Where's he been?

Two weeks go by and not a peep out of James? Yup, I've been to the land beyond mobile phones, broadband internet and skinny cappucino with an extra shot - the west coast of the Isle of Skye. It was fabulous to get away from all the daily bull and concentrate on the stuff that really matters - spinning for mackerel off the rocks, stalking rabbits, walking the hills for grouse (surely there must be one here somewhere?!), and even a few hours flyfishing for salmon (almost as scarce as the grouse).

Here are a few pictorial highlights. More on my flickr page. I'll add some more detailed posts once I've cleared the logjam in my inbox - including a report on field testing a selection of midge repellents...

In search of grouse

Sunset over Macleod's Tables

Sara caught a salmon on the Snizort!

Picking mushrooms

There must be a grouse round here somewhere!

So that's what the pocket on my Nomad fleece is for!

Heading home after spinning off the rocks

Some work better than others...

Emma with mackerel

B@$t4rd midges!

Some folks are worried that Paul Lister wants to reintroduce fierce predators like the lynx, wolf and bear at Alladale (there was a great TV documentary on the subject - see here).

That's nothing. The Highlands already have the most ferocious creature known to man - the midge, also known as Culicoides impunctatus or "those little b@$t4rd$".

I'm heading off to north-west Scotland shortly, and know just what to expect - they're always bad this time of year, and occasionally I've had to cut short a stalking or fishing trip because the clouds of midges are so thick you can't see where you're going!

I've tried all the DEET-based repellents, and even rubbed my skin with bog myrtle, with some success. But when they're really bad, nothing is powerful enough.

A good few natives swear by Avon's 'Skin So Soft' moisturiser as a repellent, although it's an odd picture when you imagine a hairy-@r$ed Highland stalker rubbing on a bath & body oil. I'm not proud; I've ordered a bottle on ebay to give it a try!

Looking around the web, I've discovered there's a whole industry sprung up around the Scottish midge. There's a midge forecast, a weekly midge podcast, and Midge Busters will sell you anything from a £625 midge eating machine to a £5 bottle of dead midges you can take home and gloat at.

200-pigeon day with Mark Gilchrist

I'm too knackered now to write about it in detail, but I went out after pigeons today with Mark Gilchrist - and he shot precisely 200, mostly woodies but with a handful of ferals.

Sore shoulder!

Quality criticism from a reader

No-one enjoys being criticised, but this email from a reader made me smile:

After years of not buying your magazine, i decided to buy one to see if it had improved but am i sorry to say not only are you using ads as articles (mitsubishi outlander) but you have someone telling people how to hold a knife on page 55 come off it if someone needs a knife to do a certain job we can all work out the best way to hold it why does mr marchington belive we need to be told how to hold a knife. Maybe nxt week he can tell us which end of a gun to point at the target, how to walk across a field, maybe how to wipe your a**e after a s**t.

Funny thing is, I've had more positive comments on that knife article than any other. You can't please everyone!