scottish national heritage - the nature of scotland autumnwinter2015_issue22

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The Nature of ScotlandScottish Natural Heritage Autumn / Winter 2015

Great Trossachs ForesScotlands newest

National Nature Reserve

Flows to the FuturePeatland restoration

Mountain bikingScotland leads the way


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Contents

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58

Features10 Great Expectations

The Great Trossachs ForestNational Nature Reserve

16 Lochaber rescue

Saving a young sea eagle

24 Better biking

Scotlands mountain bikingis leading the way

28 Flowing into the future

The Flow Countrys excitingmulti-million pound project

40 Back to black

Native dark bee breedingproject around Beinn Eighe

44 Whats in a name ?

New addition to Gaelicplace-names library

55 Loch Leven leading by exa

Adapting to climate change

58 Making the most of marine

Improved access to data andinformation helps with futuremarine decisions

Regulars2 Where we are

SNH contact details

3 Welcome

4 Wild calendar

What to see this autumn andwinter

20 News

34 Reserve focus

Beinn Eighe and

Loch Maree Islands

48 Area news

Reports from around the country

56 Dualchas coitcheann

/Common heritage

Linking language and environment

64 Keep in touch

Subscribe to our e-newsletter

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Scotlands nature blog

Our Scotlands nature blog covers a wide range of subjects, and recent poshave featured St Kildas sea caves, wood ants, bog squads, the Year of Fieldand the New Zealand flatworm. Follow the blog using the link near the foot homepage on our website.


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Credits

The Nature of ScotlandThe magazine of Scottish Natural HeritageIssue Number 22 Autumn / Winter 2015

Published twice per year SNH 2015ISSN 1350 309X

Editor: Jim JeffreyTel. 01738 458528

Cover photo: A misty forestPhotographer: Mark Hamblin/2020VISION

Inside cover photo: Scots pine bark detailInside cover photographer: Lorne Gill/SNH

Welcome page photographer: Lorne Gill

Photography all images by Lorne Gill/SNH other than Mark Hamblin p6image 3 in strip; Becky Duncan/SNH p9 image 1 in strip; David Whitaker p9image 2 in strip, p17, p18 both, p19, p20 top, p49 centre; Niall Benvie p9image 3 in strip, p 15 top; John McFarlane/Forestry Commission PictureLibrary p12; Mark Hamblin/2020VISION p 13, p28, p33 top p51 centre;Isobel Cameron/Forestry Commission Picture Library p15 bottom left,Peter Cairns/2020VISION p15 bottom right, p32, p48 centre; SSPCA p16;Hawkeye Photography p22; Andy McCandlish/Forestry Commission PictureLibrary p24, p26 top left and right, p27; Clive Spencer, p26 bottom left, D.C .Thomson and Co. Ltd. P27; Fergus Gill p31; Margie Ramsey p41, p42 both,Dr. Jock Ramsay p43, David Steel/SNH p49 left; Jane Dodd/SNH p50 left;Sue Scott/SNH p50 centre, David Chapman/Alamy p51 left, Lesley McIvorp51 right; Laurie Campbell/SNH p52 left; Seafish p52 right; Melissa Shaw/Butterfly Conservation p53 centre; Fiona Ross/South Ayrshire Council p54left; Yon March Pipdesigns/Alamy p54 right; Linda Pitkin/2020VISION p60top, Charlie Phillips images p61 bot tom; Ben James/SNH p62 top; AlexMustard/2020VISION p62 bottom.

Map in Beinn Eighe article : Ashworth Maps and Interpretation Ltd 2015.Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database right 2015

To share your views about The Nature of Scotlandor suggest articles forfuture issues please contact the editor:

SNH MagazineBattleby, Redgorton,Perth PH1 3EWEmail: [email protected]

The views expressed in this magazine do notnecessarily reflect those of SNH.

Printed by: J Thomson Colour Printers, Glasgow

JTCP15.5k1015

When youve finished with this magazine, please recycle it. Pass it to anotherreader or dispose of it at your local waste-collection point.

Where we are

You can contact SNH byletter, telephone or email.The following detailsshould enable you to findyour nearest main office,but bear in mind that wealso have a number ofoffices smaller than thoselisted.

A full list of our officesappears on the SNHwebsite: www.snh.gov.uk

Corporate

headquarters

Great Glen House,Leachkin Road,Inverness IV3 8NWTel. 01463 725 000Email: [email protected]

Other offices

Battleby, Redgorton,Perth PH1 3EWTel. 01738 444 177

Silvan House,3rd Floor East,231 Corstorphine Road,Edinburgh EH12 7ATTel. 0131 316 2600

Caspian House,Mariner Court,Clydebank Business Park,Clydebank G81 2NRTel. 0141 951 4488

Area offices

Argyll & Outer Hebrides32 Francis Street,Stornoway,Isle of Lewis HS1 2NDTel. 01851 705 258

ForthSilvan House,3rd Floor East,231 Corstorphine Road,Edinburgh EH12 7ATTel. 0131 316 2600

ForthStrathallan House,Castle Business Park,Stirling,FK9 4TZTel. 01786 450 362

Northern Isles& North HighlandThe Links,Golspie Business Park,Golspie,Sutherland KW10 6UBTel. 01408 634 063

Northern Isles& North Highland

Ground Floor,Stewart Building,Alexandra Wharf,Lerwick,Shetland ZE1 0LLTel. 01595 693 345

South HighlandFodderty Way,Dingwall Business Park,Dingwall IV15 9XBTel. 01349 865 333

South HighlandTorlundy,Fort WilliamPH33 6SWTel. 01397 704 716

Southern ScotlandGreystone Park,55/57 Moffat Road,Dumfries DG1 1NPTel. 01387 272 440

Strathclyde & AyrshireCaspian House,Mariner Court,Clydebank Business Park,Clydebank G81 2NRTel. 0141 951 4488

Tayside & GrampianBattleby, Redgorton,Perth PH1 3EWTel. 01738 444 177

Tayside & GrampianInverdee House,Baxter Street,Torry,Aberdeen AB11 9QATel. 01224 266 500

2 The Nature of Scotland


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Welcome

Nick HalfhideDirector of OperationsScottish Natural Heritage

Welcome to the Autumn/Winter edition of The Nature of Scotland. This issufeatures a range of stunning places where you can enjoy Scotlands naturalheritage some of them new and some of them old favourites. We hope toinspire you to get out there and see at first-hand what Scotland has to offerever-popular wild calendar article sets the scene by giving tips and advice owhere to go and what to see.

We take a look at the newly announced Great Trossachs Forest NationaNature Reserve. Situated within easy reach of 80% of Scotlands populationnew reserve will be the biggest in the UK and will create a large-scale foresthe benefit of wildlife and people. People are also very welcome at Britains

National Nature Reserve at Beinn Eighe, where a brand new visitor centre wmake this fabulous Wester Ross experience even more enjoyable.

It is widely recognised that being out and about is good for our health, aour feature on mountain biking explores how this sport has expanded hugela relatively short space of time. Crucially, mountain biking increasingly attractourists, bringing welcome trade to many small rural communities.

For some, enjoying nature is about contributing to things, like citizen scior completing a hands-on task. In this issue we spotlight the story of a sea erescue, by Lewis Pate, of the Scottish Raptor Study Group, who went to grlengths to save an injured young bird. The welfare of our wildlife also lies at heart of our feature looking at work near Loch Maree to conserve healthy, nadark bees at a time when they are under pressure from the varroa mite.

