Alan Watson Featherstone

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

Search Results for: fungi

An aphid discovery in National Insect Week

Glen Affric: 2 Comments

Aphid (Amphorophora gei) on the flower bud of a water avens (Geum rivale) in Glen Affric, on Friday 15th June 2018.

At the moment we’re in the middle of National Insect Week, a biennial series of events organised by the Royal Entomological Society to encourage people of all ages to learn more about insects. As someone who has a special interest in insects (as well as many other organisms in Nature, from trees and birds to fungi and slime moulds) it’s a good opportunity for me to promote some of the creatures I’m passionate about – ‘the little things that run the world’, to quote the title of a famous paper by the eminent Harvard University biologist, Edward O. Wilson. [Read more…] about An aphid discovery in National Insect Week

Sun, snow & ice in Glen Affric, part 2

Glen Affric: 5 Comments

Rock formations and trees covered in snow beside a frozen section of the Affric River looking upstream to Dog Falls, in mid-February.

It was just eight days after my visit to Glen Affric that featured in Part 1 of this blog when I returned to the glen, and there was a fresh covering of snow everywhere. This middle blog of my winter Glen Affric trilogy therefore very much focuses on snow, although the sun and ice will also make brief cameo appearances. The snow was quite thin in depth as I drove into the glen, but in the sheltered gorge of the Dog Falls area it was deeper, so I stopped there to make the most of the wintry conditions. [Read more…] about Sun, snow & ice in Glen Affric, part 2

Spring in Strathfarrar, part 1

Glen Strathfarrar: 6 Comments

Scots pines and backlit birches with new leaves in Strathfarrar in early May.

During the first half of May I made a couple of trips out to Glen Strathfarrar, which contains one of my favourite remnants of the original Caledonian Forest. There’s extensive areas of old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) that are relatively little-visited by people, and the glen also contains a good number of aspen trees (Populus tremula), as well as some less common species such as oak (Quercus petraea) and juniper (Juniperus communis). The glen has a locked gate across the road into it, and only 25 cars are allowed in at any one time, so it’s always a quiet place to go and spend a day in the forest. [Read more…] about Spring in Strathfarrar, part 1

Damp winter days in Glen Affric

Glen Affric: 10 Comments

Lichen-covered downy birch tree (Betula pubescens) on the north shore of Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin in Glen Affric.
Lichen-covered downy birch tree (Betula pubescens) on the north shore of Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin in Glen Affric.

For a casual visitor, it may often appear like there’s not much to see in the Caledonian Forest in winter. By then, all the leaves have fallen from the deciduous trees, many birds have migrated south for the winter and insects have gone into pupal stasis, out of sight. My experience, however, is that there is in fact still plenty of interest in the forest, if I shift my focus to some of the permanent, year-round life forms, and take time to look closely for them. [Read more…] about Damp winter days in Glen Affric

Seven year wait for a fungus

Dundreggan: 15 Comments

Hen of the woods fungus (Grifola frondosa) fruiting at the base of an oak tree at Dundreggan.
Hen of the woods fungus (Grifola frondosa) fruiting at the base of an oak tree at Dundreggan on 9th November 2016.

On 6th November 2009, while I was at Dundreggan, I discovered a large fungus fruiting at the base of an oak tree (Quercus petraea) that I’d never seen before. Situated right at the base of the tree, where the trunk emerges from the ground, it was very large for a fungus, and it had quite a complex shape, with a considerable number of overlapping and interconnected caps. As always when I find something new, I got quite excited and spent a while with the fungus, studying it and photographing it from different angles. [Read more…] about Seven year wait for a fungus

A wonder-full day at Dundreggan, part 2

Dundreggan: 10 Comments

Goblet waxcap fungus (Hygrocybe cantharellus) at Dundreggan.
Goblet waxcap fungus (Hygrocybe cantharellus) at Dundreggan.

The first part of this blog focussed almost entirely on the many insects I saw feeding on some ragwort plants (Senecio jacobaea) at Dundreggan in the middle of September. After lunch that day I continued walking in the birchwood near the lodge, and found a lot of other subjects of interest, so that I didn’t get very far at all during the course of the afternoon. I find this increasingly to the case – I cover less and less distance when I’m out in Nature, as I see more and more details in even small areas, often that I wasn’t aware of at all in times gone by. [Read more…] about A wonder-full day at Dundreggan, part 2

A wonder-full day at Dundreggan, part 1

Dundreggan: 10 Comments

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) changing colour with Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris), downy birches (Betula pubescens) and aspen trees (Populous tremula) behind, at Dundreggan in early September.
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) changing colour with Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris), downy birches (Betula pubescens) and aspen trees (Populous tremula) behind, at Dundreggan in the middle of September.

September is a month of transition in the Caledonian Forest, with summer coming towards an end, and the first signs of autumn appearing as the bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) begins to change colour. However, there’s still a lot of life visible at this time of year, and so I was glad to have the opportunity of spending a Saturday at Dundreggan in the middle of the month purely for photography. I had some thoughts about going to one of the more distant parts of the estate, but as it transpired, I didn’t get further than about a 10 minute walk from the lodge, because there was so much of interest nearby! [Read more…] about A wonder-full day at Dundreggan, part 1

Return to Inchvuilt Wood

Glen Strathfarrar: 2 Comments

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in flower, with bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) changing colour amongst Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) in Inchvuilt Wood in Glen Strathfarrar in early September.
Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in flower, with bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) changing colour amongst Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) in Inchvuilt Wood in Glen Strathfarrar in early September.

The end of August and early September is the peak time for common heather (Calluna vulgaris) to be flowering in the Highlands, and I usually aim to do a couple of days of photography of this seasonal phenomenon at different locations each year. This summer I decided to make a return visit to the Inchvuilt Wood in Glen Strathfarrar, which I’d first been to in 2012, but hadn’t gone back to since then. So it was that I set off there on the first Sunday in September, hoping to find the heather at its peak of blossom… [Read more…] about Return to Inchvuilt Wood

A day in Glasdrum Wood, Part 2

Miscellaneous: 4 Comments

Alder trees (Alnus glutinosa) covered in moss in the temperate rainforest of Glasdrum Wood National Nature Reserve.
Alder trees (Alnus glutinosa) covered in moss in the temperate rainforest of Glasdrum Wood National Nature Reserve.

This is the follow up to my previous blog, about my visit to Glasdrum Wood National Nature Reserve in Argyll at the end of July. Rather than make one very long blog, I decided to split it into two, in the interest of making it more readable, and also for my own ease of posting blogs relatively regularly. The amount of work involved in creating each blog is obviously proportional to the length of the blog, and my aim is to get two blogs posted each month, so dividing my day at Glasdrum between two has enabled me to keep to that schedule. [Read more…] about A day in Glasdrum Wood, Part 2

A day in Glasdrum Wood, part 1

Miscellaneous: 4 Comments

Moss-covered old oak tree (Quercus petraea) in temperate rainforest, Glasdrum Wood National Nature Reserve.
Moss-covered old oak tree (Quercus petraea) in temperate rainforest, Glasdrum Wood National Nature Reserve, Argyll.

For quite a few years I’d been wanting to visit Glasdrum Wood, a special area of temperate rainforest that is protected as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) on the west coast of Scotland, and at the end of July I finally made a visit there. Situated about midway between Fort William and Oban, on the north shore of Loch Creran, the wood is about 3 hours by car from my home so I set off at 6 am to ensure I had enough time to explore the woodland. [Read more…] about A day in Glasdrum Wood, part 1