ECOLOGIST, NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER AND INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER
FOUNDER OF THE AWARD-WINNING CHARITY TREES FOR LIFE
Autumn is my favourite season of the year in the Caledonian Forest, and although I spend a lot of time appreciating and photographing the bright colours of the leaves on the deciduous trees, fungi run them a close second in terms of garnering my interest. This is the time when the majority of fungi produce their fruiting bodies and I’ve long been intrigued and fascinated by the diversity and beauty of the various forms they take. [Read more…] about Fantastic fungi
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
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
On Saturday 24th September I went to a public talk given by Paul Stamets, a mycologist from Washington State in the USA, who was visiting Findhorn for a couple of days. I had seen him give a lecture at Findhorn last year, and he’s a very inspiring speaker, speaking from the perspective of over two decades of studying and working with fungi, which he is convinced can be used to help address many of the environmental and health-related problems in our society today.
Paul is a wonderful character and gives his talks whilst wearing a hat made from a fungus – the felt-like material called amadou that is extracted from the tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius). He lives and expresses his passion for all things fungal, and when I went to Glen Affric the next day I therefore had fungi on my mind, especially as this year has been such a good one for them. [Read more…] about Tooth fungi and slime moulds
In the last 10 days I’ve been out twice to Dundreggan, meeting up with some specialist biodiversity surveyors from the British Myriapod and Isopod Group. That rather cumbersome title refers to centipedes and millipedes (Myriapods) and woodlice and pill bugs (Isopods), and the group had chosen to spend a week at Dundreggan, contributing to our biodiversity surveys of the estate, for their annual field trip. [Read more…] about Fabulous fungi and slug-fest at Dundreggan!
My new book, published in September 2026, is the result of visiting Glen Affric for more than 50 years, and of the work that I carried out there as part of Trees for Life, the charity I founded in 1986, and which I was the Executive Director of for almost 30 years. In a very real sense the book represents the main work of my life, and has been under development and in the planning stages for a long time.
The book features detailed information about Glen Affric, which contains the third-largest remnant of the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. The first part of the book contains chapters about the various species that comprise the biodiversity of the forest, from Scots pine and aspen trees to flowering plants, fungi, birds and mammals. This reflects the fact that it is necessary to fully understand and know an ecosystem before beginning the work of rewilding, in order to return it to a condition of better health, with its full complement of native species in place again and all of its crucial ecological processes re-established.
The second part focuses on the practical work of ecological restoration there, and features 14 key Principles of Rewilding that have been developed over a period of many years. These are illustrated with examples of how they have been implemented through the forest recovery work in Glen Affric, that I’ve been involved with since 1989.
It features 175 outstanding colour photographs that illustrate both the remarkable biodiversity of the Caledonian Forest in Glen Affric, and the effectiveness of the rewilding work that has been carried out there.
The book is a large format paperback, measuring 16 x 23 cm, and has been produced and printed to a very high standard of quality.
Price: £34.99 each, free post and packing
(Please click on any image to see it at a larger size)
:This blog is the third in a series, and follows on from Part 1, in which I wrote about the role of fungi in helping to break down dead wood, and Part 2, which focussed on slime moulds. Here I’ll describe some of the invertebrates associated with dead wood, including springtails and mites.
A variety of small invertebrates can usually be found by close examination of dead wood, and amongst the most common of these are springtails. Known in scientific terms as Collembola, they are hexapods (ie creatures with six legs), but are not insects – they are differentiated from that group by having internal mouthparts (whereas insects have external mouthparts).
[Read more…] about The abundant life of dead wood, part 3
In the first part of this blog I focussed mainly on the role of fungi in the decomposition of dead wood and referred only briefly in passing to some of the other organisms that thrive in the resource and habitat that is created when a tree dies and its trunk falls to the ground. Here I’ll focus on slime moulds, and in part 3 of the blog I’ll feature some of the other life forms that can readily be seen by looking closely at dead wood, with examples primarily from the Findhorn Hinterland area.
[Read more…] about The abundant life of dead wood, part 2
Over the winter of 2021-2022 Scotland has been hit by a number of named storms, with Storm Arwen in particular causing considerable damage in the coastal area of Moray near Findhorn. On the night of 26th November 2021 Arwen blew down more than 100 trees in the small area of pine woodland on the land surrounding the Findhorn Community that is managed by the Findhorn Hinterland Trust (FHT).
[Read more…] about The abundant life of dead wood, part 1
The 2022 edition of the annual Caledonian Forest Engagement Diary that I’ve been producing since 1989 is now available. This high quality desk diary features a beautiful photograph from the Caledonian Forest in the Highlands of Scotland for every week of the year. The images depict a wide range of subjects, from the classic old Scots pines and winter landscapes in sites such as Glen Affric, Glen Strathfarrar and the Cairngorms National Park, to intimate details of the forest, including birds, flowers, insects and fungi. The date page for each week provides plenty of space to write in daily appointments etc.
More information and ordering details are here.