To round off this edition we look at an exciting new online interactive maScotlands seas which will help us make informed decisions about, and enssustainable future for, Scotlands seas.

Ill finish with a greening note if I may and encourage you to pass on youcopy of the magazine to others once you have finished with it.


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Autumn

Wild calendar


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Will you notice when the last swallows have gone, or the first flocks of grey geese

breezed in from the north? Will you watch one tree near where you live, to see how itcolours shift at the whim of frosts and winds, before its leaves fall to spangle the grouFor all its signs of drawing in and sheltering, as hedgehogs and squirrels hole up, asbroadleaved trees grow bare, theres a strength in the changes of autumn. Feel thepower; feel the glow.

Kenny Taylor gives some seasonal tips forsavouring Scottish wildlife and landscapes

And it was all yellow

Among the many magnificent tints ofa Scottish autumn, the bright yellow

of larch can shine out with the best ofthem. Some larches fringe plantationsof dark green pines, spruces and firs,where theyve been planted as winterfirebreaks. For larch, unusually, is theonly native European conifer that dropsall its needle-like leaves in autumn.

Other larches give a fanfare offinery from whole woodlands. Perthshireis perhaps the best county of all toappreciate larch trees, in no smallmeasure thanks to the efforts of several

Planting Dukes of Atholl in the 18thand 19th centuries.The first European larches were

brought to the Atholl estates, aroundand north of Dunkeld, in 1738. Saplingscollected in the Austrian Tyrol werecarried by stagecoach and then plantedin Perthshire as a future seed source.

One duke is said to have been sokeen to see larches grow on hard-to-climb slopes that he had seeds firedby cannon up the hillsides. The legacynow is a beautiful wooded landscape.

And, amazingly, one of the originalTyrolean larches, now known as TheParent Larch, still survives near DunkeldCathedral.

Click this: http://community.highlandtitles.com/2014/09/tremendous-trees-larch/

Blaze of blaes

Think of autumn colours, and its likelythat strong tones of red will be part of

your imagined palette. Cherry trees canput on an amazing display of many tintsof their namesake colour, while trees inthe maple family including sycamore can splash out with scarlet.

But you can also appreciateautumnal reds at close range bylooking at vegetation underfoot, inpinewoods where blaeberry thrives.This low-growing shrub is a boon topinewood wildlife in summer, whenmoth caterpillars that eat it can in turn

give food for capercaillie chicks.Come autumn, blaeberry plants(also known as bilberry and by severalother names south of the Border) droptheir leaves. Before they do this, theplant converts some of the potentialfood stored in its leaves into a form thatcan be transported in sap to stem androots.

Thats where a group of chemicalscalled anthocyanins comes in. Formedby a reaction between sugars andproteins in sunlight, they are carried

away from the leaves of blaeberries and autumnal broadleaved trees asthe plant prepares for leaf fall.

Call it chemistry, in part. But enjoy itas natural art.

Click this: http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/fallcolr/fallcolr.html

A perfect little stor

Its the smallest seabird in Europescarcely larger than a swallow. It c

ashore during hours of darkness tvisit nest chambers among bouldeor stonework on just a few Scottiislands, most of them remote.

Yet there could be a storm peflitting past almost any part of theScottish coast this autumn, as atmany other times of year. Since thlate 1970s, bird ringers have knowthat, by playing recordings of storpetrel calls at night, they can catcsome of these little seafarers, eve

coasts far removed from the nearbreeding colony. Many of these bare wandering non-breeders, whicfar outnumber the Scottish nestinpopulation. One estimate for Shewaters is that there could be up to123,000 of these wanderers therlate summer.

Numbers of wandering stormdecline in autumn. But at this timemany breeders are still busy feedtheir single, slow-growing chick. Mof these Scottish youngsters fly o

sea in late September and Octob(some not until November). If theyweather the storms of winter andbeyond, these delicate-seeming, surprisingly hardy, seabirds couldhere for several decades.

Click this: http://www.welcometoscotland.com/about-scotland/wildlife-around-scotlandnorthern-birds-scotland/storm-pe


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Autumn

Some other things to look for in autumn:Salmonleaping in some rivers; wader flocksmassing in estuaries; roe deerat dusk-lit

woodland edges; different varieties of ripening apples.

The puppingseason diet

Grey seals are large animals, wellpadded with blubber. They need tobe able to cope with the chill of longdives in cold northern seas, but also tosurvive the rigours of the pupping andmating season.

Scotland is where most of themore than 100,000 grey seals thatlive in the UK (nearly 40% of theworld population) breed. October andNovember are peak months for femalesto haul-out and pup on remote beachesand undisturbed islands.

Each female spends around threeto four weeks ashore. During this timeshe'll give birth to her single, white-coated pup, feed it on energy-richmilk to build up its fat reserves before

it moults, losing its white coat, andis weaned. At this point the motherreturns to the water beside the colonyand then immediately (and very briefly)become receptive to mating. Throughall these exertions and bodily changes,she'll eat nothing.

But the autumn fasting of femaleseals is short compared with what themales endure. Bull seals patrol part ofthe colony where they might mate witha harem of several females. For them,all the watching, chasing, fretting and

mating can last more than 50 days,fuelled only by their reserves of bodyfat. No wonder they need plenty in thetank.


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Winter

High in the mountains, the first snows of this winter may merge with patchthat kept their cool from the last. Enough cover to shelter voles from hill fox

and hawks. In burrows under drifts they may hear the glassy tinkle of a snobunting flock when it flutters near, or the creak of ptarmigan in high corriesAnd in places beneath the sheltering white, buds of purple saxifrage will besnug and swelling, ready to burst out, purple-pink, at the first melt of thespring yet to come.

Far and few and fabulous

At around two metres across when outstretched, its wingshave the fifth-widest span in the eagle world. In Scotland,only the flying barn door shape of a flying sea eagle is largerin the skies. Yet the golden eagle can be a tricky bird to see.

Even for experienced eagle watchers, close encounterscan be few. Whats more likely is that you could get a distantwinter view of some of a golden eagles territorial andcourtship moves. Choose a comfortable place to sit in a glenused by eagles (the Highlands and the Hebrides have manysuch places) and look across the glen to above the oppositeridgeline. Keep doing this and the reward could be the sight

of an eagle soaring above the mountains, diving, tumblgliding.

Observations like these helped teams of watchersto record the breeding success of golden eagles acrosScotland in 2015. Results will soon be made public. Wluck, the results of this survey, which was supported byand the RSPB, will confirm that Scotland is still one ofmost important places in Europe for the species.

Click this: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-31440065


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Whelk I never

At first glance, it can look like a strange,bleached ball thats been lost on abeach by a child or a dog. Look closer,

and youll see that the ball is madefrom hundreds of capsules, whoseappearance and texture is a bit likebubble wrap.

Ideally, this slightly weird objectshould be underwater, attached to arock on the seabed. But now stormyweather and rough seas have wrenchedit off and cast it ashore. Thats badnews for the common whelks thatinvested much energy and effort intocreating it.

Whelks are marine snails that breedbetween October and May. They laytheir eggs inside capsules, which thewhelk then sticks together by secretingits own water-resistant glue. Severalfemales can combine their efforts,resulting in what was once known asa sea washball, used by mariners toclean hands and body.

You can find empty washballs atany time of the year. But in autumn,they can often be yolky with eggs, eachcapsule holding a thousand or more.Most of these eggs are producedas food for a tiny minority one ina hundred or less of the whelkembryos. Unless, of course, it all comesout in the wash.

