Waxwings remained good value until towards the end of the
month but, as the local supply of cotoneaster berries became depleted, the
group of 40-50 disappeared, probably shifting over to eating juniper
berries. The birds local to the house
were certainly feeding in the juniper bushes by the pony field in between
raiding local cotoneaster bushes and once they had more or less disappeared there
 |
| Fun with the waxwings |
were reports of birds in juniper bushes as far away as Tulloch. In the end the local birds didn’t seen too
bothered about us moving around and on one occasion, as I was clearing snow for
Rita at the end of our road, 40-odd birds were perched in the rowan tree above
me before descending en masse to quickly swallow many cotoneaster berries
before returning a few seconds later to land again above my head! The waxwings were fairly easy to see and folk
were stopping their cars on the road to view the birds when perched in the tree
tops, but not so the hawfinches. I’ve
not managed to bump into them again but chalet guests Peta and Richard found
three birds in the conifers to the Abernethy end of the Dell Road and a recent
reported sighting suggest they are still in that area. There are even reports of a singing bird in
the Grantown area. During February, the
temperature ranged from -9.80C
 |
| Hungry long-tailed tits |
 |
| Even hungrier goldcrest |
to +100C and on the warmer
days lots of birds locally started to sing.
Whether it is down to the relatively mild and almost snowless winter I’m
not sure but the number of wrens singing close to the house seems much higher
than normal and the groups of long-tailed tits coming into the garden for food
also seems higher than usual. An unusual
sighting though was a tiny goldcrest down on the ground probably picking up
bits of food scattered around by other feeding birds. This is something I can’t remember seeing
before feeding on the ground in the garden, though there is a chance that the
 |
| Iceland gull |
bird wasn’t well and was desperate for any kind of food. Our chalet guests also reported seeing a
glaucous gull in the fields near to Aviemore as they arrived and also told me
that they had heard about Iceland gulls visiting the rubbish dump in
Aviemore. Popping in to the dump in
passing the next day I saw at least two birds though there were reports of up
to four.
Work carried on linked to the future of local aspen
stands through to mid-month when the next meeting of the discussion group took
place. Mapping out current fence lines
and wandering into other parts of the aspen and hazel stands in the Tulloch
area makes me realise even more the immense value of parts of these woods,
particularly where there are well established older specimens of both tree
species. Whilst not finding anything new
in the rarer lichen line I continued to find more
 |
| One of the ancient hazels |
populations showing that it’s
not just the odd tree supporting them.
At some stage a map will need to be produced showing just what is where
lichen-wise, which tree species is the host and just how often each has been
recorded. And that would just be what I
was finding with my limited lichen knowledge, goodness knows what else would be
added should there be a fuller survey by the lichen experts. So far the progress to implementation of
additional fencing protection measures has been delayed due to an injury to the
person who needs to visit the sites to agree what might be possible with the
current funding package but hopefully that will be resolved soon.
Just a year ago, a planning application for three chalets
close to the nationally important Flowerfield orchid site was withdrawn but
early in the month a new application was made for just a single unit on the
site where a single chalet was proposed first time around. To me this application doesn’t pose the same
threat to the orchid field as the earlier one so my visit to it was just to
ensure the environmental survey reports were correct and nothing had been
missed, as far as my knowledge could ascertain.
I have a real problem with the way many of these surveys are produced,
tree species are mapped and
 |
| T16, second tree from left |
identified but then there are negative additions
like “a tree has dead branches” or “there were many bracket fungi present”
giving the suggestion that despite the site being on the Ancient Woodland
Inventory, these trees may need work doing to them. There is even a box to fill giving the
suggested lifespan remaining for each of the trees! One of the problems reported for tree T16 was
that it had a hollow at its base and that there were bracket fungi
present. What the surveyor hadn’t seen
was that the very natural actions creating the hollow trunk and the sap-run as
a by-product of the fungi was a potential site for the rarer pinhead
Sclerophora lichens. Sure enough, there
they were (S. peronella),
 |
| Some of the badger holes |
goodness, how naughty of the tree to create all this
symbiotic co-habitation in its old age!
The survey also suggested that evidence had been found that badgers were
present in the area but that the information supplied by HBRG wasn’t too clear
about exact locations for any badger setts.
I checked my Mapmate records and of course the HBRG information was
mine, complete with accurate grid references.
