Sometimes it is better to let the mind wander and imagine the creatures that might be around you rather than seeing them in the flesh – and that is exactly what I did from my vantage point overlooking the Insh Marshes near Kingussie on Strathspey.
It was dusk and the gloaming light was fading fast, yet the watery channels, pools and winter-withered rushes of the flood plain of the River Spey possessed an inner resonance that glowed and sparkled. Nothing moved on this RSPB reserve, no birds on the pools, nor roe deer skirting the marsh fringes. So, instead, my mind drifted in dreamy melancholy and conjured images of white-cloaked whooper swans feeding in the shallows and a hen harrier quartering the marshes in a slow and measured flight.
I let my mind wander some more and pictured a beaver plying one of the channels, leaving a shimmering V-wake in the water. I imagined cranes standing like proud sentinels on one of the many islands and little egrets wading by the water’s edge in their perennial search for fish.
The little egrets and cranes were fantasies of my mind as they are not currently present on the Insh Marshes, although there is every possibility they might occur in the future as both species increase their range.
As for beavers, well they do occur on the Insh Marshes with a family group introduced a couple of years ago as part of a planned programme of co-ordinated releases in the Cairngorms National Park to reestablish them in the area. Beavers belong here and are as much part of the environment as the waterfowl, salmon and trout, yet have been absent for over 400 years after being hunted to extinction. Now they are back and on the cusp of bringing new vitality to the environment.
Of course, beavers are controversial and some people are wary and belligerent about their return. I get that, and every opinion should be valued and considered rather than ignored, but I firmly believe that the overall impact of beavers on the River Spey floodplain will be hugely beneficial. I am not saying that as some starry-eyed environmentalist who does not give a whit about the views of others, but rather as someone with considerable experience of beavers on my own local river further south.
On my river, trees felled into the water by beavers provide shelter for fish to thrive much in the same way as an ocean reef, and the resultant bankside clearings create sun-dappled places for wildflowers to prosper. Most of the trees are coppiced rather than killed and quickly sprout new shoots of recovery. The channels and pools created by beavers abound with new life, including aquatic plants, invertebrates and amphibians. Recently, I filmed a snipe by the edge of a beaver channel. Beaver dams can store precious water for wildlife in times of drought and prevent downstream flooding after rainy deluges.
In short, beavers deliver enhanced biodiversity and make our environment more resilient, benefiting both nature and humanity. It is as simple as that.