Click this: http://www.uksafari.com/whelks.htm

Hares looking at you,perhaps

If the winter is snowy, theyll be hardto spot, these soft-furred survivalistsof the hills and moors. As colours of

upland plants strengthen then fade, sothe coats of mountain hares change toblend-in with the shifting background.

Mottled grey-brown in spring andautumn, pure grey-brown in summer,then white as a Grampian snowdrift bylate November: thats how a mountainhares coat changes through the year.All this seasonal camouflage helps amountain hare to avoid detection bygolden eagles (very partial to freshhare), foxes and humans.

Mountain hares begin to breed inlate winter, and can produce two orthree litters of leverets each year. Ifyou manage to detect a group of haresearly in the breeding season, you maysee the occasional bout of boxing more familiar from brown hares in thelowlands. This is when two hares rear-up and pummel their forelegs and pawsagainst each other.

For reasons not yet fully understoodmountain hare numbers have slumpedby more than 40% since the late1990s. This means that worryingly its not just camouflage that can makemountain hares challenging to findthese days.

Click this: http://www.hare-preservation-trust.co.uk/mountain.

php

Norwegian Wood,Scottish branches

Thanks to its attractive, pyramidal shapewhen young, the Norway spruce is oneof the most popular choices for use as

a decorated Christmas tree. You cansee tall Norway spruces in woodlandsgrown to produce wood pulp andconstruction timber. But to appreciatethe shape and scale of a matureNorway spruce, you could also have alook at some of the large specimensdisplayed and decorated at this seasonin the heart of some Scottish towns andcities.

Notable among these are sprucesdonated by different parts of Norway

to several towns and cities, includingLondon, Edinburgh and Kirkwall.These gifts come as thanks for helpthat Britain gave to Norway during theSecond World War. The Norwegiangovernment was in exile in Londonfrom 1940 (though it met once atRothiemurchus) and Scotland was atraining base for Norwegian specialforces soldiers and for secret transfersof civilians and resistance fighters bysea.

Thats also why theres a Norwegianflag flying beside the Scottish saltireoutside the visitor centre in GlenmoreForest. Its there all year, but at this timeof trees and solstice symbolism, suchplaces and links can give extra sparkleto some old tales.

Click this: http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-

the-magic-number/#.VeRTeUtfTwI
http://www.uksafari.com/whelks.htmhttp://www.uksafari.com/whelks.htmhttp://www.uksafari.com/whelks.htmhttp://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-the-magic-number/#.VjNy402PO70http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-the-magic-number/#.VjNy402PO70http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-the-magic-number/#.VjNy402PO70http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-the-magic-number/#.VjNy402PO70http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayandcountry/news/trees-the-magic-number/#.VjNy402PO70http://www.uksafari.com/whelks.htm


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Some other things to look for in winter:Frost flower patterns on glass and car bonnets; long-tailed titsat feeders; paw-printsi

snow; dry flowerheadsof umbellifers.


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Great Expectations

The Great Trossachs Forest National Nature Reserve isthe UKs newest and largest. Home to iconic wildlife italso offers great opportunities for recreation, as projectmanager Sue Morris explains.


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The Great Trossachs ForestNational Nature Reserve is ahuge conservation project inthe heart of Loch Lomond &The Trossachs National Park.Covering a vast area of 16,500hectares, it accounts for nearlyone-tenth of the National Parkarea, and is the largest reservein the UK.

Although this National Nature Reserveis newly announced, RSPB, WoodlandTrust and Forestry CommissionScotland have actually been workingtogether since 2009 to create andrestore a mosaic of native woodlandsand open hill habitats, supported by theHeritage Lottery Fund.

Its a project that also involvessharing the human history of the area,

as well as creating great opportunitiesfor visitors, including cyclists andwalkers. Crucially, the reserve is withinan hours drive for 80% of Scotlandspopulation.

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Glen FinglasLoch Katrine

Inversnaid

Loch Katrine

Loch Arklet

The GreatTrossachs Forest

Glasgow

Stirling

Balloch

RSPBScotland

Forestry CommissioScotland

Woodland TrustScotland

Loch Lomond &The TrossachsNational Park area


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Trossachs Path along with some of ourloop walks also offer some fantasticcycling opportunities.

Another great way to enjoy thespectacular scenery of the area is byboat, and there are a number of cruisingoptions, most notably the steamship Sir

Walter Scott,that plies Loch Katrine.Thanks to the Heritage LotteryFund we have created new facilitiesto help visitors explore. Our two newvisitor gateways provide information onthe work of the partners and highlightwhat there is to do in the area. Thesefacilities the RSPB Gateway is inthe Garrison car park at Inversnaid andthe Woodland Trust Gateway is in theLendrick Hill car park just outside Brigo Turk are a great starting point foryour adventure in The Great Trossachs

Forest.

Volunteers welcome

Finally, if you are interested in gettinginvolved we are always lookingfor volunteers. As well as regularconservation volunteering, such ashelping with surveys and speciesmonitoring, we have a number of roles,including being a volunteer speakerand helping to greet visitors to our

gateways.So there is a new kid on the block

in the suite of Scotlands NationalNature Reserves. The Great TrossachsForest may be the latest but chancesare it will quickly prove to be one of themost popular.

To find out more about Scotlandslargest National Nature Reserve visitwww.thegreattrossachsforest.co.uk

The new reserve iswithin an hours drivefor 80% of Scotlandspopulation

a significant home and sanctuary forwildlife. This is neatly demonstrated bythe black grouse, numbers of which,after a hard-earned period of increase,have remained stable in recent years,thus bucking a national decline.

It isnt only mammals and birds

that will benefit from the new reserve.Rare butterflies and moths, includingthe pearl-bordered fritillary and thenarrow-bordered bee hawk-moth, haverecently been discovered, providing agood indication that their habitats arerecovering from a previously overgrazedstate. These are woodland edge andglade species that need only lightgrazing and an abundance of nectar-rich wildflowers especially bugle forthe former, and devils bit scabious forthe latter to thrive.

The Great Trossachs Forest willoffer something special for thoseinspired by the arts. The area issteeped in cultural history and ourart and literature trail celebrates anumber of important figures who havebeen influenced by the area. Amongstthose featured are painters includingJohn Ruskin and The Glasgow Boys,who drew inspiration from the superbscenery, and Sir Walter Scott, whosewritings brought the legend of Rob Roy

and the Lady of the Lake to life.

Boots, bikes and boats

Modern-day visitors can enjoy anetwork of paths offering fantasticviews. These range from a twenty-minute walk to a two-day trek alongThe Great Trossachs Path, one ofScotlands Great Trails. The Great

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1With ancientwoodlands, anddramatic hillsidescenery, the newNational NatureReserve hassomething special tooffer.

2

More than one milliontrees have beenplanted here in thepast six years.

3Pine marten; one of theiconic species found inthis area.

4Oak woodlandprovides interest allyear round.

5The Great TrossachsPath suits all abilitiesand ages.

6

Red squirrels willbenefit from the richwoodlands.

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Scottish Raptor Study volunteer Lewis Pate sprang to therescue in June when a routine monitoring trip near Loch Arkaigturned serious.

Lochaber rescue

Ordinarily Lewis Pate, a conservation officer with theScottish Raptor Study Group, enjoys his close-up andpersonal experiences with young eagles in their eyries.

However, back in June he made a surprising anddistressing discovery at Loch Arkaig in Lochaber. A white-tailed eagle chick that he was about to ring was clearly indifficulty, and on closer inspection it transpired that theyoung eagle had swallowed two fish hooks and becometightly wrapped up in the lines attached to them.

