Monarch of the Glen Glen Muick
Name: Glen Muick, Aberdeenshire Place type: Valley Location: Grid Ref: NO 3341 8951 • X/Y co-ords: 333416, 789515 • Lat/Long: 56.99200058,-3.09748344 County/Unitary Authority: Aberdeenshire Region: Scotland Country: Scotland Height: 351.5m OS Explorer map: OL53: Lochnagar, Glen Muick & Glen Clova
Loch Muick (/mik/;[3] Gaelic: Uisge Muice, is an upland, freshwater loch lying approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) south of Braemar, Scotland at the head of Glen Muick and within the boundary of the Balmoral estate.
Uisge Muice
Loch Muick trends in a southwest and northeast direction and is approximately 2.25 mi (3.62 km) in length. It is surrounded on both sides by steep hills. The loch is fed by many small streams, the largest being Allt an dubh Loch in the west which flows down from Dubh Loch. The outflow is the source of the River Muick.[2][4] The name of loch, glen and river is pronounced “Mick�.[3]
“Mick”
Wildlife Reserve
The area is now a wildlife reserve, home to eagles, ptarmigan, otters, mountain hares and red squirrels, as well as a permanently large population of red deer.
Cervus elaphus
Red deer, Cervus elaphus, Glen Muick, in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
proclaim their territory
The red deer is the UK’s largest deer. Males have large, branching antlers, increasing in size as they get older. During the autumnal breeding season, known as the ‘rut, males bellow to proclaim their territory and will fight over the females, sometimes injuring each other with their sharp antlers.
Red deer live on moorland and mountainsides, as well as grasslands near to woodland. They mainly eat grasses, sedges, rushes and dwarf shrubs like Heather.
moorland and mountainsides
A male red deer is called a ‘stag’, a female is called a ‘hind’. The most characteristic feature of a male is the impressive, branched antlers, which can measure up to one metre in breadth and weigh as much as 15kg.
branched antlers
ve
elvet Within a few weeks of shedding old antlers, new ones will start to grow. They are covered in a soft skin called ‘velvet’, which nourishes them with blood vessels. Antlergrowing is an energyintensive activity and stags often lose weight during this process.
Loch Muick, a textbook example of the effects of glaciation and as moody and unpredictable as its great neighbour to the north.
All photography Š of www.martinparkerphotography.co.uk
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Muick https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/red-deer https://www.walkopedia.net/best-world-walks/United-Kingdom/Lochnagar-and-Loch-Muick