin brother to his more famous sister Alba, looking great.
29th of May: Some of our gorgeous boys – Jester, Kulfi, Busby, Mivvi and Olmec.

Ruth

A busy day on the hill

Yesterday was one of the best sorts of reindeer herding days, almost entirely spent on the hill. Me and Fiona were due to help Tilly in the middle of the day, so we set off early to find the reindeer here on Cairngorm in the morning. The reindeer certainly made us work hard that morning as they were very high on the hill at roughly 950metres elevation, meaning we set straight off into a 400m climb! It was a windy day, and we had to pause a few times on route to brace ourselves as the gusts buffeted us. We could see the reindeer for much of the walk, and once we reached the same height as them, they were just the other side of a snow-covered burn. To save having to find a human suitable crossing, we called the reindeer to us, and they expertly navigated crossing the snow.

Lapsang and Latte digging the front of their hooves into the snow.
Video of reindeer crossing the snow.
Morven and Borlotti looking majestic.

The final section of snow that they had to cross was quite steep and it was amazing to see them jab the front points of their hooves, very purposefully into the snow. They looked like four legged mountaineers and used their front points much in the same way humans use crampons. It always amazes me to see how comfortable the reindeer are in difficult conditions that require us humans to have huge amounts of equipment and training to cope with. Fiona led the reindeer down to our chosen visit spot for the day and I had the lovely job of walking behind the reindeer. This can sometimes be a challenging job requiring lots of encouragement to keep the dawdlers at the back of the group moving. Yesterday though, the reindeer were moving well so I simply had the pleasure of moving with the herd.

Walking behind the herd.
Holy Moley keeping an eye on me.
Chai keeping me company at the back of the group.

Once we had fed the herd, we headed down the hill and drove over to help Tilly. At the moment half of our herd are free ranging on the hills in the Glenlivet estate, above our second base. Tilly had already got a big group of the reindeer into the coral, and we had the task of checking their temperatures and sorting some of the reindeer into different groups. We like to do regular temperature checks as it can give us an indication that a reindeer is unwell, before they are showing any other symptoms. By doing regular temperature checks it also means they are very used to the process, don’t find it in anyway stressful. In fact, yesterday many of the reindeer stood for us to take their temperatures without anyone even holding them.

Tilly and Fiona with a group of reindeer in the corral.
A non-reindeer photo but I thought this display of lichen on one of the farm vehicles was particularly beautiful.

Once we came off the hill, we drove back to Reindeer House for our last reindeer related job of the day. Three of our cows and calves had been free-ranging in Tilly’s group for the first part of the winter, we had then brought them back to join the herd on Cairngorm and Fiona, Ruth and I walked them back to meet the herd. Thankfully the herd hadn’t moved too far, we led the girls and let their calves follow them. As we were leaving the carpark we met a group who had spent the day learning winter skills, they professed that seeing the reindeer was the highlight of their day! Well done girls!! We then walked off the hill for the final important task of the day, a cuppa tea!

Fiona and Ruth leading Feta and Christie back to the herd, I was leading Beanie, and you can see her calf, Coffee in the right of the photo.

Lotti

Photo Blog: March 2025

March has been a great month for us here at the Centre. We’ve become so used to working in the new Centre it’s hard to imagine life working from Reindeer House! March is always a relatively quiet month for visitors so it’s meant an excellent ratio of reindeer to people on our daily Hill Trips. Things will start getting busier in April with the school holidays, and reindeer will be back in our Paddocks from Saturday 29th of March. The Paddocks will be a work in progress for some time as we continue to landscape, but at least the reindeer will be back on display for folks to see! Have a read here for up to date info about what’s on offer in the Paddocks: https://www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/paddocks/.

Here’s lots of lovely photos of some of our gorgeous reindeer taken throughout the month!

