News on Kesslet’s Calf

The Bad News…
Unfortunately we have some rather sad news about Kesslet’s latest calf, nicknamed “Kessickle”. On the afternoon of April 9th, our 4pm sailing encountered a rather sleepy Kesslet with her young calf around Meikle Mee. All seemed well then, with the youngster rather active around Kesslet as she rested after a long day hunting in the river and Kessock Channel. The next day, our locals were absent all day, which was unusual. The truly unusual thing was that, on the 11th, Kesslet returned to the River Ness with Charlie in tow. The little calf was nowhere to be seen. We kept a vigil on for a few days, still with no sightings of Kesslet’s little one. After two whole weeks of a solitary Kesslet, it has officially been announced by the WDC that the calf has sadly passed on. We will never know what happened to it, unfortunately, and we are very saddened to say goodbye to such a beautiful little bundle of joy. For now, Kesslet is getting on with things, and so are we.

The Good News…
But with every cloud comes a silver lining; Kesslet has spent almost every day in the local area recently, feeding heartily on the migratory salmon. She is sometimes accompanied by her son Charlie or old pal Scoopy. Love has been very much in the air around here as well, with the local otter family spotted often around North and South Kessock (on occasion even getting a bit frisky!). The cygnets from last year have also returned to the area, some of which are getting ready to breed; lots of preening and fights breaking out around the mouth of the river recently! The sightings of the local birds of prey were good over April as well, with sightings of Red Kites and even a Kestrel around the Inner Moray Firth. We’ll be looking forward to the summer months, when the salmon run hits full swing and our fish-eating friends get a bit more active.

Kesslet ejecting a salmon she caught just outside Inverness Marina

And Finally…
Despite the sad passing of Kesslet’s calf, April was a pretty good month both sightings-wise and passenger-wise over the holidays. With May starting up, we are starting to get some better weather too which will help liven up the Firth a little bit. The snow that once covered Glen Affric and Ben Wyvis is slowly melting, and finally, the trees are coming into leaf! We’ll soon have our gorgeous greenery back on the hills! Why not come and join us for the good weather (while it lasts!)? You can book your trip here! We look forward to seeing you soon!