Amy’s Photo Blog

Much to Ruth’s despair I am not the best herder when it come to taking pictures of our days on the hill and I most often forget! So, I’ve accumulated a blog of some pictures that I’ve snapped over the last year and will have to apologise in advance as the reindeer sometimes aren’t the main focus.

10th January 2024 – Sheena and Ruth on the winter free range looking towards the Northern Corries (waiting for reindeer) where we enjoyed the most beautiful winter sun.
Borlotti on the same day (10th of January).
Morven again on the same day, it was a good un!

As some of you guys will know through the winter our Hill Trips head out to see the reindeer whilst they’re out on the mountains “free ranging” and part of our job in the morning is to hike out to the herd and move them closer so our visitors don’t have to walk as far. Here’s a few pictures from a couple of those outings.

Over this week, the reindeer were frequenting the same spot so there were a few mornings we walked out to the same spot looking for the herd. Moments before the first image, Ruth and I were at a loss as we were sure that we should have been in the spot that the reindeer were meant to be and still couldn’t see them.

Retrieval mission of the free rangers for the Hill Trip. I was amazed here at how comfortable the reindeer were on such a steep icy slope in crazy winds – 8th of March 2024.
Free range retrieval mission for the Hill Trip – Merida walking towards the camera – 13th March 2024.

There is quite a large jump now to the next picture which was taken in August. During the end of the summer, we keep an eye out for cows and calves that are coming down off the mountain after free ranging. The next picture was taken whilst we were moving a small group closer to our hill enclosure.

15th August 2024 – Cows and calves are returning from the summer free range like Flax and Camomile here.
It’s not all about reindeer we try to get creative for birthday cards too! Ginger posing to be incorporated in Sheena’s birthday – 25th of August 2024.

At the end of the summer, we also try to catch up with the older cows too, who often are found in smaller groups. During this “free range” mission I was able to catch up with retirees Hobnob and Fern.

28th of August – Hobnob looking good with lots of lichen beneath her feet!
28th of August – Fern, the current oldest reindeer in our herd at 16.5 years old!

Kernel was one of the first bulls to strip his velvet which was a gruesome sight. In the second picture you can see Kernel and Jimmy having a ‘play’ spar with freshly stripped antlers. You can also see how quickly the velvet falls off the antlers as the first picture was taken in the morning and the second on the afternoon Hill Trip of the same day.

31st of August – Kernel beginning to strip the velvet.
Later the same day – Kernel and Jimmy sparring mid Hill Trip.
1st of September – Enjoying some time with the dream team Alba and Winnie after one of our Hill Trips. Here’s Winnie looking lovely as ever.
1st of September – and here’s Alba with a mucky nose!
5th of September – Holy Moley in the process of stripping her velvet and has decided to accessorise.
12th of September – Like mother, like son. Helsinki and Irish enjoying a snooze after one of our Hill Trips.
14th of September – I headed out to see if any other cows and calves had joined up with a group of females that we were monitoring out on the free range, and found Florence and her son, Cuppa. They were the last pair to come back into our enclosure after free ranging.
11th of October – The rut has started, and we have Kernel here with some of his girls. At the front is Glacée.

Amy

Photo Blog: October 2024

October has flown by in a whirl of breeding bulls, flirting cows, busy Hill Trips with the October school holidays, and carrying huge amounts of feed on the hill to feed the high number of reindeer in the enclosure! With three breeding bulls running, plus our non-breeding group which we take our visitors to, it’s a lot of mouths to feed! We’ve also had reindeer down in the woods here in Glenmore so we can train calves to walk on a halter and we did manage a bit of sleigh training before the holidays.

The reindeeer look fantastic at this time of year with fresh winter coats and full grown antlers. Hopefully you enjoy looking through this month’s photos!

3rd of October: The gorgeous Popsicle! She is part of our non-breeding free ranging group at the moment.
3rd of October: This little lad is so bold! He belongs to Torch and often comes marching over demanding more food.
7th of October: Arta chilling out after a Hill Trip.
7th of October: Morven and her mother Spy behind. Both with very spiky antlers!
7th of October: Torch is a phenomenal mum! Here she is making sure her calf (who also features above) is looking good for our visitors.
8th of October: This little lass is getting so tame! Her mum is Cheer, who is quite a shy reindeer.
10th of October: Little and large! One year old Amazon stood next to five year old Athens.
7th of October: Breeding bull Jimmy with some of his cows behind.
9th of October: A lot of rain and a very full Allt Mor. Too wet to take and pics of reindeer today!
1th of October: Butter being led off the hill after being a main breeding bull by Andi, Fi, and Hen. He was a great bull and fairly well-behaved throughout!
14th of October: Dr Seuss feeling snoozy after a hand feeding session.
15th of October: Poirot and Clouseau having a rest together after a Hill Trip. Both born in 2018 and named after inspectors and detectives.
16th of October: Brie’s and Florence’s calves hanging out together.
19th of October: Suebi and Scully having a gentle battle.
20th of October: A very wet morning! It was so wet and windy that we brought the herd into the first part of the enclosure so our visitors didn’t have to work so far.
20th of October: The sun came out in the afternoon for a few moments – here’s Pip’s calf with her epic antlers!
21st of October: Holy Moley, HM, or Her Majesty, as she sometimes is known to the herders.
24th of October: Feeding Kernel and his girls from afar. Here they are running up to the feed line.

