Police have now launched an enquiry into the weekend blaze which burned out two square kilometres of ground on the east side of the River Naver at Skelpick Estate, near Bettyhill.

A local ornithologist, who did not want to be named, said a large number of nests containing eggs or young chicks would have been destroyed.

He said he was distraught at the wanton loss of birdlife. "It is against the rules and whoever has done this, it is a massive wildlife crime," he said.

"If a gamekeeper or farmer kills a bird of prey, it is on television and in the papers."

He added: "I knew of at least six pair of greenshanks that were nesting in the area and they are a protected, Schedule 1 bird. Two merlin territories were also burned out and the parent birds were soaring round the smoke in distress. A hen harrier breeding territory was also destroyed and there were also golden plover, snipe and dunlin nests in the area."

The ornithologist claimed that persons were spotted lighting the fire at various places, but they were too far away to be identified.

It is thought the fire, which was largely on common grazings, could have been started for the purpose of muirburning – but for lower lying areas such as Skelpick the muirburn season finished a month ago, on 15th April.

Said the ornithologist: "The fire was started in two different places, nearly a mile and a half apart. It was very extensive. I think a lot of people know who is responsible, but will just not say.

"It's a massive amount of damage that has been done. The young birds have all been killed and all the nests with eggs in them have been burned out. It is just disgraceful, and all for a few more blades of grass."

Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to the outbreak around 12.45pm on Saturday.

The alarm was raised by Bettyhill-based Police Constable Rodney Stokes who is the Northern Constabulary's wildlife officer and who just happened to be driving past at the time.

Two units from Bettyhill and Tongue used beaters in a bid to halt the advance of the flames which at one point came close to houses along the Skelpick road as well as a former croft house, Rhinovie, which stands on its own on the upper side of the road.

Firefighters spent over 10 hours battling to bring the blaze under control, with the last unit returning to base at 11.30pm. Constable Stokes later confirmed that an enquiry had been launched into the blaze.

"We suspect that the fire was deliberately started," he said.

* A heath fire which broke out at Borgie on Wednesday afternoon this week is also being investigated by police.

Firefighters were called out at 4.30pm to the outbreak near Borgie Bridge. Two units from Thurso joined firefighters from Bettyhill, Tongue and Durness to battle the blaze. A helicopter was also used to "water bomb" the flames.

A spokesman for the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said: "It was quite a big fire, about half a square kilometre, but it was confined to heath, gorse and bushes. We managed to contain it before it went into the trees." Firefighters returned to base at 11.30pm, about seven hours after the blaze started.

A police spokesman said it was not certain whether the fire had been deliberately started. "In the case of the Skelpick fire there is evidence to suggest that that may indeed be the case, but as regards the Borgie outbreak we cannot say at this stage. But we have to be wary because the two fires were pretty close together and extensive areas were burned out."

* Firefighters from Lairg and Bonar Bridge were called out to a heath fire north of Lairg on the Laxford Road on Sunday afternoon.

A fire service spokesman said the blaze had been reported at around 5pm. Firefighters using two hose reel jets and beaters managed to bring the blaze under control at around 6.30pm with the last appliance returning to base just before 9pm.

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