Without help the eaglet would surely have perished, butthere is a happy ending to Lewiss story. Together with localgamekeeper Mark Hirst he was able to whisk the bird off fortreatment. The sea eagle chick was operated on and is nowreintroduced to the area it originated from.

To the rescue

Golden eagles and their white-tailed counterparts areclosely monitored by Scottish Raptor Study Groups acrossScotland, and Lewis works in the busy Highland Grouparea.

The eyrie was very remote and high in the top of an oldScots pine overlooking Loch Arkaig. Having identified thatthe bird needed rapid help was one thing, doing so in suchtricky surrounds was quite something else.

The line was wrapped around the birds body so tightlyit was actually very difficult to see it at first, recalled Lewis.It soon became apparent that, without careful removal andongoing professional treatment, the bird was to suffer aprolonged and unpleasant death.

I was monitoring the nest site for breeding success

and gathering biological data in a very remote area with fewpeople and no phone signal. The decision to remove the birdfrom the eyrie was not an easy one as the implications fortransport and possible subsequent release were complexand time consuming. I carefully removed the fishing line andlowered the bird from the eyrie. Thereafter it was transportedby boat across the loch, then by 4x4 over tracks, onward bycar then van to Inverness and finally to the Scottish Societyfor the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) in Alloa.


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1An x-ray clearly shthe pike hooks insthe young eagle.

2The sea eagle is afocus for the ScotRaptor Study Gro

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3Loch Arkaig was the

scene of the sea eaglerescue.

4The view from the LochArkaig viewing hide.

5The young sea eaglewas released where itwas reared.


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Happily the SSPCA, with its amazing vet Romain Pizzi,had the experience and determination to save the bird by

removing the two large pike hooks and wire trace from itsstomach. Romain skilfully used an endoscope (a long, thin,tube) to reach the hooks. The bird (a young male now namedBrahma) was then cared for by Colin Seddon, the rescuecentre manager, and appeared to do well.

Return to the wild

The bird was released back to the natal area and providedwith a food supply for sufficient time to allow it to fend foritself. This was possible as there had been minimal humancontact for the eaglet during its recuperation which isessential to giving it the best chance of survival in the wild.Of course, there is no guarantee of long-term survival;however, without the actions of everyone involved the eaglewould certainly have died some time ago.

Lewis has gathered a deal of more conventionalexperience working with the Raptor Study Group. I havebeen working with golden and white-tailed eagles for a whilenow, he explains, and continue to develop my knowledgewith training and support from members of Highland RaptorStudy Group.

The work is strenuous but very satisfying and requiresa large amount of personal time in remote and oftenspectacular areas of the Highlands. There is nothing quite

like sitting on an exposed eagle's eyrie with one of the mostamazing wild creatures in your care while you work withthese stunning birds. It often seems like an extremely stupidplace to be, hanging on the end of a rope being scratchedand bitten by a very unimpressed bird and eaten by midges.

I believe eagles aa valuable assetfor Scotland.

However, it is one of the most rewarding experiences Icontinue to have and could recommend it to anyone lo

for an insight into the world of eagles.I believe eagles are a valuable asset for Scotland, a spectacle that should be enjoyed responsibly by peoIf certain sensible rules are observed, and the birds aredisturbed during sensitive breeding times, they can proan unforgettable experience.

The continuing co-operation between volunteers likLewis and Scottish Gamekeepers Association membeMark Hirst often goes unnoticed. But in this instance thlocal knowledge, quick thinking and astonishing commto save one of Scotlands most iconic birds ensured a conservation outcome.

More information:

If land managers are concerned about the presence ofwhite-tailed eagles in proximity to their livestock, SNHoperates a Sea Eagle Management scheme, details of can be found in our guidance booklet: http://www.snuk/docs/A1633348.pdf

There is a well-constructed hide at Loch Arkaig to veagles. The hide is the result of a collaboration betweeSNH, Achnacarry Estate, and Forestry Commission Scin Lochaber. Details from Achnacarry Estate: http://wwachnacarry.com/news/sea-eagle-hide

Highland Raptor Study Group would welcome repoof sightings of sea eagles from the hide at Loch Arkaiganywhere else in Scotland. These can be sent to JustinGrant (Species Co-ordinator) at justin.grant@freeuk.

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http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1633348.pdfhttp://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1633348.pdfhttp://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1633348.pdfhttp://www.achnacarry.com/news/sea-eagle-hidehttp://www.achnacarry.com/news/sea-eagle-hidehttp://www.achnacarry.com/news/sea-eagle-hidehttp://www.achnacarry.com/news/sea-eagle-hidehttp://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A1633348.pdf


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N

EWS

Bog Squad surprises

Would you like to be a member ofScotlands Bog Squad or just knowmore about this group with the uniquename?

The Bog Squad is run by ButterflyConservation Scotland and is made upof volunteers, who help repair damagedpeat bogs across the Central Belt,

with funding from the Scottish NaturalHeritage-led Peatland Action project.As well as helping restore habitat, thesquads offer a great chance to enjoy theoutdoors and wildlife with like-mindedpeople.

Occasionally, some interestingspecies crop up. A rare and unusualmoth that disguises itself as a bee wasrecently discovered at a Lanarkshirenature reserve. The narrow-borderedbee hawk is a day-flying moth that

closely resembles a bumblebee itbuzzes like a bee and can even hoverbee-like when feeding at flower heads.The moth is rare in Scotland, but mostoften found in Argyll and the Highlands.

In June, a Bog Squad event ata small pond in Logierait Wood nearPitlochry in Perth and Kinross threwup an exciting discovery. This time, thefocus of interest was a green hairstreakbutterfly sighting. The green hairstreakoccurs throughout Scotland but itis not seen often due to its amazing

camouflage.A small butterfly, on the wing in May

and June, its upperwings are brownin colour, making it very hard to see inflight. But the butterfly always settleswith its wings firmly closed, revealing thebeautiful iridescent jade-green colour ofits underwings.

Find out more about the Bog Squadat www.bogsquad.weebly.com

A Year of Fieldwork

September saw the launch of the Year of Fieldwork atthe Millport Field Centre. Led by the Field Studies Counciland supported by many organisations, this is a wonderfulopportunity to promote field studies the doing, teaching,enjoying and wider benefits.

Fieldwork is done in the field not in the lab or in theoffice, but outside. Most of it involves seeing, listening,observing and recording, and a lot of it can be experimental.

It can be tough and tedious, but we love it and find itrewarding and enriching. And its not just research thattakes place in the field teaching and learning happen hereand there is growing evidence for the wider value of takingschool students out of the classroom into the outdoors.

Arguably many of our greatest environmentalists owetheir fame to fieldwork Charles Darwin, John Muir,Fraser Darling, Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson and DavidAttenborough would not be household names had they notenjoyed being in the field.

We look forward to many events and activities markingthe importance of fieldwork. Schools, universities and many

environmental organisations are involved in promoting this.Welcoming this special year, Andrew Bachell, Director ofPolicy and Advice, reflected on the many benefits: Almosteverything we know about nature comes from fieldwork,from observing and recording plants and animals and theinteractions between them and with people. In order to giveadvice we in SNH rely on good quality surveys, monitoringand assessments made in the field. But it is not just thescience and the understanding that is important, thereis also great satisfaction that comes from making thoseobservations personally and building first-hand experience.The opportunity to undertake fieldwork in the past hascertainly benefited me and it was often very enjoyable. Iurge schools, universities and other educational bodies toencourage fieldwork as a thoroughly enriching and lastingeducational activity.


