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A day in the Barrach Wood

Miscellaneous: 8 December 2014 6 Comments

Rainbow over Scots pines and birches in the Barrach Wood at Cougie.

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

Glen Strathfarrar: 25 November 2014 5 Comments

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) and an aspen tree (Populus tremula) in autumn in Glen 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

Glen Affric: 16 November 2014 Leave a Comment

Autumn colours of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and birch trees (Betula pubescens) overlooking the Allt na Imrich watercourse in Glen Affric.

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

Glen Affric: 8 November 2014 6 Comments

Autumn colours of rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and birch trees (Betula pubescens) beside the Allt na Imrich in Glen Affric.

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

Glen Strathfarrar: 20 October 2014 11 Comments

Blog edited on 27th October to add this video footage of the dance of the aspen leaves in autumn:

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Aspen trees (Populus tremula) and Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) in autumn above a gorge on the Farrar River in Glen Strathfarrar.

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.

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A wild and wet day in Glen Affric

Glen Affric: 15 September 2014 2 Comments

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) beside the Allt na Imrich, swollen by hevay rain in Glen Affric. — Heather (Calluna vulgaris) beside the Allt na Imrich, swollen by heavy rain 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

Glen Strathfarrar: 2 September 2014 1 Comment

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) in the sunshine 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 way to Coire Loch, part 2

Glen Affric: 7 August 2014 Leave a Comment

Coire Loch is a small lochan nestled amongst old Scots pines (PInus sylvestris) at the east end of Glen Affric.

After spending a couple of hours at the oak tree (Quercus petraea) and young hazel (Corylus avellana) near Badger Falls in Glen Affric in early July, which I wrote about in the first part of this blog, I headed further west to Dog Falls, where the footpath to Coire Loch begins. Before setting out to walk to the loch though, I spent some time looking around the area near the falls themselves – in previous years I’ve found quite a lot of interest in a small clearing there. [Read more…] about The way to Coire Loch, part 2

Life on a bird cherry tree

Dundreggan: 21 July 2014 14 Comments

Red-legged shield bug (Pentatoma rufipes) on the leaf of a bird cherry at Dundreggan.

On the 3rd of July I was out at Dundreggan for a couple of meetings, and in between them there was a gap of an hour or two. I decided to go and have a look for some invertebrates on some of the trees near the buildings there, thinking especially of some aspen trees (Populus tremula) along one of the burns. However, on my way to them, I made a slight detour to a couple of bird cherry trees (Prunus padus) at the far end of the field where our tree nursery is situated.

Life and death in an aspen tree

Dundreggan: 18 April 2014 1 Comment

Trunks and leaves of an aspen tree at Dundreggan.

In a recent blog I wrote about the fallen giants – some of the large Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) and oaks (Quercus petraea) that were blown down by the powerful storm that hit Dundreggan on the night of 5th December 2013. Since then, we’ve continued to find other trees throughout the woodland on the estate that were either uprooted and blown over, or had substantial limbs broken off them. This blog entry is about one of those – an aspen tree (Populus tremula) – that lost part of a major branch in the storm. [Read more…] about Life and death in an aspen tree

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