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
Fungi and lichens in Glen Cannich
In early December I decided to go to Glen Cannich for a day of photography. It was quite a while since I’d been into that glen, and as I like to vary my destinations for each trip, it seemed like a good choice for a different location to where I’d been recently. With the daylight hours being very short at this time of year, as we approach the mid-winter solstice, I opted to stay close to the road, and visit a part of the glen I’d not explored before. [Read more…] about Fungi and lichens in Glen Cannich
A day in the Barrach Wood
The Barrach Wood is a small native Caledonian Forest pinewood remnant at Cougie, to the south of Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin in Glen Affric, in the upper part of the River Glass catchment. As such, it is located in between Glen Affric and Glenmoriston, to the northwest of Dundreggan. Despite its proximity to one of the places I spend the most time in – Glen Affic – and the fact that I’ve passed it by at various times over the years, I’d never actually taken the time to explore the Barrach Wood before. [Read more…] about A day in the Barrach Wood
Autumn surprise in Strathfarrar
On 25th October I went out with my partner Pupak for the day to Glen Strathfarrar, hoping to catch the leaves of the trees there at the peak of their autumn colours. We’d been out in the glen at the beginning of the month, when some of the aspens (Populus tremula) were already brilliant gold in colour, but most of the trees had still been quite green then. Now, 3 weeks later, I knew that would have changed, and I was expecting the glen to look quite different, with all the deciduous trees in their autumn finery. [Read more…] about Autumn surprise in Strathfarrar
Autumn extravaganza in Glen Affric, part 2
After spending a day alongside the Allt na Imrich watercourse and nearby areas in Glen Affric, I’d been hoping for a still, clear night, followed by one of those misty, atmospheric mornings that are so characteristic of the Caledonian Forest in the autumn. However, the weather proved to be very different, and it rained heavily for almost the entire night, although I was completely dry inside my tent. There was no let up in the morning either, and it was a very grey, dull and wet landscape that greeted me when I eventually emerged into the new day. [Read more…] about Autumn extravaganza in Glen Affric, part 2
Autumn extravaganza in Glen Affric, part 1
Autumn is my favourite season in the Caledonian Forest and each year I like to spend some time camping out in one or more of the best woodland areas to make the most of the opportunities that the colour change of the leaves offers for photography. Thus it was that in mid-October I went to Glen Affric for a couple of days, hoping to catch the autumn colours at their best. [Read more…] about Autumn extravaganza in Glen Affric, part 1
Early autumn in Strathfarrar
Blog edited on 27th October to add this video footage of the dance of the aspen leaves in autumn:
[jwplayer config=”alan29may” file=”https://alanwatsonfeatherstone.com/video/alan27oct14.mp4″ html5_file=”https://alanwatsonfeatherstone.com/video/alan27oct14.mp4″ image=”https://alanwatsonfeatherstone.com/video/alan27oct14.jpg”]
It had been several weeks since my last photo trip out to the Caledonian Forest, because of a recurrence of the sciatica in my leg, so on October 5th I was very pleased to get out again. I headed to Glen Strathfarrar with my partner Pupak, planning to have an easy day that wouldn’t stress my still-recovering leg too much. My intuition was that we’d find somewhere in the forest there, close to the road, where there would be plenty of interesting subjects for photography, and that indeed turned out to be the case.
[Read more…] about Early autumn in StrathfarrarAn inordinate fondness for aphids
In late August and early September I was at Dundreggan for meetings on several different days, and had some extra time on each of them before I had to return home. I used those occasions to visit a patch of devilsbit scabious (Succisa pratensis) just outside the lodge, where a rare mining bee (Andrena marginata) had been observed harvesting pollen from the flowers in 2007 and the following two years. However, after an incursion by sheep had resulted in the scabious being eaten, the mining bee had not been seen again, so we’ve taken steps to encourage the healthy growth of the scabious, hoping that this revitalisation of its habitat will promote a return of the bee. Thus, I was visiting the scabious regularly on sunny days when it was in flower in August and early September, to see if the bee was there. [Read more…] about An inordinate fondness for aphids
A wild and wet day in Glen Affric
In the middle of August I had planned a trip out to Glen Affric one Sunday for one of my bi-annual photographic visits to the Coille Ruigh na Cuileige exclosure there. That was the first fenced area we protected in partnership with Forestry Commission Scotland back in 1990, and every two years since then I’ve been taking some fixed point photography of selected trees there, to visually document the changes as natural regeneration takes place, in the absence of overgrazing by red deer (Cervus elaphus). [Read more…] about A wild and wet day in Glen Affric
Summer day in Glen Strathfarrar
On the 20th of July I went out to Glen Strathfarrar for the day with my partner, Pupak, and an old friend, Sharon, who used to live at Findhorn, and did some volunteering with me in the very early days of Trees for Life, back in 1989. Neither of them had been in to Glen Strathfarrar before, so it was a chance to introduce both of them to the beauty of the area, and to the native pinewood remnants there. It was some months since I’d been there myself as well, so it was a good opportunity to enjoy the fullness of summer in one of my favourite old pinewood areas. [Read more…] about Summer day in Glen Strathfarrar
The unusual contents of a tea cup!
Blog updated on 16th October 2014 with confirmation of the mites as being Poecilochirus carabi.
On Sunday 10th August, I spent the day at Dundreggan, leading one of the series of biodiversity skills training courses we’ve scheduled for this summer, as part of the programme of work funded by the £50,000 grant we received from the People’s Millions scheme late last year. This particular course lasted for a day and was focused on one of my special interests – plant galls. Although we spent most of the day outside (in the rain!) locating galls on various trees and plants, we began with a Powerpoint presentation I’d prepared about plant galls.