Eyes to the Skies is the name of our new Red Kite viewing centre, situated at Tollie Farm approximately ten minutes drive from Home Farm.  The centre is a joint venture between Brahan Estate and the RSPB and was first established in 2009.  Red Kites were re-introduced to the Black Isle in 1989 with the first birds breeding in 1992.  The population grew sreadily for the first seven years until 1999 and although there is enough food and habitat available to the birds, insufficient numbers are surviving to breeding age.  The centre aims to increase awareness of the birds to both visitors and locals.

Red Kites are one of our most beautiful birds of prey, with a wingspan of almost six feet.  Their plumage is a striking contrast of white, black, red and chestnut.  It is of course their distinctively forked chestnut/red tail that gives the birds their name.  The centre is an excellent place to observe these birds feeding and flying at close range. Visitors can watch their acrobatic flight routines as they swoop and glide over the feeding station.  Take your camera and binoculars to make the most of your visit.

The visitor centre is open seven days a week, with the birds being fed at 2.30pm during the summer months.  A visit is highly recommended.

Here at Home Farm we are celebrating the new season with a new award, we have recently been assessed and received the EatScotland Award. The award reflects the high quality of the food and service available at Home Farm. The EatScotland logo gives you the assurance that the establishment has reached the required standards. As always at Home Farm we believe our menus should reflect all that is best from the Highlands larder. So if you are fed up with the usual round of Scottish pub grub and chips with everything, come and try some of our cuisine and give your taste buds a treat. We promise you won't be disapointed.

Look on our meals page for further details and menus.

The four of us (Sue, Stew, Sarah and Dave) set out on one of our usual early starts, around 11.30, which taking into account the previous nights late BBQ, was indeed an early start. This time we were bound for the West coast and sunny Isle of Gruinard (a.k.a. Anthrax island) Sunny? - at least according to Stew's ledgendary weather forecasting skills. He also predicted a travel time of 1 hour 15 mins and when pressed he informed us the sun would arrive at 13.30. Exactly one hour and fifteen minutes later we were looking across the water to Gruinard and, a short while later, 13.30 to be precise, the sun came out, is there no end to this man's talents. We pulled up in a lay-by opposite the island in the hope of spotting a white tailed sea eagle, as opposed to the odd dead sheep. During the next half hour we had seen not one but a pair of sea eagles plus a chick. We also saw one of the adults attempting to snatch a gull from the sea but a small army of gulls, aided by a heron, drove the eagle back to the island, a meal opportunity gone. For good measure we also saw a large number of black throated divers plus Gannets diving at  full speed into the sea, with considerably more sucess than the eagle. Sue showed her skills on the trip with photos as diverse as a Highland cow and a shrew - but I am not sure she knew which was which. We carried onto the beach at Mellon Udrigle with the sole intent of causing serious to the picnic the girls had produced, not quite Egon Ronay, but not bad for experienced amateurs. The beach has beautiful white sands and an ever changing collection of rock art built from the flat stones that abound, crocodiles and dinosaurs were the order of the day, along with numerous precariously balanced rock piles - great fun for very elderly kids! We finished our wildlife adventure with some good views of seals quite close to the beach. Finally it was back to Home Farm for evening refreshments. The road home gave us a further and somewhat surreal view of the stunning landscape - the An Teallach ridge floating in the mist. Must go now as the amateur picnic supremos have just read this blog.

Bye for now.

Dave   

Hi, it's Rachel again.  What a day its been!  

Yesterday we decided to go to the Falls of Shin about 1 and 1/4 hours from Home Farm.  On the way we passed alongside the Cromatry Firth where there were grey seals basking on the rocks.  They do show off their acrobatics!  After leaving the seals we made our way to Bonar Bridge via Struie Hill which has commanding views over the Kyle of Sutherland. We stopped to take in the scenery and were surrounded by beautiful flowers where we noticed a Peacock butterfly had landed. 

 As we finally reached Falls of Shin we saw the beautiful waterfallls where the salmon were jumping, heading back to the place where they will spawn.  If you feel thristy, theres always the coffee shop which is good value for money.  After being filled with coffee and cake we decided to take one last look at the falls before checking out the gift shop. 

What a lovely way to end my trip and I will definately be back in October