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
Two days on West Affric, Part 2
After spending the night in the Alltbeithe Youth Hostel, my colleague Mick Drury and I went in different directions, to visit some of the other exclosures on West Affric. We’d had a good night in the hostel, talking with the warden and some of the other hikers staying there, including Tony Hunter from Liverpool Museums, who’s doing some follow up sawfly survey work for us on Dundreggan this year. [Read more…] about Two days on West Affric, Part 2
Two days on West Affric, Part 1
West Affric is a 10,000 acre estate owned by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) that encompasses the headwaters of the Affric river watershed. Trees for Life has been involved as a partner in forest restoration on the estate since it was purchased by the Trust in 1992, and we planned and implemented a series of 10 exclosures there, for both natural regeneration and tree planting, in the period from 1993 to 2000.
Dwarf birch and sawflies at Dundreggan
On 4th June I spent the day at Dundreggan with Tony Hunter, one of the entomologists from Liverpool Museum, who’s carrying out some further sawfly survey work for us at Dundreggan this year. Tony had been up at Dundreggan last year with his colleague Guy Knight, and they made some interesting discoveries, particularly of sawflies associated with dwarf birch (Betula nana) on the higher ground on the estate. Guy wasn’t able to come up this time because of health reasons, but Tony had been up in May, to set out some Malaise traps in the dwarf birch exclosure, and this visit now was a chance to check on the traps and look for sawfly larvae and adults on the plants as well. [Read more…] about Dwarf birch and sawflies at Dundreggan
A day in Inchvuilt Wood
On the second day of my Treelay leg in May, I descended into Glen Strathfarrar down the Allt Innis na Larach Burn. On the lower reaches of the burn I passed by the eastern end of Inchvuilt Wood, a large area of native pinewood on the north-facing slopes of Strathfarrar that I had never visited before. I didn’t have time during the Treelay to wander around in the wood, but I was keen to explore what looked like a beautiful and interesting remnant of the Caledonian Forest, so on a sunny Saturday in early June I headed out there for the day. [Read more…] about A day in Inchvuilt Wood
Spring sunshine at Dundreggan
The week after the planting of our Millionth Tree (on 20th May) we finally had some warm sunny weather, and as it happened I had a couple of days scheduled to be at Dundreggan in that time. On one of the days the Scottish staff of the Woodland Trust were making a site visit to Dundreggan for their annual field trip, so I joined Steve, our Operations Manager at Dundreggan, and Jill and Allan, the other two full time staff there, in hosting the group of 24 people. [Read more…] about Spring sunshine at Dundreggan
A day in Liatrie Wood
Having walked through part of the Liatrie Wood in Glen Cannich for the first time in many years during my Treelay leg on 7th and 8th May, I decided to spend a day there the following week-end. I had only seen a small part of the wood during the Treelay, and I hadn’t had an opportunity to go inside the exclosure that was fenced there for natural regeneration of the trees, so I was keen to explore the area in more detail. [Read more…] about A day in Liatrie Wood
Two days on the Treelay, Part 2
I set out alone on the second day of my Treelay leg from our overnight campsite, near the Mullardoch dam in Glen Cannich, after my son Kevin had gone home. It was a much longer route than the first day, heading east initially in Glen Cannich, and then going over the hills to the north to Glen Strathfarrar. There, I’d have an extended walk to reach the rendezvous point at the end of my leg, at the entrance to the glen near Struy. [Read more…] about Two days on the Treelay, Part 2
Two days on the Treelay, Part 1
On Saturday 5th May, our sponsored Treelay event began – two weeks of walking and cycling around our Project Area – the 1,000 square miles west of Inverness and Loch Ness where we’re working to restore the Caledonian Forest. The first leg on Saturday, from Dundreggan to the RSPB’s Corrimony Reserve, was walked by Fay Blackburn (long term Trees for Life supporter and volunteer group leader) and Jill Hodge, our Dundreggan Project Coordinator. The second leg, on Sunday, was from Corrimony to Coille Ruigh na Cuileige in Glen Affric – the site of our first significant project in 1990, when we paid for the fencing of 50 hectares (125 acres) of land for natural regeneration of the forest there. It was walked by Fay and Fiona Limbrey, the coordinator of our Millionth Tree events, and three guests on programmes at the Findhorn Foundation. [Read more…] about Two days on the Treelay, Part 1
Delayed spring at Dundreggan
Because of having been away on the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour, it had been 4 weeks since my last visit to the Caledonian Forest (and 5 weeks since I’d last been at Dundreggan). I was therefore very keen to get out to the forest again, to see all the new life of spring, so about 36 hours after I got back from England, I headed out to Dundreggan for the day. It was a warm, mostly sunny day when I got there, but I was surprised to see that the birches and other broadleaved trees hadn’t got their new leaves yet. [Read more…] about Delayed spring at Dundreggan
The last week of the Lecture Tour
After the lecture in Brighton on 19th April, I went up to London for the start of the last week of the Lecture Tour. The talk in London was one of the better attended ones, and the audience included two directors from the company Phoenix Trading Ltd., which made a substantial donation to us recently – they hope to come to the planting of our Millionth Tree itself at Dundreggan on 20th May. It also included Richard Buggs, a researcher at Queen Mary University College in London, who has recently obtained funding for a 3 year PhD project for a student to do work on dwarf birch (Betula nana), that will be based largely at our Dundreggan Estate. [Read more…] about The last week of the Lecture Tour