So, just to ensure they were still present, I re-visited the grid
reference location to find that there were around 30 holes (not all in use)
spread out over about 50m and were located about 200m from the proposed chalet
site. I don’t think this is a problem,
the badgers will just go about
 |
| The pinhead lichen Sclerophora peronella |
their business and might even visit the chalet
to see if there are any tasty tit-bits.
Why therefore not be honest with what is where and let the planners
decide if the location is okay. Now the
planners have three letters telling them about the badgers (and one about the
lichen) making it look like they were trying to hide or ignore their presence. I do, at times, wonder if these surveys are
undertaken totally independently of the developer/applicant.
The same little pinhead lichen was found to also be possibly
under threat when I managed to make my repeat visit to the River Dulnain
shingle site. The track from the road to
the river winds its way through a nice bit of birch woodland, the track
doubling up as one of the Sustrans cycle routes (No.
7). I am always worried when I see bright paint
spots on trees and this was the case on this visit when one of the two most
ancient birches by the track was displaying a recently applied orange
spot! A bit of a lean over the track,
and obvious bit of dampness on one side (home to the pinhead) but, overall, the
tree looked fairly healthy so hopefully, not for the chop. Will, from the Estate didn’t know why the
tree had been marked so possibly a health and safety person from the Sustrans
organisation, but Will is checking to see what is planned. It is quite sad to see a habitat like the
birch
 |
| My first female northern February red stonefly top and another showing the wing banding more clearly, x3 bands and dark tip to wings |
tree, which has taken probably a hundred years to grow to its current
size possibly being considered for removal.
Hopefully not. This visit though
had a dual reason for undertaking and it followed a message from Gus from the
local conservation group about a stonefly that he was seeing by the River Spey
at Boat of Garten. Over the years I had
heard about an unusual stonefly and, with little knowledge, had checked rocks
along the side of the River Nethy in Abernethy Forest. Gus’ message though made the possibility of
seeing one fairly straightforward, “they are on the fence-posts by the River
Spey at Boat of Garten”. The stonefly is
the northern February red (Brachyptera putata), a priority species in the
Cairngorms Nature Action Plan, so the following afternoon I was down by the
Spey staring at fence posts! Thankfully,
I had taken a picture of the fly with me from the Buglife
 |
| One of the other regular stoneflies Protonemura meyeri |
paper, because there
was more than one stonefly present, but the size, and the markings of the one I
was looking for made identification of the target species fairly
straightforward once I’d checked a few fence posts. This stonefly is an endemic freshwater
species, found in the UK and nowhere else in the world. Adults are active in February, and nymphs require
clean, fresh-flowing water. The adult
females are about 8-9mm in total length and the males about 6mm, and reliable
identification is easiest with the adults: the female has three dark bands
across its wings, as well as dark wing tips, whilst the male is short-winged with
two bands and unable to fly. On this
first visit to the Spey the weather was a bit damp with occasional light
showers but as I visited each post I was starting to find more and more, so
much so that I counted numbers and fence posts.
However, I was only just getting to grips with the wing markings and was
fairly confident that all the flies I was seeing were males and this was
confirmed a little later when I found a longer fly walking along the barbed
wire, again with bands across its wings, but with three distinct bands compared
to the males two. The more interesting
actions though was watching the flies obviously feeding on whatever was on the
posts, a
 |
| A male northern February red stonefly, the two wing bands are just visible |
greenish algae or fungus on the tops and sides of many of the
posts. Was this good news? These fence posts were fairly new having been
installed just 2-3 years ago, and, as is normal with these wood products, all
would have been pressure treated to slow down decay. A bit more work to do here to check on the
chemicals used in the treatment. Most of
the flies remained fairly static on the posts apart from the jaws ‘munching’
away so I planned to return the next day with better camera and tripod. Next day there seemed to be even more northern
February reds and as I photographed the mostly males, I started to count as I
went along the fence. I also made videos
of the flies feeding on the substance on the posts so that there was no doubt
that food was the main reason for their visit.
On the 38 posts visited I counted 71 mainly male stoneflies with 9 on
one post being the highest count.
 |
| A gathering of male stoneflies feeding on the 'growth' on top of fence post |
Over
the next few days checks were carried out on the River Nethy in RSPB Abernethy
Reserve (Protonemura meyeri only), the River Dulnain between the village and
the Spey where a male and a female northern February red were found and the
River Feshie between Feshiebridge and the Spey were a female was found, all new
locations. Craig Macadam at Buglife had
done quite a bit of searching over the last couple of years but after making
contact he said he would welcome any new records plus photos/samples of any
other stoneflies that I might find.
