Alan Watson Featherstone

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

Search Results for: fungi

Rainy day at Badger Falls

Glen Affric: 9 Comments

Scots pine overlooking cascades above the main falls at Badger Falls in Glen Affric.

On the 2nd of January I spent another day out in the Caledonian Forest, but the day was a complete contrast to my trip on Boxing Day to the pinewood on the south shore of Loch Mullardoch in Glen Cannich. That had been a cold but clear and cloudless day, whereas this one was an overcast and damp day. Although it was warmer, with temperatures ranging around 10 degrees all day, the dull weather, combined with the limited daylight at this time of year, prompted me to choose an area which was easier and quicker to access. [Read more…] about Rainy day at Badger Falls

Magic morning in Glen Affric, part 2

Glen Affric: 6 Comments

Scots pines and birches at the western end of Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin in Glen Affric.

With the sun having burned off the morning fog, Glen Affric was transformed on this October day, as the sunshine illuminated the autumn colours of the birch trees and Loch Beinn a’Mheadhoin reflected the blue sky in its still waters. Autumn is when the Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) stand out the most from the birches, with the blue-ish green of their foliage contrasting with the yellows and golds of the birches. [Read more…] about Magic morning in Glen Affric, part 2

In search of slime moulds

Dundreggan: 10 Comments

Slime mould (Dianema corticatum) fruiting on the fallen trunk of a Scots pine.

In September I was privileged to spend a couple of days at Dundreggan with Bruce Ing, the UK’s expert on slime moulds, and one of the best slime mould specialists in the world. I’ve had a long standing interest in this unusual and fascinating group of organisms, and wrote a blog about them last year. I’ve been seeking to get Bruce to do a survey at Dundreggan for a couple of years now, so I was delighted when he came up with some dates for one this year. [Read more…] about In search of slime moulds

Another autumn aspen day

Glen Strathfarrar: 10 Comments

Aspen tree in autumn, overhanging the Farrar River.

A week after my visit to the large aspen stand in the River Cannich gorge, I spent a day in Glen Strathfarrar. As it turned out, it was another day in which most of my time and attention was taken up by aspen trees (Populus tremula). It was still the first half of October, and as aspen leaves change colour in autumn before most other trees, they were the most brilliant and spectacular trees on this day in Strathfarrar.

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Return to the River Cannich aspens

Glen Cannich: 2 Comments

Aspen trees (Populus tremula) in early autumn beside the River Cannich.

It was the first Saturday in October when I finally had an opportunity to return to the remarkable, large aspen stand I had discovered in the gorge of the River Cannich back in January. I’d been planning to go back there some time during the summer, but I hadn’t been able to fit a visit in, so this was my last chance now, before the trees lost their leaves for the winter. As it turned out, it was good timing, because to access the site requires a long walk through dense, tall bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), which would have been very difficult in the summer – now, in early October the bracken was all collapsing, and was somewhat easier to negotiate! [Read more…] about Return to the River Cannich aspens

A day in Inchvuilt Wood

Glen Strathfarrar: 7 Comments

Scots pines at the eastern end of Inchvuilt Wood in Glen Strathfarrar.

On the second day of my Treelay leg in May, I descended into Glen Strathfarrar down the Allt Innis na Larach Burn. On the lower reaches of the burn I passed by the eastern end of Inchvuilt Wood, a large area of native pinewood on the north-facing slopes of Strathfarrar that I had never visited before. I didn’t have time during the Treelay to wander around in the wood, but I was keen to explore what looked like a beautiful and interesting remnant of the Caledonian Forest, so on a sunny Saturday in early June I headed out there for the day. [Read more…] about A day in Inchvuilt Wood

Delayed spring at Dundreggan

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Aspen trees and Scots pine at Dundreggan. Note how all the broadleaved trees are still leafless, at the end of April.

Because of having been away on the Millionth Tree Lecture Tour, it had been 4 weeks since my last visit to the Caledonian Forest (and 5 weeks since I’d last been at Dundreggan). I was therefore very keen to get out to the forest again, to see all the new life of spring, so about 36 hours after I got back from England, I headed out to Dundreggan for the day. It was a warm, mostly sunny day when I got there, but I was surprised to see that the birches and other broadleaved trees hadn’t got their new leaves yet. [Read more…] about Delayed spring at Dundreggan

The last week of the Lecture Tour

Miscellaneous: 6 Comments

View from the balcony inside the Palm House at Kew Gardens. The palm frond on the upper left is from a fishtail palm (Caryota rumphiana) that is from western New Guinea and grew to over 20 metres tall in 12 years.

After the lecture in Brighton on 19th April, I went up to London for the start of the last week of the Lecture Tour. The talk in London was one of the better attended ones, and the audience included two directors from the company Phoenix Trading Ltd., which made a substantial donation to us recently – they hope to come to the planting of our Millionth Tree itself at Dundreggan on 20th May. It also included Richard Buggs, a researcher at Queen Mary University College in London, who has recently obtained funding for a 3 year PhD project for a student to do work on dwarf birch (Betula nana), that will be based largely at our Dundreggan Estate. [Read more…] about The last week of the Lecture Tour

Spring gathers pace at Dundreggan

Dundreggan: 11 Comments

(Blog updated on 17th April 2012 to include details of the slime mould)

Scots pines and birches on this hazy, warm spring day at Dundreggan.

It had been two weeks since my last trip out to the Caledonian Forest, as I was busy last week-end, in between public talks on the Millionth Tree lecture tour that I’m doing throughout the UK in the second half of March and April. The weather had continued to be very mild and warm for the season, so a few days after the equinox I set out for Dundreggan, keen to see how spring was unfolding. [Read more…] about Spring gathers pace at Dundreggan

An early spring day in Glen Affric

Glen Affric: 2 Comments

 

Lichen-covered birch (left) and alder tree (right) near Dog Falls in Glen Affric.

After a busy week in the office, and two weeks since my last dedicated photography day out in the forest, I was looking forward to some quality time out in Nature. So on Saturday I headed to Glen Affric again, on an overcast but dry day, with the vague intention of continuing my exploration of the Abhainn Gleann nam Fiadh burn, which I’d visited a couple of times in the past few weeks. [Read more…] about An early spring day in Glen Affric