Ruth

Photo Blog: August 2024

August has been a busy and fun month. The first half of the month was very busy with visitors and sold out Hill Trips. Without the Paddocks and Exhibition this year it feels like the Hill Trips have been even busier than usual. Sometimes we even put a bonus additional Hill Trip on so as not to disappoint too many folk! The reindeer were not complaining about another opportunity to hand-feed!

But as Scottish schools went back the second half of the month got slightly quieter with visitors and we’ve been having lots of free range action which I love. Generally we start to see the free ranging females more as they come down in altitude as the weather gets cooler. Towards the end of the month we also start bringing in the mums and their calves back into the enclosure. They spend June through to August/early September out roaming the hills learning how to be little wild reindeer and enjoying all the best grazing, but when the autumn rolls around it’s time for them to learn what a feed bag is and in time, how to walk on a halter etc. The following photos are a small snapshot of what’s been occurring this month…

1st of August: Sheena leading down Mivvi with Cairngorm mountain in the background.
2nd of August: Frost coming over to say hello!
5th of August: Kernel and Jelly, both 4 years old, leading the herd on a very dreich Hill Trip.
5th of August: Mivvi looking so smart in his short, dark summer coat.
6th of August: Harness training in the sun!
7th of August: Sherlock looking MEGA!
7th of August: The most identifiable nose on the hill?? Dr Seuss saying hello!
8th of August; Amy being mobbed by a bunch of boys (and girl Alba is bottom left) wanting their breakfast!
9th of August: A free ranging mission with Cameron. Moving a group of VERY old girls, Ibex, Sambar, Gazelle, Sika and Pavlova with a collective age of 79!
12th of August: Handsome Akubra.
13th of August: Haricot on a beautiful breezy morning.
14th of August: Wafer coming over to say hi! He looks great this year, with very pretty antlers.
14th of August: Winnie and Alba looking super! Both were hand-reared last year.
15th of August: A late afternoon excursion from the office to find and move some free ranging reindeer. This is the lovely Emmental who was certainly not shy!
16th of August: Cows and calves are back in the enclosure! This is Christie, her male calf, and Solero in the middle.
16th of August: Brie’s calf is exceptionally cute! But I could say that about all of them…
19th of August: Marple and her calf behind.
20th of August: Jenga spending a short while in the enclosure for a wee health check after a summer out free ranging.
20th of August: Sunflower and calf!
24th of August: Ryvita aged 15 and looking fantastic!!
24th of August (a): Vienna and calf being retrieved from the free range. I enjoyed a lovely evening walk with them back to the hill enclosure.
24th of August (b): Vienna and calf home! Back in the enclosure after a summer out in the hills.

Ruth

Isla’s favourite pics!

Since working here, my camera roll has slowly become about 90% reindeer! So here are a few of my fav of our reindeer, getting up close and personal with them to get those super cute nose shots!

Here is the handsome Druid! This was taken last June 2024, after a Hill Trip. When we had beautiful sunny weather for the whole month. Sadly this June has not been the case 🙁
The lovely Lupin here, charging forward for some more hand feed, as you can tell by his crumby nose his head was not long out of the feed bag. This was taken last December 2023, as you can see Lupin has his beautiful fully grown bony antlers.
Elbe here, patiently waiting for some more hand feed… which is very out of character for him, usually he can be very pushy and demanding! But with a few bats of those big eyes he usually finds his way into the bag.
Baby colorado looking very cute! This was taken last autumn when he was still a calf, not long after his summer of free ranging, giving my camera a curious sniff.
Busby looking lovely as ever, taken this June, if you look closely you can see that Busby is looking a little scruffy, this is because he is moulting his thick winter coat into his much shorter darker summer coat which you can see on his legs and nose.
Busby again creeping closer to the camera!
Pretty Winnie here, posing for me up on the ridge of our hill enclosure. Taken in June this summer 2024, Winnie is doing amazing! She’s a little ray of sunshine always putting a smile on our faces!
Hemp trying to figure out if my phone is edible or not! Hemp is a very friendly boy, one of our star hand feeders on our Hill Trips! definitely one of the greediest reindeer in our herd always on the lookout for a white bag!
Cowboy posing after a sunny Hill Trip. One of the few sunny days we had this June.
Little Elbe! This was taken this summer – his antlers are looking AMAZING! They almost look too big for his small body.
Handsome Kernel going in for a camera sniff, this was last summer 2023, he’s looking very smart in his summer coat and velvet antlers!
Diamond looking very pretty! What a poser. Diamond had just recently cast her antlers in this picture. This was just before Christmas last year 2023 when we had some of our girls in the enclosure. She is having a lovely time free ranging at the moment!
Beanie here with her cute speckledy nose. This was last Autumn time 2023.
Little Sorbet posing beautifly for the camera. taken the same time as Beanie’s photo above, there had just taken themselves in from the free range asking for some extra feed.
Oatcake was also part of our lovely free ranging group last autumn.
Adzuki is in our woods here, this was last autumn 2023. The woods are just behind the Paddocks which are currently undergoing a huge refurbishment.