Happy to help and I await the names of the other species found during
all these and other river visits.
The visit to the River Feshie and Spey confluence looking
for the stonefly was quite an eye-opener.
I’ve visited this area several times before looking for plants and
butterflies usually across the consolidated sands and shingle to the east of
the Feshie, but as I followed the fence running by the Feshie I became aware
that the river, behind the flood-bank, was at a higher level than I was in the
 |
| The 'new' River Feshie river course |
 |
| Aerial view of Feshie/Spey confluence before recent addition. The new channel runs approximately through the red Feshie arrow |
field below. A little further on the
Feshie had burst through the flood-bank and was making another mini-river
running across the sandy area deep enough in places to be difficult to
cross. I would assume the water would
normally flow in this area at a time of spate, but this was at a time of
reasonably calm and dry weather. This
rivers ‘fan’ as it meets the Spey is pretty amazing and can only be appreciated
when viewed from the air. With so much
new sand (mainly) deposited it will be interesting to see how the plants and
insects react over the coming seasons as they once again adapt to the forces of
nature.
A few first sightings also occurred during February. A visit to the butchers in the village had me
pointing out a group of moths on the window to Mike. At night, the ultra-violet insect zapper
inside the shop continues to operate and this being close to a window acts a
bit like a moth trap. On the outside of
the window were three moths attracted from the previous night, quite a big
species, which,
 |
| Pale brindled beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) |
being early in the year would have to be pale brindled beauty
moths which were confirmed once
outside to check. This was the moth way back in 1974 which got
me started with a moth trap when a couple were found in the porch of our house
on the Isle of Rum. In 1975, 190 species
of moth were recorded/identified with most being released unharmed from the
3961 moths trapped via the UV moth trap.
It’s amazing how these things start!
I digress. Whilst out and about
Janet kept pointing out any distilleries we passed or were close to so that we
could pop in to see if the buildings and trees were covering with the sooty-looking
whisky fungus Baudoinia compniacensis.
About 5 new sites
 |
| One of the blackened distillery buildings |
were added to the UK map during the month. Aspen stands were also visited to re-check
for any of the rare Orthotrichum mosses but without any finds. These outings though do produce other finds
and whilst in an aspen stand near the B9007 road some black dots of the leaves
of the plant herb robert (Geranium robertianum) were worth further
investigation and once home and viewed under the microscope the spores of the
Coleroa robertiani fungus were found.
This fungus seems to only
 |
| Coleroa robertiani fungus on herb robert leaves |
 |
| Coleroa robertiani spores x1000 oil |
grow on the leaves of the plant that
over-winter. On the 19th I
also saw my first toad of the year but no frog or toad spawn so far. The visit along the B9007 road saw quite a
few roadside trees being felled ahead of the road being closed for a month so
that everything could be got ready for the towers and blades for the highly
controversial wind-farm on the moors near to Lochindorb to be delivered.
 |
| 1st toad of the year |
Infinergy applied for planning permission for
17 turbines on these wildland moors in August 2010 and Highland Council
rejected it. They appealed and a three-week
public enquiry followed and once again, in June 2013 the Scottish Government
overturned Highland Councils decision.
I’m getting whiffs of those unpleasant smells
again! Ah, but there will be a reduction
in the number of turbines (17 to 13) but they will stick out from the landscape
by an extra 15m growing to
 |
| No caption needed! |
125 metres in height to the tips of the blades. There will also be 18km of new 5m wide tracks,
13 x 600 tonnes of concrete per turbine base (ca. 8000 tonnes in total) pumped
around about 13 x 80 tonnes of steel reinforcement (ca. 1000 tonnes in total) and
another industrialised wildland site to go with the other two nearby.
At least it’s the Spring Equinox as I type when day and
night are the same length and we thankfully head off into summer.
Enjoy the read
Stewart and
Janet
Northern February red stonefly
Badenoch and
Strathspey Conservation Group
Mapmate
recording database
NBN Gateway
Fungal Records
Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI)
BSBI –
Botanical Society of the British Isles
Highland
Biological Recording Group (HBRG)
and how to
join HBRG
 |
| Hazel catkins |
 |
| Emerging winter aconite flowers |
Photos ©
Stewart Taylor
