Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…
Woohoo! It snowed! Then it snowed some more, and then a little bit more. It’s fantastic.
Since the last entry it’s been pretty much processing and delivering logs on the reserve. The heathland is maintained by removing the majority of trees that grow on it, and the wood produced from this process is then distributed amongst local people in the know. Just now there are a lot of people who want a log delivery before Christmas.
At the weekend I drove to Lewknor in Oxfordshire, to see my Dad and the other Golders, and back. The passion wagon, being 4 wheel drive (but not an SUV/Chelsea tractor, I hasten to add, for anyone reading this for the first time), coped admirably with the conditions. On my way there I was listening to reports of the M40 being gridlocked, Southbound, from Banbury all the way in to London. I was able to manhandle the wagon down the back roads to avoid the issue. Top stuff.
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- Our first snow fell on the 17th
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- Snowball fights. Eh? This is what winter should be all about.
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- Some Sparrows in Dad’s back garden
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- Dad’s road (ok, he doesn’t actually own it)
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- A path near Lewknor
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- Exmouth
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- Snow people at the reserve workshop (Sam and Tia?)
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- Mayday, mayday, Richard is stuck in Exeter. Thankfully we get him out and he’s able to drive home for Christmas. Or at least he would have been able to if his car hadn’t suffered a terminal engine failure on the way. The last we hear he’s on a train, having sold his car to a scrappie…
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- In this picture of Ed, you can quite clearly see him walking.
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- A Reed Bunting (don’t get excited, it’s not a great pic) feeds in the frozen grass on the reserve
Paul Temps’ ‘not a stag do’
This weekend myself and the other activity boys made our way up North to meet up with Paul before he heads out to Japan to get married. His ‘not a stag do’ was in Chester, somewhere I’ve not been to for a night out for maybe 9 or 10 years. But I remembered having been in the first pub we visited, the “Old Harkers Arms”.
This was my first experience of a big night out without drinking alcohol since, possibly, my university days. I’m currently enjoying a life of sobriety which extends back to February. Not for any particular reason other than being sober feels so good that I don’t want to spoil it. I’ve also grown tired of hangovers, and am lucky enough to enjoy the taste of some non-alcoholic lagers.
However, it was interesting to observe how the nature of the conversation changed as the evening progressed. All of Paul’s mates appear to be good natured drunks, and so there was a great atmosphere amongst the group. Inevitably, as the night progressed the group split into those wanting to drink more, those wanting to dance, and those wanting to drink more, and possibly dance, but were clearly incapable of either. As these groups made their own separate ways, I headed back to the 7 bed hotel room, with a relatively sober T, for a sleep punctured by returnees from the club/curry house/other establishments(?).
In the morning we had breakfast, then myself, Dave, John and Manoj took a quick look round Chester before heading home. Nice one John for making it out for the first time with us (well me anyway), since the arrival of baby Pearl.
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- John’s typical night out sleeping position
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- Everyone is up bright and early
Driving away from the blizzards
Come the end of the work week, dropping off the vols and driving the TFL minibus back to Findhorn, and I had to be in Dorset by the next evening. Frankly, I’d wanted to spend the winter in Scotland, experiencing proper cold weather. Spending time in the snow at Abernethy last winter may well have been the most memorable time of my recent life. However, during my time at Arne, an opportunity arose to get some habitat management experience with the RSPB in North Devon. So, the snow (there’s never Snow in North Devon, just dustings) will have to wait until next year.
Now I’m back at Arne, to learn how to use a chainsaw, before starting my RSPB placement next week.
Just to remind me of what I’m likely to be missing though, as I was driving through Glen Spean, it started to snow. Although it wasn’t settling on the road, it looked fantastic.
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- Pretty lame photos, I agree. I was in a hurry…
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- Despite the subject quality it is still possible to make out the snow falling
A trip East to Balmedie
I have a little time to spare before my next TFL work week, so myself and the Passion Wagon head off for a mini tour. I opt to head South and then East, stopping over near Grantown, then in some woods near Glenbuchat Castle before a night at Balmedie.