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NEW

S

Improving bogs in East Ayrshire

The coalfields of East Ayrshire are gaining new life, thanks to the East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment

Initiative (CEI), a partnership between East Ayrshire Council and environmental organisations.The project team has been busy improving peatland habitat, using innovative techniques to

improve the hydrology on sensitive sites, which, like the majority of bogs in the UK, have beendamaged from past land-use.

Since 2013, the CEI has helped restore 300 hectares of peatland at: Airds Moss, RSPB Reserve in Muirkirk Forestry Commission Scotland-owned Tappethill Moss, near Skares Dalmellington Moss, Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve in Dalmellington

At Airds Moss, CEI has installed 4000 peat dams, a number of embankments, and plastic pilingdams. The project team has also felled large areas of Sitka spruce plantation at Tappethill Moss, and atDalmellington Moss constructed a 1km embankment to slow water-loss via a roadside ditch.

These measures will not only improve the habitat and the wildlife that the moss supports, but also

increase connections between habitats by opening up areas of previously forested bog.After carrying out surveys at additional sites, CEI has identified more opportunities to restore bogs

with local landowners, and is encouraging farmers to apply for funding through the Scottish RuralDevelopment Programme and government funds such as Peatland Action.

The CEI has an excellent team of volunteers who regularly monitor the peatland sites for anychanges in water level, as well as monitoring plants and animals, including moths, beetles, reptiles andsmall mammals. This is essential to determine if works have been successful in the long term and it'sgreat fun too.

The CEIs work is funded by SNH, the Heritage Lottery Fund, SEPA, Cumnock and Doon ValleyMinerals Trust, Forestry Commission Scotland, Peatland Action and the European Community.


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N

EWS

Flying bridges for path extension

In July, three bridges and other path materials were airlifted on to the Kilpatrick Hills by helicopter tocomplete a new five-mile section of the John Muir Way.

SNH, sportscotland, Legacy 2014 Active Places, and Forestry Commission Scotland funded the492,000 project, as part of the 134-mile coast-to-coast route from Helensburgh to Dunbar.

The new section of the path will provide a scenic alternative to the Balloch to Carbeth section ofthe John Muir Way, and will help reduce the amount of walking on public road. The new path will be

slightly shorter but over more challenging terrain. But the present low-level route, which makes someuse of the West Highland Way, will still be available as an easier option, particularly suited to cyclists.

The John Muir Way is an easy and enjoyable route for the three million people who live in theCentral Belt to enjoy the outdoors every day by foot, bicycle, and even by horseback in some places.The route is waymarked with John Muir Way signs, and a website, book, leaflets and maps give you allthe information you need to complete all or part of the trail.

The new section of the path is due to open in November, but will be formally launched in the springwith a day of celebration and activities.

For more information, seejohnmuirway.organd www.forestry.gov.uk/kilpatrickhills
http://johnmuirway.org/http://johnmuirway.org/http://johnmuirway.org/http://johnmuirway.org/


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Mountain biking is now estimated tobe worth around 145m a year to theScottish economy. Its a significanttourism draw and, with over one millionScots owning a mountain bike, its agreat way for Scotland to be a healthierand happier nation.

It was obvious that Scotland was a

natural home for mountain biking. Withour stunning scenery, a vast resourceof drove roads and path networks and,in many areas, a strong tradition ofaccess coupled with a healthy outdoorculture, Scotland and mountain bikingwere an ideal match. Indeed, the UKsfirst purpose-built trails were createdin the Highlands as early as 1988, andRothiemurchus Estate near Aviemorehosted the UKs first televised WorldCup in 1991.

Boom years

When the countryside and outdoorsector was devastated by foot andmouth disease in 2001, the EuropeanUnion encouraged innovative ideasto regenerate the rural economy,particularly in the south of Scotland.Forestry Commission staff, inspired by a

Better biking

It may be hard to believe, but mountainbikes were only introduced to the UK i1982. Since then, Scotland has been

leading the way in mountain bikingdevelopment.

trail centre development in Walesthis as a great opportunity to devea linked network of trail centres acthe south of Scotland, creating a class destination for mountain bikThus, the 7stanes mountain bikingwere born and their success inspmany destinations across Scotlan

replicate the trail centre model.These centres, combined with

Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003reinforcing responsible access, mthat mountain biking in Scotland wleading the way globally. Indeed, tInternational Mountain Bike Assoc(IMBA) awarded Scotland GlobaSuperstar status in 2006 and 20

A study at that time indicated tthere were 1.2 million visits to theScottish outdoors on mountain bi

per year, roughly split 50:50 betwpurpose-built centres and multi-upaths.

Although the trail centres wereundoubted successes, there weredoubts about their long-term futurand there was continued pressureForestry Commission Scotland todeveloping new trail centres acrocountry.


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2

World's first national

framework

Key agencies involved in mountainbiking and all the cycling organisationsin Scotland began developingthe worlds first national strategicframework for mountain biking (theFramework). It was launched in 2010with three key aims:

increase participation leading toimproved health and well-being;

maximise economic growth through

tourism and business development;and

help Scots achieve on the worldstage through the sport of mountainbiking.

The Framework has beenimplemented over the last six yearsby a partnership project, Developing

Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS).

The project is hosted by ScottishCycling and is co-ordinated andfunded by a partnership which includesScottish Natural Heritage.

DMBinS has achieved a lot in ashort period of time. The project has, forexample, developed an industry-leadingwebsite and has an active social mediacommunity.

Furthermore, over the last threeyears, mountain biking projects havesecured 2.5 million through the Active

Places Fund to develop trails closeto towns and cities across Scotland,many with the support of DMBinS.Six new family-friendly visitor centreshave been created at some of the mostpopular trails centres, and over 400kmof natural trails have been mappedand promoted, with the cooperation oflandowners and managers.

The mountain biking sector, and

over 350 businesses, has been greatlyhelped by DMBinS; the partnershiphas improved our knowledge of how toaccommodate and improve experiencesfor mountain bikers.

At the same time, to improvemountain bikers understanding ofthe need for responsible behaviour,DMBinS has developed a completeguide to responsible mountain biking Do the Ride Thing accompanied bya fun and innovative computer game.

The future is looking good

The future is looking bright for Scottishmountain biking. With more trails beingdeveloped closer to urban areas, weexpect more and more people to get ontheir bikes and join in!

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There are still areas to develop

including adding facilities for keytourism locations, hosting more majorevents, and improving marketing. Butwith the great momentum behindcycling in Scotland, its difficult toimagine anything but more and moregrowth.

For more information on DevelopingMountain Biking in Scotland visit www.DMBinS.com

Article courtesy of Graeme MacLean,

Project Manager for DMBinS

Increased participationin mountain bikinghelps with improvedhealth and well-being.

1

Cycling brings sand economicbenefits.

2Scotland has a of scenic trails.

3Fresh air and gclose to natureof the lure of mbiking.

4All ages enjoy c


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Flowing into the futureAn exciting multi-million pound project to restore peatland and raiseawareness of The Flow Country is underway, as Ian Mitchell, anOperations Officer in our Golspie office, explains.


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The Flow Country is a vast,rolling expanse of peatland iCaithness and Sutherland innorth of Scotland. It is the lastretch of blanket bog in Euand is home to a rich varietywildlife.

Blanket bog covers approximately

50% of the total area of CaithnesSutherland, and the area we knowThe Flow Country, with its deep and typical patterned pools, covestaggering 200,000 hectares.