Isla

Photo Blog: July 2024

By the end of July the reindeer finally start looking themselves after what seems like a very long moult. They’re now mostly in their short, sleek and darker summer coats and their lovely velvet antlers are looking amazing. It’s been a generally cold summer so far which the reindeer have enjoyed as it means less pesky flies to bother them.

We’ve been busy doing morning harness training sessions with the boys and carrying LOTS of feed up the hill as their appetite has ramped up – their putting all their energy into those growing lovely antlers and big bellies. Some of the free roaming females have been seen by other herders (sadly not me this month yet!) so no pics of them in this blog, but the ones who have been seen have all looked very well, I always love hearing who has been spotted! The office is busy with sorting out Crowdfunding rewards and the usual adoptions. Plus it’s now peak summer holidays so lots of fully-booked Hill Trips and a busy shop.

2nd of July: Ob and Nile and a very scruffy herd behind.
2nd of July: Kernel already looking very smart in his summer coat.
3rd of July: Amy with Adzuki harness training.
4th of July: Jimmy looking curiously at my white bag.
8th of July: Can’t resist this pic of Mr Whippy’s hairy hot pants! Sorry Mr Whippy for the unflattering photo – you’ll look fantastic once you’ve moulted. To add to the strange look, the yellow on his antlers is for sun protection.
9th of July: Harness training on a beautiful morning!
9th of July: Tub has forgotten to moult and is one of the hairiest reindeer in the herd at the moment.
13th of July: A detective and inspector walk up a boardwalk… Sherlock and Morse first in line for food!
13th of July: Elbe and herder Hannah.
14th of July: I spent the morning at the hill farm feeding the reindeer there and also the pigs and these handsome Soay rams.
16th of July: Jester and his enormous antlers.
17th of July: Fiona feeding the herd their breakfast.
22nd of July: Great to see Athens back in our hill enclosure after spending the first part of the summer at the Hill Farm with Tilly.
23rd of July: Aztec (Athens’ big bro) is also back from the farm. Voted greediest reindeer in the herd in 2022 (see here) and I don’t think he’s lost the title!
25th of July: Morse and Poirot chilling out together after the Hill Trip.

Ruth

How Isla became a reindeer herder…

The lovely Isla with one of her favourite reindeer – Busby!

The first time I met the reindeer here at Cairngorm, I was just four years old and a bridesmaid at my mum’s wedding. Mum, being as extravagant as she is, decided she wanted the reindeer to pull the sleigh for us from the service to the party venue. Once we were on the sleigh I was quickly alarmed about the health and safety, as there were no seatbelts on board. Four-year-old me obviously thinking the reindeer would be flying us there! As we were just setting off, I whispered to my cousin “hold on tight, we are about to take off” but was quickly relived and slightly disappointed when I realised the reindeer would just be walking us there.

Four year old Isla – closest to the camera holding on tightly to her cousin. The reindeer is Wallace.
The sleigh firmly attached to the ground, phew!
The happy couple off to the party.

After the wedding it then became a tradition to come and visit the reindeer before Christmas. Even adopting Elvis as a two-year-old boy and always loving getting my certificate through the post before Christmas. Elvis lived to be one of the oldest males in the herd, before sadly passing away this August at the impressive age of 17!

Elvis as a two year old bull in 2008 – the year Isla adopted him.

During the spring this year, just as I was leaving school. I went round to visit my ‘Fairy God Mother’ Sheena, one of the herders here at the Reindeer Center. After explaining to her that I wasn’t sure what to do after school and fancied a change she suggested I got in touch to see if I could work the summer here with the reindeer.

So, after a few back and forth emails (me not being the best at replying during my exams), we eventually arranged a trial day for me to come and meet some of the herders and the reindeer of course. I was pretty nervous but was instantly put at ease when greeted by Ruth and Lisette with big smiles on their faces. I was thrown right in at the deep end as my first task was going up the hill to help give one of the reindeer an injection as she had a sore foot. I quickly realised that having dogs and occasionally helping my granny muck out her horse maybe didn’t quite qualify as having experience working with animals! But I like to think I’m a quick learner. And was super eager to get stuck as I loved the idea of walking up the hills everyday to look after the herd.