I spend some time walking through various plantations and noting the difference in ground flora in Larch, Spruce and mixed plantations. Maybe it’s just the time of year, and because the Larch are shedding their needles, but the Larch plantations seem to have very little ground flora variety. In the woods near Glenbuchat Castle, where there are a mix up of Larch, Scots Pine and occasional Spruce, there appears to be a greater variety of plants on the woodland floor. I’m sure there must be forests with this mix naturally in other parts of Europe, and would be fascinated to study the ecology in such places.
I end up on the East coast at Collieston, where I walk some of the Forvie nature reserve (the light was too poor to get any decent shots), before spending the night at Balmedie, both places I visited last year. There is now a sizeable campaign dedicated to stopping Donald Trump from building his golfing town on the Menie dunes SSSI. This is a development that we should all take an interest in. The erosion of our country’s wild and natural areas in the name of economic gain (to the few) is unethical, environmentally and socially destructive and unsustainable.
This program is worth watching, if you’re interested
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00w029w/Donald_Trumps_Golf_War/
or, this web site gives further information
http://www.eco-essentials.co.uk/trump.php
And this group is working against the development in a similar way to the way Greenpeace/Airplot fought against the third runway at Heathrow.
http://www.trippinguptrump.com/
Here are some photos from the trip. I’m afraid that I’ve just been won over by the lighting on some of them so they may not be as interesting as you might have hoped.
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- Thankfully this bridge held up for long enough for me and the wagon to cross
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- A loud male Crossbill
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- Collieston
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- The clocks go back and the sun reveals a glorious day at Balmedie
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- Geese are so amazing. And, yes, my camera needs a clean.
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- A distant Aberdeen
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- Sanderlings
A day out to Migdale with Trees for Life
Today I was lucky enough to tag along on the Trees for Life staff day out to Ledmore and Migdale woods, somewhere I went to earlier in the year.
This time it was a relatively warm day, and the loch, Loch Migdale, wasn’t frozen. It was good to meet up with Chris, from the Woodland Trust, again, and share some thoughts with him regarding his recent week Focalising. And it was a good opportunity for me to spend some time with the TFL staff on a more informal basis.
Chris really does have the ideal job (from my perspective). On the one hand he has a relatively free reign to manage the woodland habitat, and on the other he is tasked with encouraging people of all ages to visit and appreciate the woods, something he seems to do very well. The woods are a mix of mostly middle aged to young trees, with some fabulous regeneration in some areas and very little non-native intrusion. There are also some very fine old Aspen trees, see photos below.
More information on the woods can be found here
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- I admit, I’m a ‘regen geek’ (credit to Andrew for coining that phrase)
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- Trees for Life = healthy looking lunch box contents
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- Dan getting angry with his food
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- Help, I can’t find this in Roger Phillips! It must have the word jelly in it somewhere
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- Alan sets up to shoot these impressive Aspen trees
Snow – woohoo!
Here it is, the first snow of my winter, taken on a mini tour of the East, near Inverurie…
Baxters Loch Ness 10k run…
Today I ran my first (and probably last) competitve 10k. I finished 791st out of 2600, with a time of 51.52
http://www.lochnessmarathon.com/results/10k.php?offset=750&order=finish_time&cat=
I don’t know whether to be pleased or disappointed with this time. On the one hand I’ve been walking with a pain in my left knee since I did my last training run, almost a week ago on Skye, something which has been becoming more and more of a problem since the end of August; and on the other hand I was fairly sure I could do better after my first two weeks of training, back in the beginning of August.
Anyway, the day out was great, and I’d love to do it again. It was a great experience running with thousands of other people, even if a large number of them seemed to get in my way on the narrower parts of the course. And it was the first time I’ve been applauded for running since I was in school. I thought that was pretty cool, just as I did when I was younger.