Flows to the Future is an amb10.5 million Heritage LotteryFunded project, led by The PeatlaPartnership, with RSPB Scotlandthe lead partner. It aims to restoreof blanket bog damaged by forestplanting, and other activities, in thheart of The Flow Country.

It will also promote and develoknowledge about the role of peat carbon storage, involve people arthe world with this precious habitdeliver real economic benefits for of the least densely populated areScotland.

The project began in June 201will run for five years until the autu2019.


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Restoration tackles

climate change

Around half of the Flows to the Futureproject budget is intended for peatlandrestoration work, mainly on RSPBsForsinard Flows National NatureReserve.

Healthy peatlands keep carbonlocked up and continue to absorb andstore it through time. Damaged bogsgive off gases that contribute to climatechange, and peatland restoration willensure that these blanket bogs can actas a better carbon store.

Commercial conifer plantations thatwere planted on deep peat in the pastare being felled and then forestry drainsand furrows are being blocked acrossan area of more than 180 hectareseach year for the five years of theproject. Thats a total annual restoration

area about the size of 450 footballpitches. These works will let the waterlevels recover and specialist peatlandplants and animals return.

In addition to restoring about sevensquare miles of blanket bog habitat, theFlows to the Future project plans to:

Promote The Flow Country as a keywildlife tourism destination to UKand international audiences.

Promote the new Flows Lookoutviewing tower and develop five

Blanket bog coversapproximately 50%of the total area

of Caithness andSutherland

roadside interpretation sites acrossThe Flow Country to give panoramicviews of the peatlands and providea trail for visitors to visit and learnabout the peatlands.

Improve the existing visitor centreat Forsinard, as well as provide a

new car park and upgrade the DubhLochan Trail a fascinating shorttrail across blanket bog to an areaof natural dark peaty pools, knownin Gaelic as dubh lochans.

Create improved and increasedaccess, develop interpretation andlearning opportunities for peopleacross The Flow Country, includingan active schools programme andother community activities.

Establish a peatland science

centre of excellence at Forsinard,by creating a new field centreto provide accommodation andfacilities for volunteers and researchstudents to study the role ofpeatlands as a carbon store.

Develop an interactive website,a documentary film, a multimediavideo, and an online 3D virtualmodel of The Flow Country withintegrated carbon capture game.


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1The Flows Looktower is set to bpopular touristattraction.


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Teamwork is the key

The Peatland Partnership hasappointed five staff to run the project.Caroline Eccles heads the team as the

overall Project Manager, supported byJudith Crow (Project Administrator),Angela Simpson (Communities Officer),Sjoerd Tel (Learning Officer) andGearoid Murphy (Peatlands AdvisoryOfficer). Although these jobs are onlyfor the five-year life of the project, thisis a significant employment boost in afragile rural area.

Communicating about this good

work is another key goal. Glasgow-based Maramedia, the company thatproduced the beautiful four-part BBC

series Hebrides Islands on theEdge, has been appointed to create a30-minute documentary film about TheFlow Country. The film will be shownin visitor centres around The FlowCountry, across the UK, and beyond.

Projects come, and projects go,but this one has the hallmarks of beingsomething that will make an impactacross a very large area for many

generations to come.For more information on the

project and its supporters, see http://

flowstothefuture.com

Did you know ?


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32

2Removing foreskey objective inproject.

3Red-throated damongst the sp

that rely on thisfor suitable hab

4Sundew, a fascspecialist bog p

Did you know?

The Flow Country in Caithness aSutherland is the largest expansblanket bog in Europe and is hoa rich variety of wildlife.

Protecting Scotlands peatlandsis important to us all: peat soils Scotland contain almost 25 timemuch carbon as all other plantlif

the UK. Scotlands peatlands are design

as both Sites of Special ScientifiInterest and part of the Natura 2series of sites, because of theirnational and European importanwildlife and habitat conservation

Peatlands are found in at least 1countries and cover around 4 mkm or 3% of the world's land ar

The UK is among the top ten naof the world in terms of its total

peatland area. The UK has betw9 and 15% of Europe's peatlandarea and about 13% of the worlblanket bog - one of the world's habitats.

Blanket bog is found only wheretheres lots of rainfall and not muevaporation. A blanket of peatdevelops over large areas of gro

Underneath the living peatlandsurface of The Flow Country is aestimated 200 million tonnes ofcarbon. Thats more than twice tamount found in all of Britains focombined.

4

Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland,

The Highland Council, RSPB Scotland, Plantlife Scotland, The Environmental Research Institute (University of the

Highlands and Islands), Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Flow Country Rivers Trust, The Northern Deer Management Group,

The Highland Third Sector Interface.

Flows to the Future is led by The PeatlandsPartnership which is made up of:


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Special ReserveBeinn Eighe was Scotlands very first NationalNature Reserve and a new visitor centre willensure it remains one of our most popularreserves for some time to come.


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The dramatic mountain range that lies at the heartof this reserve is made up of seven rocky peaks andridges which form Beinn Eighe. At the summit thereis a panoramic spine of pale glittering mountain topsthat stretch into the distance. This is some of the mostspectacular scenery anywhere in Scotland.

Below the mountain tops are some of Europes fineuplands. The area begins above the pinewood, wherea fringe of scrub birch and pine marks its upper edge.Higher up, the scrub gives way to low-growing dwarf

juniper and heather speckled with blueberry, cowberryclubmosses and sedges. Much of this open expanseresembles an Arctic environment. As a result, plants suas dwarf willow and prostrate juniper grow to only a fecentimetres above ground because of the severe clima

So whether you love scenery, wildlife, plants, geoloor simply peace and quiet there is bound to be somethto appeal in this special corner of Wester Ross.

Scotlands National Nature Reserves are whereyou can experience and see some of our finestlandscapes and wildlife. They are situatedthroughout the country and are fantastic placesto visit.

Beinn Eighe was our first reserve back in 1951 and its stillone of our best. It covers 48 square kilometres stretchingfrom loch-side to mountain top and as well as being famedfor its ancient woodlands and stunning wildlife it is an area of

great geological interest.To help visitors better appreciate the reserve, a new-look

centre has been opened. A 330,000 restoration includesa makeover for the local trail interpretation, state of the artback-lit information panels and a new wildlife viewing hide.Our new centre is the focal point for visitors to the NationalNature Reserve, around 50,000 of whom will have a chanceto better appreciate and perhaps even see golden eagle,red deer, white-tailed eagle, and black-throated diver, amid aclassic Wester Ross backdrop.


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Scots pine

It is handy to have our little Mountain Trail booklet to helpyou enjoy this walk. The free booklet is available in the visitorcentre or from dispensers in the car park.

A carefully positioned bench gives you a chance to pauseand soak in the scent of the surrounding Scots pine. It wasthe presence of remnants of ancient Caledonian pine forestthat convinced the then Nature Conservancy to buy BeinnEighe and declare it a National Nature Reserve in 1951.

Man and wildlife have benefited equally from thismagnificent tree, and if you are lucky you might spot one ofthe birds that makes particular use of the Scots pine thecrossbill. A finch-sized bird, it uses its crossed beak to teaseout pine seeds from cones.

Tansley Bog

Once you cross the tumbling burn you are onto noticeablysteeper ground. This is the time to consider if the mountaintrail is for you as the forest stroll becomes something moreserious.

