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Cairngorm Mountains
The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 September 2003. Although the Cairngorms give their name to, and are at the heart of, the Cairngorms National Park, they only form one part of the national park, alongside other hill ranges such as the Angus Glens and the Monadhliath, and lower areas like Strathspey. The Cairngorms consists of high plateaux at about above sea level, above which domed summits (the eroded stumps of once much higher mountains ) rise to around . Many of the summits have tors, free-standing rock outcrops that stand on top of the boulder-strewn landscape. In places, the edges of the plateau form steep cliffs of granite and they are excellent for skiing, rock climbing and ice climbing. The Cairngorms form an arctic-alpine mountain environment, with tundra-lik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coire An T-Sneachda
Coire an t-Sneachda (sometimes misspelled as ''Coire an t'Sneachda'') is a glacial cirque or corrie landform in the Cairngorm or mountain range in the Grampian Mountains of the Scottish Highlands. The summits of Cairn Lochan (1215 m) and Stob Coire an t-Sneachda (1176 m) lie above Coire an t-Sneachda's headwall. The Scottish Gaelic translates into English as . Location and access Coire an t-Sneachda is located in Invernesshire, Northern Scotland. The nearest major town is Aviemore. The nearest road access point is the Cairn Gorm ski centre, which is located approximately away (approx. 45–60 minutes walking, in fair conditions). Geology and wildlife The country rock is the Caledonian granite of the Cairngorm batholith which gives rise to the high plateau from which the corrie was eroded. The last glacier occupied this corrie or cirque approximately 10,000 to 11,000 years before present during the Younger Dryas stadial. This cold period, which is also know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. Knowledge of proper climbing techniques and the use of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes. Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world, rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines, such as scrambling, bouldering, sport climbing, and trad (traditional) climbing another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations, differentiated by the rock climber's sustained use of hands to support their body weight as well as to provide balance. Rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath".. The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names. Etymology The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. In Manx, ''glan'' is also to be found meaning glen. It is cognate with Welsh ''glyn''. Examples in Northern England, such as Glenridding, Westmorland, or Glendue, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland, are thought to derive from the aforementioned Cumbric cognate, or another Brythonic equivalent. This likely underlies some examples in Southern Scotland. As the name of a river, it is thought to derive from the Irish word ''glan'' meaning clean, or the Welsh word ''gleindid' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strath
A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow (as opposed to a glen, which is typically narrower and deep). Word and etymology An anglicisation of the Gaelic word ''srath'', it is one of many that have been absorbed into the English and Scots languages. It is commonly used in rural Scotland to describe a wide valley, even by non-Gaelic speakers. In Scottish place-names, ''Strath-'' is of Gaelic and Brittonic origin. ''Strath-'' names have the genesis with Gaelic ''srath'' meaning "broad-valley", as well as with the Cumbric and Pictish cognates (c.f. Welsh ''ystrad''). Gaelic ''srath'' is derived from Old Irish ''srath'', recorded as having meant "grassland". The modern Scottish Gaelic sense of "broad-valley", paralleling the meaning of Brittonic cognates, developed from substrate influence from Pictish. Toponymy It occurs in numerous place names within Scotland including Strathspey and Strathclyde. Internationally, many places with Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reindeer
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspecies. A 2022 revision of the genus elevated five of the subspecies to species (see Taxonomy below). They have a circumpolar distribution and are native to the Arctic, sub-Arctic, tundra, boreal forest, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. Reindeer occur in both migratory and sedentary populations, and their herd sizes vary greatly in different regions. The tundra subspecies are adapted for extreme cold, and some are adapted for long-distance migration. Reindeer vary greatly in size and color from the smallest species, the Svalbard reindeer (''R. t. platyrhynchus''), to the largest subspecies, Osborn's caribou (''R. t. osborni''). Although reindeer are quite numerous, some species and subspecies are in d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Hare