3rd of March: Chai is such a cutie, and she knows it!
3rd of March: Two girls with big antlers! Mangetout (born 2020) has the biggest set of antlers compared to the females in her year group and Pukka (born 2024) has the biggest out of hers, including the boys!
4th of March: Fiona, Lotti and I walked three cows and their calves up the hill to join the free ranging herd we have here on Cairngorm. Previously they’d been free ranging at our second winter site. Feta and Earl Grey, Beanie and Coffee, and Christie and Espresso.
5th of March: We’re so proud of these two! Alba at the front and Winnie behind. Both hand-reared in 2023 and now proper free-roaming reindeer! Go girls.
12th of February: Snow! And Cuppa’s awesome eyebrows.
12th of March: The top of Ryvita’s head. She’s usually the first cow to start growing her antlers.
13th of March: Winter has returned. Sundae looking particularly beautiful!
13th of March: Zambezi and the herd on their way in for breakfast.
13th of March: Winnie and Cameron.
14th of March: Torch making sure Cappuccino is looking good for our visitors.
17th of March: Shannon on St. Patrick’s Day. Shannon was named by herder Amy after the river in Ireland.
17th of March: Ryvita up to her usual tricks! She’s an old girl so I may have allowed this for longer than I would have if it was somebody younger!
18th of March: Trilby leading the herd on a beautiful day.
19th of March: Another old girl enjoying our backpacks – this is Oatcake.
21st of March: Amy and I went over to our second site to help Tilly which was very fun! We got to see all the male reindeer including this greedy chap – Aztec!
21st of March: Spartan looking very handsome and enjoying free ranging. He’s just beginning to grow a new set of antlers.
22nd of March: Peanut is a beautiful reindeer. She’ll turn 5 in the spring and is relatively shy in nature but very sweet!
22nd of March: Zambezi wondering if I’ve got any food!
23rd of March: Sunflower and Fika being very sweet!
25th of March: Christie cast her anlters a couple of weeks ago but still looks gorgeous. Her new antlers will begin to grow before too long.
27th of March: 10 month old Coffee leading the herd this morning. He’s a very confident chap!

Ruth

A cold start to January 2025

For all of the UK, 2025 started with a cold snap and in many places lots of subsequent snow. In the Cairngorms we were treated to about 10 days of beautiful snowy weather and temperatures down to about -17. Luckily reindeer are so well adapted to the cold, that they don’t even feel the cold at -17, instead they actively enjoy cold weather in the winter. Here is a photo blog showing some of the beautiful snow days that we have had recently.

Peanut lying down in the snow. In their winter coat, reindeer are so well insulated that they lie on snow without melting it.
Nuii, Peanut’s daughter, a firm favourite amongst the herders.
The last Hill Trip of the year walking down to the reindeer.
Glacée and the rest of the herd walking out to the free-range.
Maisie, Andi and Lotti after letting the reindeer out to free-range for the rest of the winter.
Glenmore looking like Narnia.
Lisette and Cameron leading Frost and Mr Whippy off the hill to go and free-range at our second base.
Reindeer calves running through the snow for their food!!!
Sheena stuck in a snowdrift.
Gorgeous Chai.
The herd waiting for their food!
Sheena, Cameron and Amy on the way back home from a snowy reindeer feed!
And finally, here is a photo from the next day! With the snow almost entirely gone, what a difference in 24 hours.

Lotti

Photo Blog: December 2024

December has been another mixed month for me in terms of work with time at home on the hills, and out and about on tour! Here at home, I’ve been on the hill working with the herd, taking lots of people up to meet the reindeer on Hill Trips, and helping to keep the office afloat at this incredibly busy time of year. I’ve also been on road again with Christmas teams doing parades and events in Strathaven, Dunkeld, Fife, and very locally in Carrbridge amongst other places. Once again, the reindeer were super and made me incredibly proud.

The Paddocks has also been open – hoorah! We’re still not allowed in the building, and it’s all quite basic at the moment, but at least we have had beautiful reindeer on display, and we have even been visited by Santa. Here’s just a few photos from December for you all.

4th of December: Earl Grey is one of the biggest calves of 2024. What a chunky boy, and a complete poser!
4th of December: Cuppa and his funky “eyebrows” making him look super serious all the time.
5th of December: The mallards often steal the show on a Hill Trip!
6th of December: The team enjoying their lichen after a Christmas parade to the Benarty Centre, Fife.
7th of December: Cowboy ready to pull the sleigh in Dunkeld. This is his first season as a sleigh puller and he’s an old pro already!
8th of December: Chai was so relaxed behind the sleigh whilst waiting for Santa to arrive she laid down!
11th of December: A funny face from Mangetout!
12th of December: Dad Ärta and his son Earl Grey, with matching white noses!
13th of December: Scully is in great condition just now after having a year off motherhood, hopefully she may now be in calf. Fingers crossed for the spring.
14th of December: Latte at Landmark Forest Adventure Park in Carrbridge. Completely unfazed about the giant T-rex looming over the pen!
15th of December: Christie and Morven.
15th of December: Maisie is a local lass who’s been working with us on weekends and during her school holidays, here she is with two “hats”, Beanie and Trilby!
15th of December: Some of the lovely dogs posing by the fire in the shop, Fraoch, Elsie, Ginger, and Tiree!
18th of December: Scully, Christie, and Torch posing beautifully! There’s even a wee rainbow if you look super close.
20th of December: Irish being cute!
20th of December: Mocha and her mum Vienna. Vienna has recently lost an antler this week.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our blog readers, we really do appreciate your support and hope to entertain you every Friday of 2025 too!

Ruth

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