Alan Watson Featherstone

ECOLOGIST, NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER AND INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER
FOUNDER OF THE AWARD-WINNING CHARITY TREES FOR LIFE

Cairngorms National Park

A twinflower day

Cairngorms National Park: 10 Comments

Twinflower (Linnea borealis) in flower in Upper Port Wood in the Cairngorms National Park on 12th July 2020.

With the travel restrictions that have been imposed as part of the COVID-19 response, it’s been over four months since I was able to get out to any of my favourite places in the Caledonian Forest, such as Glen Affric. By 10th July, when those limitations were relaxed in Scotland, I was keen to reconnect with the forest and its seasonal phenomena. Top of my list was the opportunity to see twinflower (Linnea borealis), one of the rare plants in the Caledonian Forest, in blossom.

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A day at Loch an Eilein

Cairngorms National Park: 12 Comments

Female mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) on Loch an Eilein in the middle of June, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorms National Park.
Female mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) on Loch an Eilein in the middle of June, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorms National Park.

Loch an Eilein was a slightly unusual destination for one of my photographic trips, as I usually go to the glens west of Loch Ness, where Trees for Life carries out most of its forest restoration work. However, my partner’s son was staying with us for a few days in the middle of June, and he and his mother were keen to visit the Cairngorms, to climb one of the peaks there. I was more interested in the native forest than the high peaks (which I’ve climbed on various occasions in the past) so we traveled together to the National Park, and they dropped me off at Loch an Eilein before going on to climb Cairngorm Mountain and hiking on the summit plateau. [Read more…] about A day at Loch an Eilein