I was running as part of a Trees for Life team (TeamTFL). Many thanks to Rosie for organising our participation. She and Colin, Jane and Steve made up the rest of the team, the four fastest of which are listed against our team result of 18th out of 40.
Other special thanks should go out to the people who manufacture Ibuprofen for making the run relatively painless. And to Ross, Kate, James and Sean, who came along to give support. Sean also picked up a medal for me – as I was running over the finish line I didn’t even notice that they were giving medals out, or that there was a big clock there telling me what time I’d run (I didn’t find out my time until it came up on the web site), or that different people were giving out different sized t-shirts. My XL will be going to a good home as soon as I find someone who is XL.
Well done to Adam Druett (who recently rode from Land’s End to John O Groats to raise money for TFL) for completing the Loch Ness marathon in 3hrs 35mins. A pretty good time and his first marathon. Adam was on the Skye work week we finished yesterday and accompanied me on my training run on Skye last Monday.
You may wonder why I didn’t ask for sponsorship for doing the event. I’m not comfortable with asking for sponsorship, I prefer it if people give money based on how worthy the cause is rather than the often unrelated actions of the individual, or group, requesting the sponsorship. I believe that the causes I support are worthy, they are listed on the right hand side of this blog. Any support for them, from you, is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks to Rosie and Ross for most of the following photos. More photos can be found of me here
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- Not even the rain can deter us
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- The Support
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- Yeay, we’re over the start line
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- Not looking too shabby, at the finish
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- Mr Druett after being presented with his medal and TFL t-shirt
Lossiemouth and Kingston
Yesterday I made a small trip out to Lossiemouth and then the wildlife reserve at Kingston. The reserve at Kingston is at the mouth of the Spey river. A large part of the reserve used to (apparently) be quarried, but has been left to regenerate over the last 40 years or so, with some exciting results. There is a lot of regeneration of many native species of tree, including Aspen. Some information can be found on the SWTs website, here
Findhorn Bay.
Here are a couple of shots of the bay taken over the last two weeks. There are often kite and wind surfers on the water, as the wind rarely seems to let up, and the sunsets up here tend to be pretty spectacular.
Dartmoor, day 2
My first night in the van for some time (early June?), was accompanied by the heaviest downpour Devon has experienced this summer. However, it felt like home, and apart from waking at one point due to dreaming that the rain was inside the van with me, I slept pretty well. Myself and Dave waited for the weather to subside a little before walking around Venford reservoir, and then on to the very attractive woods alongside the river Dart.
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- A couple of cormorants waiting for the sun to come out
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- Hmm…
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- Then, suddenly…
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- A Speckled Wood (Pararga aegeria), possibly a first for me
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- The Dart. Wow.
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- I think this is Panaeolus semiovatus, Dung Roundhead
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- A Small Heath
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- A Yellow Russula, Russula claroflava. Not 100% sure of its English name
Wistman’s Wood
As I’m off to Scotland soon, and Dave had some free time, we decided to get together to explore some of nearby Dartmoor. First we walked to Wistman’s wood, then, before the rain became too heavy, we camped up in a car park near Venford reservoir.
Wistman’s wood is a beautiful piece of Oak wood not far from Two Bridges. It’s dominated by gnarly, character rich oak trees, with the occasional Rowan and Birch. I’m afraid I have no idea of deer numbers in the area, or of what grazing pressures the wood may be under, but I was surprised to find that only a very small section of the wood is fenced off. The area within the fence appears to display considerably more regeneration than that outside.
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- The woods are a short, well trodden walk from the road
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- Amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) it seems. I never knew mushrooms could be so purple
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- The appearance of the wood inside the fenced area is markedly different to that outside
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- Still trying to work out what this is…
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- A seemingly juvenile Redstart
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- After our walk we settled down for some refreshments
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- and Dave cooked up some food. Nice apron Dave.