The first reward if you press on is that you have a chanceto look down and see Coille na Glas-Leitire from above. Thechairman of the then Nature Conservancy in 1951 was thepioneering ecologist Sir Arthur Tansley and the open areayou see is Tansley Bog named in his honour. The bogis covered with several species of sphagnum moss and ismoist all year round. For some species, including dragonfliesthis is a vital habitat.

Navigation challenge

Gradually the wood fades and wonderful views over toSlioch open up. Slioch stands tall at 981m and is toppedwith red-brown Torridonian sandstone, which also formsmuch of the lower slopes of Beinn Eighe. But on BeinnEighe the sandstone is hidden as Ice Age glaciers spreadblankets of debris over those lower slopes.

1

The Mountain Trail

The walk that we suggest here is the 6.5 km mountaintrail. This is a serious hill-walk with some very steepsections, a deep gorge and a considerable distance tocover, so it must not be undertaken lightly. It begins andends in the trails car park at the side of Loch Maree,about 3 km north-west of Kinlochewe on the A832Inverness to Gairloch road.

Take the path under the road. Immediately uponreaching the first bridge (at the end of the tunnel) goleft along the path through the trees.

Rather than provide a step-by-step account of thewalk we have picked out some highlights for you to

enjoy.

A832

Loch Alltan Daraich

i

Lo

chM

aree

Coille

na

Gla

s-L

eit

ire

12

3

4

5

6

0 1 km

Mountain trail

Woodland trail

2

3


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1The new visitor centreinterior.

2Ancient pine wood and

Tansley bog .

3Great views of LochMaree and Slioch awaion the mountain trail.

4Lunar Loch, a beautifuspot to enjoy a break.

5The gorge is one of themost impressivefeatures on this walk.


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6

On Beinn Eighes barren upper slopes, the glacialdeposits peter out and soils are noticeably thinner. Barewhite Cambrian quartzite rock rises to scree-coveredpeaks. You will need to keep your navigational skills tunedin. Steering your way through this area requires care: lookout for the frequent cairns, which can be tricky to spot.Stay near to the crags and you shouldnt go far wrong, andkeep an eye out for steep steps to the higher ground.

Room for a view

The conservation cairn marks the summit of the walk. And,as you would expect, the views from this highest point aresensational.

Across the valley, the twin arms of Ruadh-stac Beag(Smaller Red Hill) and Creag Dubh (Black Crag) stretchtowards you from beyond Sgurr Ban (White Peak). Ruadh-stac Mor (Large Red Hill), highest of the Beinn Eigherange, sits at the right of the main ridge. Grey and whiteare the main shades of those high slopes and screes,covered with crumblings of pale quartzite. From here youwill head across a plateau passing Loch Allt an Daraich

and the way is marked by small cairns.

Lunar Loch

This loch lies about half-way through the mountain trail.Named in commemoration of the 1969 moon landing, theloch sits in a flattish expanse where the plants are lowand hug the ground in order to retain any heat and ensuremaximum shelter in an exposed spot. On a hot day this is agood spot to cool off and to scan the skies for any passingeagles or ravens; the latter, with their distinctive croakingcall, are a real delight on a day in the hills.

The path around Lunar Loch offers a splendid viewto Meall a' Ghiubhais. The mountain trail is a great wayto reach this rugged Corbett which is noted for givingexcellent views of both Beinn Eighe and Loch Maree.

Fault, chasm and abyss

Having passed An t-Allt, a tumbling, plunging burn, thewalk next offers up a view of a gorge that can be breath-taking. It has been described by some as an abyss, butwhatever the terminology it is spectacular in the extreme.Be sure to keep to the path, and do not approach the

edge.After enjoying the view into the deep chasm you are

almost back in the forest where you join the WoodlandTrail to make your weary way back to the car park.

Here there is a choice as you can either take a left ora right to sample this gentle trail. Either way the contrastwith your mountain experience is quite marked but equallyenjoyable.

Essential informationBeinn Eighe and Loch Maree NNR is situated in WRoss. The newly-refurbished visitor centre is locatenear to the village of Kinlochewe. You can reach it both the A832 and A896 roads.

The visitor centre is open from April to Octoberbut the toilets and trails are open all year round. Thall-abilities trails leave from the centre. The self-guwoodland and mountain trails leave from the side o

A832.

OS maps

Explorer 433 (Torridon Beinn Eighe & Liathach)Landranger 19 (Gairloch & Ullapool)

Trails

Beginning at the lochside car park, the Mountain Truns for roughly 6.5 km and will take between threfour hours to complete.

Terrain

Stout footwear is recommended for the Mountain T

Scottish Outdoor Access Code

Please follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code local guidance at the reserve. Please keep your dounder close control or on a short lead at sensitive such as during the bird breeding season (April to Jand comply with any notices you see. A short leadtaken to be two metres, and under close control mthat the dog is able to respond to your commands

kept close at heel.

Nearby attractions

A little farther away are a couple of other National Reserves you can visit:

Corrieshalloch Gorge NNR step warily onto asuspension bridge above the gorge and enjoy dizzviews down to the torrent of water below which pl46m (150ft) over the Falls of Measach.

Knockan Crag NNR discover the mysteries lockthe rocks at this world-famous geology site and gawonder across one of Europes oldest landscapes

Further information

You can contact SNH on 01445 760 254. You cadownload a leaflet about the reserve atwww.nnr-scotland.org.uk/beinn-eighe/

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Back to blackMargie Ramsay has beenrunning a native dark bee

breeding project at BeinnEighe for several years.She is now involved inthe Europe-wide projectSmartBees. Here sheexplains what these twoprojects aim to do.


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Unbeknown to most people

we have our very own nativesubspecies of dark Europeahoneybee (Apis melliferamellifera) in the British Islesand it was this bee that allbeekeepers in Britain kept bthe 19th century.

Indeed it was only in the reign of QVictoria that the first foreign honeywere imported into the UK and ou

weather-hardy, chocolate-colourebrown bee began to fall out of fasTo compound matters, during the World War a bee plague called IsWight disease, possibly a virus tain with imported stocks, was saidhave eradicated our native dark bcompletely.

To quickly refill the empty hivesregular imports of the Carniolan hbee (Apis mellifera carnica), the Itbee (Apis mellifera ligustica), andraces became the norm, and soon

old dark bee was replaced in bothapiaries and affections with a yelloone.

Noughts and crosses

Striped yellow bees have becomeaccepted stereotype. Crosses besubspecies now populate the BritIsles with an assortment of varicohybrids, from yellow Italian bees inthe south to the dusky offspring o

Caucasian and Carniolan parentathat masquerade as dark bees in north.

However, rumours that relictpopulations of the native bee stillexisted in remote Scottish glens aislands amazingly proved true whfew pure colonies were found by Scottish Bee Survey carried out bJohn and Morna Stoakley in 1992


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That same year another diseaseproblem arrived literally on the backs ofthe bees being brought in from abroad Varroa destructor. Varroa arrived witha range of associated viral diseases,such as deformed wing virus which wastransmitted into the bees blood whenbitten by the feeding varoa mite. Thisdouble whammy of parasite and virushas caused world-wide concern for beehealth as the problem spreads with theinternational trade in queen bees.

Varroa free

Fortunately, some small niches of theBritish Isles are incredibly still varroafree, one of which includes Beinn EigheNational Nature Reserve at Kinlochewe.There, with the encouragement andhelp of SNH staff Eoghain MacLeanand the late Kenny Nelson, there wasan opportunity to conserve an oasisin which stocks of healthy, native dark

bees could be protected and reared.In 2010 the first bee eggs, only a

few millimetres long, were harvestedfrom a small, secret apiary of pure darkbees 200 miles from Beinn Eighe.Boxes of bee eggs were taped to theskin of beekeepers to keep them warmon the long journey back to be graftedinto foster hives waiting to raise themas their queens.

