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
The return of the leaves
Spring has been really late in northern Scotland this year and by the end of April most of the trees were still leafless. In most years, the birches, rowans and other trees generally get their new leaves in the second half of April, but the cold spring we’ve had in 2015 has delayed everything. It was only in the early part of May therefore that the new leaves finally started opening on the trees, and when I went to Glen Affric on the 10th of May, the forest was radiant with the vibrant, bright green flush of the fresh leaves. [Read more…] about The return of the leaves
In search of Scotland’s oldest pines
In 1997, the Forestry Commission’s research branch made a remarkable discovery when they were surveying a remote and small remnant of the native pinewoods of the Caledonian Forest in Glen Loyne, in Lochaber. They found that the average age of the 80 or so surviving old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) there was 440 years, with one individual 550 years old, making them the oldest known pines in Scotland.
A lichen day in Glen Cannich
At the end of February I made a return visit to the area in Glen Cannich that I’d visited last December, which I wrote about in a blog back then. Because of the very short hours of daylight at that time of year, I hadn’t had the opportunity to fully explore that section of the Cannich River then. However, I’d seen enough to realise that there was a lot of interest to discover there, hence the reason for making another trip once the days were lengthening again. [Read more…] about A lichen day in Glen Cannich
Spring delight in Strathfarrar
Spring seemed to have finally arrived in the Highlands at the end of the first week in April, when I made my first visit to Glen Strathfarrar for several months. On the previous Sunday, the last one in March, when I’d been out in the western Highlands I’d experienced driving snow, sleet and hail all day, with the temperature never rising about 2 degrees C. all day long, and it had felt like the middle of winter still. [Read more…] about Spring delight in Strathfarrar
Winter wonderland in Glen Affric
After some relatively mild weather in February, winter returned quite suddenly and somewhat unexpectedly to the Highlands in early March. We had just started running this year’s version of our annual focaliser training programme, for people learning to lead our volunteer Conservation Weeks, and I was scheduled to spend the first morning with them, carrying out our introductory walk at Coille Ruigh na Cuileige in Glen Affric, when the wintry weather arrived in full force. [Read more…] about Winter wonderland in Glen Affric
Dead wood fungi in Glen Affric
In the middle of February, after I’d returned from a 3 week trip abroad, I made my first photographic trip to Glen Affric of 2015, together with my partner. It was an opportunity for us to spend a day out in the Caledonian Forest together, and although there had been quite a lot of snow when I was abroad, it had melted during a recent thaw, and there were only small scattered patches left, at least at low elevations in the glen. [Read more…] about Dead wood fungi in Glen Affric
A new discovery at Dundreggan
In the middle of December I was out at Dundreggan with a couple of my colleagues, including Doug Gilbert, our Operations Manager at the Estate, and Colin Blyth, a consultant whom we work with on our forest restoration projects there. The reason for our visit was to scout out the possible line of a new fence for our next tree planting scheme on the estate. However, the day turned very wintry, with blizzards and white-out conditions, so we had to abandon our mission, and Colin and I decided to walk back to the lodge, down through the woodland on the east side of the Allt Ruadh, or Red Burn. [Read more…] about A new discovery at Dundreggan
Return to the Barrach Wood
After my visit to the Barrach Wood at Cougie near Glen Affric in late November last year, I was keen to return and explore more of this special area so in early January I made it the destination for my first trip of the new year. The small remnant of the Caledonian Forest there straddles the burn called Allt Riabhach, and whereas in November I’d been on the south of the watercourse, this time I went to the north side, where the bulk of the woodland is situated. [Read more…] about Return to the Barrach Wood
The frozen forest
In between Christmas and New Year we had some cold frosty days, coming on the heels of a recent snowfall, so I took the opportunity of spendng a day out in an area of native woodland in the Spey River Valley, just to the north of Aviemore. I’d passed by there the day before, on my way to Aviemore with my partner Pupak and her mother to do some shopping, and I’d seen that some small areas had been experienced freezing fog, coating all the trees in a thick layer of hoar frost, and it was that which had drawn me back for a day of photography.
The first snow of winter
On the 11th and 12th of December the first substantial snow of the winter this year fell in the Highlands. November had been a remarkably mild month, and this continued into the early part of December, so the change in the weather was quite dramatic. Because of Scotland’s maritime climate, snow often doesn’t last for long, and our frequent winds can remove it from the trees within hours, so I knew I had to seize the moment, so to speak. Thus, to take advantage of the pristine white conditions, I headed out to Glen Affric the next day, on Saturday the 13th.
[Read more…] about The first snow of winter