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- Antler moth (Cerapteryx graminis), in the van
Arne – grasshoppers (or are they crickets?)
Whilst at Arne I discovered that there were many more varieties of cricket/grasshopper in this country than I’d imagined. These creatures are spectacularly cool, not only are they blessed with the most amazing propulsion system, but they also have wings. If you were playing invertebrate trumps then surely these would be a great card to have in your hand.
Apparently there are three main types of Grasshopper, Common Field Grasshoppers, Meadow Grasshoppers and Lesser Marsh Grasshoppers. I’m afraid, from the id notes I’ve found on the subject, I only seem to have decent pictures of the first two types…
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- Chorthippus brunneus – Common Field Grasshopper?
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- Chorthippus parallelus – Meadow grasshopper?
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- I think this is another Chorthippus brunneus – Common Field Grasshopper?
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- And probably another Field Grasshopper
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- Unfortunately a shot in poor light of what is probably a meadow grasshopper.
Cycling from Bristol to Land’s End
I’ve just got back from a great cycling trip, from Bristol to Land’s End. Myself and Manoj mostly followed Sustrans cycle routes, cycled about 30 to 40 miles a day, taking 12 days to travel over 350 miles. We camped and carried all of our kit on our bikes.
Yes, I’d do it all again. But maybe in the other direction. And for longer…
More details to follow, but first I must try and make a video of the trip… Hmm, ok, so the video is bigger, and taking longer than I expected. So, here are a few shots from the trip:
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- Our first day’s camp, nr Bradford-upon-Avon
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- Here we are, looking happy to have made it to Glastonbury Tor
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- By this time my knees were busted, but it was too late, I was addicted to Tiger Balm
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- Our first sight of the sea – Woolacombe Bay in the distance
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- On the Tarka trail approaching Bideford
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- We passed by the spectacular Eden Project
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- We only had one really wet day. There were big winds and people’s tents were destroyed. But we plodded on unharmed
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- Woohoo! nearly there…
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- Wow, what a let down. The beautiful views have been spoiled by this abomination. The waves were drowned out by the sound of machines making dalek noises. Very disappointing.
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- One more night’s camping and then we caught the train back to our homes.
Sun, sea and surf at Woolacombe
Say no more, a top few days indeed.
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- Croyde – some racing shenanigans. It was also the weekend of the Gold Coast fest
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- Wooly looking splendid in the late afternoon sun
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- Paul catching some wave action
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- Dave looking for some wave action
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- This jellyfish’s wave action is, sadly, over.
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- Waves.
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- Half man, half sun
Heading South for the summer
So, I left Dundreggan on the morning of the 25th, and made it back last evening (28th). I’d been in Scotland since the end of January, my longest ever stint up there. And, as much as I’m really looking forward to spending some time with the family, and activities in the sun, and meeting up with folk I’ve not see in a while, etc; I had this urge to stay North of the border, the closer it got.
The trip was great, all apart from the sizeable jams in Bristol (BH weekend, and half term, I’m a bit out of touch, I had no idea). And on the way I was able to stop by John’s to gee him up for his forthcoming Focaliser training. I have the privilege of Focalising with him on his first F week in the Autumn. Something I’m really looking forward to. Anyway, here are some photos from the trip…
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- Heather and Stuart take me on a fabulous walk up the river Nevis
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- Shortly before the wire snapped…
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- Looking back at the amazing Glencoe
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- John’s axe target, before you ask…
Loch of Lintrathen, and beyond
For my day off today I try to take in a few of the local sites…
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- A coot on the water at Lintrathen
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- Some charismatic Tufted Duck. They are easily confused with Goldeneyes.
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- Looking South from the hide on the North East side of the loch.
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- A Willow Warbler, although I didn’t hear it call and my warbler id isn’t great
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- The Backwater reservoir. The sand bank in the picture is good for Sand Martins apparently, although I didn’t see any when I was there.
