These blogs feature my writing and photographs from my experiences out in the Caledonian Forest and other natural ecosystems. Please subscribe to receive automatic notifications when new blog posts are added.
Alan’s blog
Alan’s blog
Below Badger Falls
In late March, before the clocks went forward by an hour, and when it was still getting dark quite early, I had a relatively short day out in Glen Affric. Because of this, I decided not to go into the glen proper, but rather to spend the time below Badger Falls, where the Affric River descends rapidly on its way to join the upper reaches of the River Glass. I’ve been to Badger Falls many times over the years, most recently on the 2nd of January this year, but I’ve never explored the river below the falls themselves. [Read more…] about Below Badger Falls
Back to the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn
In the middle of March I made another visit to the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn in Glen Affric. This is the largest of the tributary burns that feed into the main lochs and river system in Glen Affric, and I’ve written a couple of blogs about it last year, in September and February. On each of those occasions I’d spent the day in some relatively small sections of the burn, working upstream from where it discharges into Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin, but there’s still lots more to explore, so this day was an opportunity to photograph another section. [Read more…] about Back to the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn
Beside the River Moriston
One week-end in the middle of February I was on my way out to Glen Affric for the day. Leaving Loch Ness at Drumnadrochit, I headed up Glen Urquhart towards Cannich, but the road was blocked at Balnain. There was a large rallying event taking place there, and a combination of cars parked beside and on the road and many people walking on the road meant that no traffic was able to proceed. After waiting for a short while, with no sign of any forward movement on the road, I turned around. I headed back down towards Drumnadrochit, and, changing my plans for the day, decided I would go to a very nice area of native woodland beside the River Moriston, downstream from Dundreggan, instead. [Read more…] about Beside the River Moriston
The other side of the Cannich River gorge
At the beginning of March I made a trip out to Glen Cannich with Ruth May, a former Trees for Life staff member who had returned to her native Germany about 15 months previously, but was back now for a visit to Scotland again. In the last year I’ve made a couple of visits to the gorge on the River Cannich, where I discovered a large, previously unrecorded stand of aspen trees just over a year ago. I’d been there again last October to photograph the aspens in their autumn colours, but on both those occasions I’d been on the east side of the gorge. This trip therefore I was interested in exploring the west side of the gorge, where I’d seen there were some more aspen trees when I was looking across the gorge in October. [Read more…] about The other side of the Cannich River gorge
Ice on the Red Burn
A couple of weeks after my last visit to the Red Burn on Dundreggan I was back there again for another day of photography. The weather had been unseasonably cloudless and warm during the previous week, but there had been hard frosts at night, so the ground was frozen. There was no snow anywhere to be seen on the lower slopes of the estate, which was unusual after such a run of freezing nights, but when I reached the Red Burn I was delighted to see some beautiful ice formations lining its banks in many places. [Read more…] about Ice on the Red Burn
A sunny winter’s day at Dundreggan
Two days after my last visit to Dundreggan, when I walked along the lower Red Burn, I was back out there again for some meetings. It was a very different day, with bright sunshine and a clear blue sky, in contrast to the overcast conditions previously. As I had a couple of hours to spare in between the meetings, I decided to make the most of the opportunity and headed up into the woodland to take some photographs. [Read more…] about A sunny winter’s day at Dundreggan
A walk along the lower Red Burn
It was my first dedicated photography day at Dundreggan for a couple of months last Sunday, so I decided to take a walk along the Red Burn, the main watercourse on the western half of the estate. It’s easy to access, being just a couple of hundred metres west of the buildings at Dundreggan at its nearest point, and as it was an overcast grey day, I thought it would be a good opportunity to do some photography in amongst the trees on the lower section of the burn. [Read more…] about A walk along the lower Red Burn
The ephemeral beauty of ice
When I headed out to Glen Affric on 2nd February, it was for my first day out in the Caledonian Forest in a month, as I’d been away for 3 weeks in January. Two of those weeks were in Thailand, a very different environment and climate entirely to the Highlands in winter, but I’d returned from that trip refreshed, revitalised and renewed, and I was looking forward to reconnecting with one of my favourite places again. [Read more…] about The ephemeral beauty of ice
Rainy day at Badger Falls
On the 2nd of January I spent another day out in the Caledonian Forest, but the day was a complete contrast to my trip on Boxing Day to the pinewood on the south shore of Loch Mullardoch in Glen Cannich. That had been a cold but clear and cloudless day, whereas this one was an overcast and damp day. Although it was warmer, with temperatures ranging around 10 degrees all day, the dull weather, combined with the limited daylight at this time of year, prompted me to choose an area which was easier and quicker to access. [Read more…] about Rainy day at Badger Falls
Where the sun never shines in winter
On Boxing Day I set out for Glen Cannich, where I wanted to spend the day on the south side of Loch Mullardoch – an area which has a remnant of the Caledonian Forest, but which I’ve only partially explored in the past. I had an ambitious goal for the day – to walk along the length of the Mullardoch Estate, to the East Benula South estate further west, where the native pinewood eventually peters out. I hadn’t been to that part of the pinewood before, and I wanted to see if there’s any potential for restoration work there. [Read more…] about Where the sun never shines in winter