Not a bad office!

After a successful trial day, I was then offered to come work the summer here at the Centre which I was super excited for! I started at the end of May, and the weather was amazing! Blue skies everyday for about a month, eventually this bubble did bust. And I then had the proper Scottish herder experience. But even in the rain I still couldn’t believe that it was my job to walk up hills and find reindeer. I even didn’t mind taking a reindeer’s temperature (let’s just say it doesn’t go in their mouths) if it meant I could spend the morning up the hill with the herd! Over the summer I learnt so many new skills and everyone was so patient with me helping me to learn about these beautiful animals.

When Isla first started it was weeks of sunshine and moulting reindeer.
It’s a tough job getting to know all the calves when they come back into the enclosure in the autumn, like wee Shannon here.
Isla this time not sitting on the sleigh but working alongside Druid and Haricot at the back of it this autumn.
Breeding bull Kernel this autumn,
Reindeer during the first decent snow of 2023.

When chatting in the office I let it slip about the reindeer being at mum’s wedding, Our resident Blog Queen Ruth was insistent that it would make the perfect Christmassy blog!

We also realised that Hen, another one of the herders here, was at the wedding as well leading the sleigh! Which is hilarious, looking back on the wedding photos we actually found one of her at the front of the sleigh! (Note from Hen: also a way to make her feel really, really old…)

The back of Hen’s head at the wedding!

I have had the best 7 months here at the Centre and have loved getting to know all the reindeer and the herders of course! I’m off for a new adventure in the New Year but I’m sure I’ll be back soon!! If they’ll have me 😉

Druid thinks Isla should definitely return!
Isla chilling out with Cicero.

Isla

Photo Blog: July 2023

July has been a good month with not a great deal of unusual things going on within the herd really – which is actually rather nice! The boys in the hill enclosure are generally eating lots and putting all their energy into growing lovely antlers and big bellies! Towards the middle of July the reindeer finally start to look themselves and some in particular look very smart in their short summer coats.

School holiday season is definitely upon us! We’ve got very busy with visitors, running three Hill Trips a day during weekdays and two on weekends. The Paddocks and Exhibition have also been popular and the reindeer here at the Centre have done a good job of ‘babysitting’ our two hand-reared calves (Winnie and Alba) overnight. They are now big enough to spend the daytime with the herd on the hill. This allows them to get some good exercise every day and lots of great grazing but they return each evening so they don’t miss out on their night time bottles of milk!

I’ve been lucky to see some of the free ranging females out on the hills too – all looked great and some stonking big calves out there. Well done mums, keep it up!

Hopefully the following photos will give more of an insight into what’s been going on this month.

3rd of July – Lupin and Bond relaxing after a Hill Trip.
4th of July – The herd heading up to the shed for a routine temperature check. We try to do this around once a week at this time of year.
5th of July – Sunny leading the herd through for their breakfast. What a good boy!
6th of July – Jelly strutting his stuff.
7th of July – 99 (named after the ice cream) is one of our leucistic reindeer. He was one of the first reindeer to moult into his smart summer coat and is in excellent condition.
10th of July – The herd on the move.
11th of July – Wafer and Haricot looking soggy after a wet morning.
13th of July – A hill walk on a day off and was lucky to bump into a herd of our free ranging cows and calves. This is three year old Turtle who was looking very well.
16th of July – Cicero, Andi and Scoop on a VERY wet morning harness training. Both boys happily grazing not fazed by the situation and Andi is still smiling despite the downpour!
17th of July – Sunny (last year’s hand-reared calf) still looking a bit scruffy!
18th of July – Alba and WInnie on their way up to “Reindeer School” for the day. They spend the evenings and nights here at the Centre in the Paddocks and the day time on the hill with the herd – good grazing and exercise.
20th of July – Yearlings Calippo and Kulfi.
23rd of July – So much antler! Morse, Spartan and Kernel.
25th of July – LX and Busby. I think they both thought they were missing out on their breakfast!
26th of July – Blue skies above the hill enclosure! Summer returned for a day!

Ruth

Snowy snoozes

Don’t you ever wish you could just lie down and take a snooze if things are taking too long?? With their thick coats, that’s exactly what reindeer do – everywhere can be a bed! Here’s some shots of them having a snooze in the snow a few weeks ago…

Old lass Fonn and young Lima

Hi Lima!

Kernel, Cicero and his mum Brie

Wee Chickpea

Emmental with her calf Edamame

Butter with his mum Gloriana

Addax and her calf Hemp

Haricot

Emmental and her calf Edamame

Christie

Guardians of the bag – Pumpkin, Ärta and Heinz, with Holy Moley lying down

Andi

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