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- Reekie Linn falls
More signs of spring
The sun was out again today, although not with the same consistency as yesterday, so I took a walk in the local area.
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- Peacock butterfly – my second of the year – I couldn’t get a decent pic of the first
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- Whilst walking near the Osprey tree, on the North side of the reserve, I’m accompanied by some long tailed tits
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- Then on my way home I spot this inquisitive little fella
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- The strip of Beech wood alongside the road near the farm
Last day of the Loch Ness mini tour
Tomorrow I have to be back in Findhorn for a briefing before next week’s work week with HARP. This morning I wake up in a parking area on ‘General Wade’s military Road’, which runs along the East coast of Loch Ness. I spend some time walking the trails from Inverfarigaig, which is a pretty cool place. Lots of big craggy hills, and a river flowing fast into the Loch. Finally I head across country, via the back roads, to Forres, where Craig, my co-focaliser for the week ahead, has agreed to let me stay for the night. I’m grateful for a shower and a chance to get some washing done.
I’ll have to upload photos when I get a better internet connection
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- Lobaria Pulmonaria, a type of lichen fallen from a tree, as big as my foot
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- A close up of the underside of Lobaria pulmonaria
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- This is a liverwort, a more basic life form than a plant, and not a lichen
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- Cladonia, possibly polydactyla, looking like a small fairy village
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- A bench on the green walk at Inverfarigaig
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- As I’m sat on the bench I’m blessed by the company of another Crossbill
Another day another loch, and walk in another woods…
All the lochs are frozen and the sky is blue… I walk up another hill, Tom Bailgeann, and do more woodsy stuff, and have to stop my van at one point, for some Crossbills, in the road, fantastic.
I go to Loch Ruthven, looking for Dougie, but I don’t find him in the hide. And I don’t find any Slav Grebes on the Loch, which is mostly frozen. Dougie should have been sitting in the hide waiting for visitors and the Grebes should have been around braving the ice, like the pair of tufted ducks and mallard that were there. But never mind, it was another good day.
Ok, I’ve added some more pics here, now that I’ve had the chance to sort them out…
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- A beetle in some water in the woods
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- Mrs Crossbill, having hopped up from the road.
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- Mr Crossbill
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- A glacier floating down Loch Ceo Glais
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- The view South from Tom Bailgeann
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- Looking North from Tom Bailgeann, towards Inverness
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- And to show off my zoom, the Kessock bridge, without setting sun today.
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- Loch Ruthven.
Loch Ness East
Last night I kipped on a hill on the Eastern side of Loch Ness. Today I walked in the woods and walked up a hill. Not many pics, the light wasn’t great, but it was my first time exploring this side of the great Loch, so that was cool.
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- Baeomyces Rufus, on a rock next to a spring.
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- Drumnadrochit from my hill
Some sites from the Moray Firth
So, last night I kipped in a wood off a small side road between Nairn and Fort George. This morning I went walking in the wood, and saw some cool stuff. Then I drove to Fort George, where I ate lunch watching a guy kite surf the Moray Firth. As the sun was lowering I drove to a little place called Alturlie Point, which offers a great view of the Firth. I’m quite pleased with some of these pics.
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- My van is much bigger than a ship
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- It’s been a few years since I’ve seen one of these, but I’m guessing wood pidgeon
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- Birch polypore (Piptoporus Betulinus)
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- Click on this one to zoom in on it – there’s something cool in the hole
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- Pardosa Lugubris I’m thinking
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- These appear to be stump puffballs, aptly gathered on a stump.
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- Kessock bridge in widescreen
Roseisle
So, I have a new laptop, hence I’ve started uploading pictures again. By the end of the week I’ve finished some work for TFL (IT stuff), and am wondering what to do for the next few days. I decide to sleep in the forest at Roseisle, which backs onto the beach between Findhorn and Burghead. There are some nice walks here, and already quite a few visitors for the time of year.
