NWDG & PMG Visit to Lochaber

The Native Woodland Discussion Group and the Pinewood Managers' Group combined for their Field Visit this year. After a seminar on the first evening we spent the second day on Conaglen Estate. This is part of the group in a deer fenced regeneration area listening to Raymond Henderson, Bidwells.

Another shot of some of the group, with young birch trees showing in the background

Conaglen Estate's main interest is in deer stalking. Here's a shot of three of the keepers, in estate tweed, who took part in our visit. Reaching an appropriate balance between deer and woodland regeneration is always part of our discussion, and it was good to hear different points of view.

Another of the sites we visited was the Glen Loy Pinewood. Peter Quelch has done some research into the management and history of this fascinating site

There are some old and unusual trees in the woodland, including these oak and pine trees. The combination of pine with oak is a one of the attractive features of west coast pinewoods.

Here's a close up of the trunk of one of these old pine trees. The heartwood of pine trees is rich in resin, which burns easily, and was therefore used for "pine candles". There are records that this means of producing light still happened in remoter parts of Scotland until around 100 years ago. On this trunk you can still see the axe marks that were made when these candles were last cut out.

We spent some time looking at Ancient Woodland Indicator species over the weekend, which include some species of slug, such as this one. It's not a threat to your lettuces, as it feeds on fungi, but it does provide evidence, along with the types of lichen in the wood, that the site has been woodland for a long time.

Colin Edwards from Forest Research was on hand to take core samples from some of these trees. This allows us to count the annual growth rings of the trees, and to see whether there are unusual alterations in the growth pattern that might tell us something about the management of the woodland. First estimate is that this tree is around 300 years old, starting life around the time that the "Old Pretender" was fomenting his attempt to restore the Stewart monarchy.

Finally, here's a video from our boat trip down Loch Sheil. The weather was not beautiful, but the woods and the company were good.

Over half of our existing ancient woodland resource has been underplanted with conifers, which prevent light reaching the forest floor and damage the overall ancient woodland ecosystem. Opening up such stands is best done gradually to prevent sudden changes in light and moisture levels which can be equally damaging. In this picture, the stand is gradually being opened up. You can see the light getting through and the native woodland remnants (oak here) that remain.

Closer........

Light hitting the woodland floor.

All fall down.....

Trees are living things and will eventually grow old and die. For the wood as a whole to persevere, young trees must be coming up to replace the older ones. Here in Glen Tilt, many centuries of overgrazing has prevented the establishment of younger trees, the existing trees die off and are not replaced, and the woodland cover gradually disappears. You can see two dead birch trees here, the one in the foreground having broken off more recently, the one further up has been dead many years. The lower part of Glen Tilt has a good woodland cover of native trees, but on the more outlying slopes, this sort of contraction of the woodland area is still occurring.

Closer.....

More old birch trees.....

These trees ae still standing but show all the signs of old age. Over the next 10-15 years they will slowly disintegrate and die as with the previous tree. Any catastrophic event such as a high wind or heavy , wet snow can easily exacerbate the decline.

Closer.......

Volunteer Day - Flisk Wood

Burning the invasive Rhododendron Ponticum after removing it at Flisk Wood.

Scottish Native Woods volunteers go out every month. For details of the next event see the volunteer events section on our website - http://www.scottishnativewoods.org.uk/



How many people does it take to light a fire?

The Colin Burt Reserve on the River Dochart

The Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group (FACCG) do a lot of useful work for Scottish Native Woods, especially in the central lowlands. They are steadily helping develop the Colin Burt Reserve which lies between Killin and Crianlarich beside the River Dochart, and spend a number of weekend camps there during the year. Do stop by if you are ever passing.

At the centre of the Colin Burt Reserve

This pine tree stands on a prominent mound right in the middle of the reserve.

Video- Alook around the Colin Burt Reserve on the Dochart

Bit windy here today. The video is taken from the mound in the middle of the site with the Scots Pine tree on it.

piggy plough

Pigs can be useful where dense ground vegetation is stopping young trees from getting established. This one's not too sure about having her photograph taken, so she's "bristling".

The soil that is stuck to her snout just where the hair starts shows how deeply pigs will rootle around in the soil.

insects in wood

This is a split bit of a birch tree, showing one stage in the life cycle of a wood boring insect. At the top of the picture is the entry (& exit) point of the insect, and below that are the chambers where the youngsters are spending the winter.