The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution The mountain hare arose during the Late Pleistocene; there is evidence that its range expanded during glaciations into southern Europe, with populations of Iberian hare (''Lepus granatensis''), European hare (''L. europaeus)'' and broom hare (''L. castroviejoi'') in northern Iberia harboring mitochondrial haplotypes from the mountain hare. During the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene, populations of mountain hare in Russia grew at least 10% larger than any living population today. This population has been classified as a distinct species ''Lepus tanaiticus'', but is now generally considered a prehistoric morphotype of the living mountain hare. Distribution This species is distributed from Fennoscandia to eastern Siberia; in addition, isolated mounta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Grouse
The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes considered to be a separate species, ''Lagopus scoticus''. It is also known as the moorcock, moorfowl or moorbird. ''Lagopus'' is derived from Ancient Greek (), meaning "hare", + (), "foot", in reference to the feathered feet and toes typical of this cold-adapted genus, and ''scoticus'' is "of Scotland". The red grouse is the logo of The Famous Grouse whisky and an animated bird is a character in a series of its adverts. The red grouse is also the emblem of the journal '' British Birds''. Description The red grouse is differentiated from the willow ptarmigan and rock ptarmigan by its plumage being reddish brown, and not having a white winter plumage. The tail is black and the legs are white. There are white stripes on the underwing and red co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Curlew
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred to just as the "curlew", and in Scotland known as the "whaup" in Scots. Taxonomy The Eurasian curlew was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Scolopax arquata''. It is now placed with eight other curlews in the genus '' Numenius'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name ''Numenius'' is from Ancient Greek νουμήνιος, ''noumēnios'', a bird mentioned by Hesychius. It is associated with the curlew because it appears to be derived from ''neos'', "new" and ''mene'' "moon", referring to the crescent-shaped bill. The species name ''arquata'' is the Medieval Latin name for this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Bunting
The snow bunting (''Plectrophenax nivalis'') is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few high mountain tops south of the Arctic region, including the Cairngorms in central Scotland and the Saint Elias Mountains on the southern Alaska-Yukon border, as well as the Cape Breton Highlands. The snow bunting is the most northerly recorded passerine in the world. Taxonomy The snow bunting was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the buntings in the genus ''Emberiza'' and coined the binomial name ''Emberiza nivalis''. He specified the locality as Lapland. It is now placed in the genus ''Plectrophenax'' that was introduced in 1882 by the Norwegian born zoologist Leonhard Stejneger with the snow bunting as the type species. The genus name ''P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dotterel
The Eurasian dotterel (''Charadrius morinellus''), also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The dotterel is a brown and black streaked bird with a broad white eye-stripe and an orange-red chest band when in breeding plumage. The female is more colourful than the male. The bird is tame and unsuspecting and the term "dotterel" has been applied contemptuously to mean an old fool. The Eurasian dotterel is a migratory species, breeding in northern Europe and Eurosiberia and migrating south to north Africa and the Middle East in the winter. It nests in a bare scrape on the ground and lays two to four eggs. The male does the incubation and rears the chicks, the female having gone off to find another male and lay another clutch of eggs. It is a common bird with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern". Etymology The English name dates from 1440 when it was used to refer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Ptarmigan
The rock ptarmigan (''Lagopus muta'') is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan in the UK. It is the official bird for the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where it is known as the ''aqiggiq'' (ᐊᕿᒡᒋᖅ), and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In Japan, it is known as the ''raichō'' (雷鳥), which means "thunder bird". It is the official bird of Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama Prefectures and is a protected species nationwide. Unlike many arctic bird species, ptarmigan do not gain substantial mass to hibernate over winter. Etymology The ptarmigan's genus name, ''Lagopus'', is derived from Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγώς ''lagṓs''), meaning "hare", + ''pous'' (πούς ''poús''), "foot", in reference to the bird's feathered legs. The species name, ''muta'', comes from New Latin and means "mute", referring to the simple croaking song of the male. It was for a long time misspelt ''mutus'', in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