Even though there is a fairly persistent drizzle, one family I walk past have bought a disposable barbecue with them. A man, lets call him ‘Outdoor Dad’, is barbecuing some food on a nearby table while the rest of the family sit in their car. Outdoor Dad is passed uncooked food out of the window, and then carries the cooked stuff back to the car. I wonder whether Outdoor Dad used to be into outdoor activities. Whether he used to go cycling with the lads, or climb rock faces. I wonder if he’s given up trying to change Indoor Mum, or if he still harbours some hope that this experience will be the turning point.
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- Peltigera Hymenina, a fairly common Dog Lichen. This was taken just above the beach.
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- This little fella doesn’t appear in the Collins guide to British wildlife.
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- When I was at Abernethy the RSPB were accused by the locals of making a mess when they didn’t remove dead wood. Here the foresty commission explain that stumps are left for nesting and as a food source.
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- A song thrush
Some pictures of the bay
The weather has been very spring like, even with the freezing cold mornings. The sun is warming during the day, and the birds certainly seem to be enjoying it.
I’ve decided that a new laptop is required, and so have been frantically looking for bargains online. Laptops are, thankfully, cheaper than the last time I had to buy one. I’m grateful to TFL for allowing me to use their office and internet connection to sort out what I need.
Anyway, here are some pictures from my wandering today…
Some minor set backs.
I’ve been having such a good time I suppose it was to be expected that my luck would even out at some point. So, after a reboot, my laptop informed my that it was suffering from a “fatal system error”. It was pretty blunt about it, no other hints at what the problem might be, and no room for maneuver.
I’m fairly sure the hard drive had some bad blocks on it, but this was disappointing. And I don’t have the tools on me to test the hard drive, etc to narrow down the problem. So at the moment I’m having to rely on the very charitable IT folks at Findhorn to find out what I can recover.
In the mean time I can continue to let you know what I’m up to, but it might not look as pretty. I’m currently doing a spot more work in the TFL office, and, since Jane’s move to Dundreggan, staying in my van. The weather is slightly contrary to what I’d consider ideal. In the daytime the sun is out, the birds sing, spring is in the air, there is a hint of warmth. The park looks lovely while I sit in the TFL office browsing the net for a new laptop. At night the stars come out, the sky is clear, and the temperature falls beyond freezing. This morning I found it most difficult to extract myself from my two sleeping bags. I then had to scrape the ice from the inside of the windows to see the ice on the outside of the windows.
The cold weather seems to be affecting some of my other ‘toys’. The van roof only raises after it’s been driven a while, and the flow to the tap inside has failed completely due to ice in the system. And my mobile now only works after it’s been left on a radiator for an hour in the mornings. Without this process it will happily ring when someone calls, but none of the buttons work, so the call cannot be taken.
The tree nursery work week that I was supposed to be leading this week was initially postponed, and has now been cancelled. Apparently it’s not possible to prepare the trees to be shipped out for planting, as they are covered in snow. However, I do plan to spend some time at the Plodda during the week beginning March 13th, helping Gill out with the work that needs doing, assuming things have thawed out a bit by then.
I have some more pics of Forest Lodge to post at some point, including some of the igloo that Ross and Jordan built. Hopefully things will be sorted in due course. To finish on some positives, this morning I saw Shelduck on Findhorn bay when I woke. The bay looked fantastic, with snowy hills behind it, and all the surrounding pools iced over. There were also plenty of oystercatcher, curlew, and geese about. Unfortunately the geese were too far away for me to see what they were, but it’s great to hear them chattering away to each other at night.
Ok, things have now (11th) improved, so I’ve added my last Forest Lodge post, and added some pics below…
Some Shelduck and other waders feeding in the bay on what is a pretty cold morning
This 60 second exposure shot shows the flight path of a plane being flown repeatedly around the airbase, with Forres in the distance
Life since the office 
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