Photo Blog: February 2026

February is the month that we ease ourselves back into Hill Trips again after being closed for a month. From mid-January to mid-February, we are trying to catch up with general maintenance and into February prepare for being open to the public again.  The start of the month consisted of feeding reindeer, ensuring we are prepared for opening and we also spared some time to visit one of the Lynx reintroductions drop in’s that have been happening in the area.

The 7th of February was our first day open to the public. It is always a bit of a daunting thought, and you’re left hoping that you remember how to talk about reindeer and that you have hopefully remembered everything that needs done first thing in the morning. But these anxious thoughts were soon squashed by our first Hill Trip of the season, the weather was good and how to be a public facing reindeer herder came flooding back!

The weather at this time of the year can be challenging and trying to take a picture that encompasses how brutal the weather is on a hill trip is hard. Daisy and I did a Hill Trip on the 11th, and the conditions were rather wintery. The met office report for the day told us that the max wind gust at Base Station was to be 26 MPH, our Hill Trip that day was lower than Base Station and the wind was enough to knock you off balance, so I feel it may have been a little stronger than that! I do love the variation that we get in weather as it makes the good weather days feel special.

4th of February: Left to Right- Suebi, Orinocco, Bolero, Ceilidh and Glacée on a very blustery trip out to feed the herd before we begin Hill Trips again.
5th of February: Ruth and Lotti enjoying biscuits whilst completing their Lynx questionaires.
7th of February: Myself, Kate and Maisy with Ryvita after the first Hill Trip of the new season.
8th of February: Trilby leading the herd in for our morning Hill Trip with Disco on her left, Tango and then Pip.
11th of February: On the walk out to the reindeer myself and Cameron noticed some unusual prints in the snow… Possibly Badger prints?
11th of February: Cameron teaching his merry band of calves bad habits
11th of February: Above is Beautiful Solero. This was the first day of good weather we had seen in a while, so plenty of pictures were taken!
15th of February: Another mission to collect the reindeer before our 11 am Hill Trip. In the fore ground (left-right) we have Dante, Disco and Bolero.
18th of February: The first day of the season where we had to cancel the Hill Trip due to the weather. Sanna, Fraoch and myself agree that it was the best call!
19th of February: Daisy clinging on for her life on a very windy walk out to collect the reindeer in the morning.
22nd of February: Vienna, often found snooping around us herders looking for extra food.
25th of February: Polka leading the herd in before our Hill Trip.

Amy

Photo Blog: December 2025

The last photo blog of the year! I’ve actually been rather rubbish at taking photos this month as it’s just been so busy (and rather dark with the shortest days of the year) but here’s a wee look at some of the pics I’ve taken on my phone over the past few weeks.

Christmas events went well with teams making us all very proud. Hill Trips have been mostly sold old for weeks (well done if you got tickets) and Christmas Fun was mostly sold out too – it’s been great to see so many people enjoying the brand-new Exhibition and folks getting to meet Santa! Meanwhile up on the hill the reindeer have all been well and unaware of the slight frazzled state of the herders down at the Centre.

Enjoy the photos and Merry Christmas! A big thank you to all who have read the blog over the last 12 months.

4th of December: Brie is having a wonderful end to 2025 free ranging in the hills.
4th of December: Another reindeer from the ‘Cheese’ year! Feta is also having a wonderful time out free ranging. She’s grown a cracking set of antlers this year.
5th of December: Ceilidh coming over to see if there is any spare food for her.
6th of December: Santa is here!
9th of December: Tub on a very soggy day.
10th of December: Moving the free ranging herd – easiest way to get them to where we wanted was just to walk up the road! Old girl Ryvita leading the way.
13th of December: The ‘Christmas Fun’ team for the day – Sherlock, Stenoa, Bond, Charleston and Quickstep.
14th of December: Leading a team of reindeer off the hill ready for their event at Landmark – Lupin and Magnum at the front.
15th of December: Ballet and Sorbet.
15th of December: These boys have all been superstars on Christmas events this season – Jester, Busby and Dr Seuss.
16th of December: Disco and her beautiful mum Dante.
16th of December: Lochi and Beanie.
16th of December: Marple and her son Mosh. He’s such a cheeky wee thing!
19th of December: The herd coming in for their breakfast.
23rd of December: Lochi being all cute.
23rd of December: Salsa lying down after a Hill Trip.
23rd of December: The handsome Zoom.

Ruth

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