These queen mothers foundedthe bee dynasties that bred true onthe isolated mountain of Beinn Eighe,and now after only a few years theyvegrown to produce a thriving, healthy,native dark bee population in andaround the gardens, hills and crofts ofKinlochewe.

SmartBees

The twofold uniqueness of thispopulation, being both pure darkEuropean honeybee and varroa free,makes them of special interest to beeresearchers who are trying to help beesfight varroa and viral disease.

Dr Ewan Campbell of AberdeenUniversity, who did the DNA teststhat confirmed the purity of BeinnEighe bees, is closely involved withthe pan-European bee initiative calledSmartBees and explained, Its a highlycollaborative project with partners

across Europe. We were approachedto be part of the initial proposal onthe back of our success with previousprojects to stop the varroa mite, namelydeveloping RNAi gene knockdown(a method of silencing specific genesfor a short period). Varroa mites are stillrelatively unstudied so it made sense toapply our expertise to the economicallyimportant and devastating varroa mite.

He also underlined the special roleof varroa-free bees in research, adding,They are an extremely importantresource across the world. They willhave low levels of benign deformedwing virus and allow an exploration ofthe honeybee immune system priorto varroa invasion. Being native darkbees they also represent the historicalstrain of bee that was dominant acrossEurope prior to commercialisation ofbeekeeping. This makes them doubly

important! We can use samples of beesfrom these hives to look at naturalbenign virus populations and can takethese native bees and use them tostudy response to mites and virus.

The SmartBees samples werecollected at Beinn Eighe this summer,and already the first vials containinglarvae, pupae, females (called workers)and males (drones) have beenharvested by student volunteers andsent to the lab at Aberdeen University.

These native bees, which were thoughtto have disappeared, could yet play avital part in preventing millions of otherhoneybees disappearing throughout theworld in the future.

Find out more about SmartBees athttp://www.smartbees-fp7.eu


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1 and 2Close-up views of oneof the Beinn Eighe beecolonies.

3Margie Ramsay, whohas been running anative dark beebreeding project atBeinn Eighe.


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Whats in a name?

D thann an ainm?


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We are delighted to have partnered wit

Ainmean-ite na h-Alba (AA) (GaelicPlace-names of Scotland) to bring youa new Gaelic in the Landscape bookletPlace-names of Strath, Isle of Skyecaptures some of the lesser known namof the south Skye parish in print for the first time.

Dr Jacob King and Eilidh Scammell from AA, along wfield researchers Ruairidh Graham and Edit Wenelius,

have drawn upon the precious knowledge of native Gaspeakers to identify and explain the meaning behind Stplace-names. Unpublished written material gatheredlocally has also helped in uncovering details that aid ouunderstanding of the areas place-names.

Like vast parts of Scotland, Strath is intimatelyconnected with the natural landscape, and the lives of people who have lived here for centuries, through its wof Gaelic place-names. Coastal, hill and man-made feahave been named to reflect stories, past-times and dairoutines.

Over 120 place-names are explored within the boo

which includes map names, grid references, meaningsa pronunciation guide. The stories surrounding recognfeatures such as Beinn na Caillich, the hill of the old lain the centre of Strath are discussed, along with a numsmall features not recorded on maps.

AA has captured the local knowledge that explainUamh Maolaig, the cave of the little bald one, and AlltGaimhne, the burn of the stirks, came to be; why SgeTuairisgeil, the skerry of the peat cutting iron, is said tolinked to three giants; and what An Leth-Pheighinn, thpenny land, relates to.

In understanding the meanings behind place-namewe have an opportunity to interpret the same landscap

differently. We are given a unique perspective of the linbetween the land and the community, and are remindethe richness of our countrys culture.

The booklet builds upon the success of Place-namin Islay and Juraand The Rough Bounds of Lochabercomplements the Place-names in the North West Highand Place-names in Caithness and Sutherlandpublicaby Roddy Maclean. Our entire series is available todownload online at http://www.snh.gov.uk/publicatiodata-and-research/

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Tha e na adhbhar toileachais doDhualchas Ndair na h-Alba, agus annan com-pirteachas le Ainmean-ite nah-Alba (AA), leabhran r san t-sreathA Ghidhlig air Aghaidh na Trea thoirtthugaibh. Ann an Ainmean-ite ant-Sratha, An t-Eilean Sgitheanachtha cuidde dh'ainmean na sgre seo an ceann adeas an eilein nach cluinnear gu bitheantaa' nochdadh ann an cl airson a' chiad uair.

Tha an Dr. Jacob King agus Eilidh Sgaimeal aig AA, cuideris an luchd-rannsachaidh Ruairidh Greumach agus Edit

Wenelius, air elas luachmhor Gidheil dhthchasach nasgre a chleachdadh airson ciall ainmean-ite an t-Sratha ashnrachadh is a mhneachadh. Tha fiosrachadh sgrobhtenach deach fhoillseachadh a-riamh air cur ris an obairrannsachaidh a tha gar cuideachadh ann a bhith a' tuigsinnainmean-ite na sgre-sa.

Tha an Srath, coltach ri iomadh sgre eile ann an Alba,ceangailte gu dlth ris an rainneachd agus ri beathamuinntir an ite fad linntean mra tro bheartas nan ainmean-ite Gidhlig. Chaidh ainmean a chur air iteachan an cois

a' chladaich, air a' mhonadh agus a rinn mac an duine airsonsgeulachdan, cur-seachadan agus beatha litheil a chur ancill.

Tha crr is 120 ainm-ite gan rannsachadh anns anleabhran, anns a bheil ainmean mapa, comharran-clithe,mneachadh agus stiireadh air fuaimneachadh. Thatuairisgeulan air sgeulachdan iteachan ainmeil a leithidBeinn na Caillichann am meadhan na sgre na lib cho mathri iteachan beaga nach eil clraichte air mapaichean.

Tha AA air elas na sgre a tha a' toirt mneachaidh airna h-ainmean Uamh Maolaigagus Allt na Gaimhnea churan cl; an t-adhbhar gu bheilear ag rdh gu bheil Sgeir anTuairisgeil co-cheangailte ri tr fuamhairean; agus a' chialldon ainm An Leth-Pheighinn.

Tha cothrom againn fhn ciall eile a chur air na h-aoniteachan ma thuigeas sinn na h-ainmean a chaidh cur orra.

Tha cothrom air leth againn an ceangal eadar an tr agus nadaoine fhaicinn agus tha beartas cultar ar dthcha nochdtean seo da rir.

Tha an leabhran a' togail air an rannsachadh an lib nanleabhranan soirbheachail Ainmean-ite ann an le agus Diraagus Garbh-Chrochan Loch Abaragus a' cur ri Ainmean-ite ann an Iar-Thuath na Gidhealtachdagus Ainmean-iteann an Gallaibh, Cataibh is Dthaich MhicAoidhle RuairidhMacIlleathain. Tha an sreath gu lir ri fhaighinn air-loidhne aighttp://www.snh.gov.uk/publications-data-and-research/


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1View of Broadford andBeinn na Caillich.

An t-th Leathannagus Beinn na Caillich.

2Bealach Udal nearKylerhea.

Bealach Udal faisg airCaol Reithe.

3Rubha Smuaireag,promontory of the

small smoke, andUamh Mairearad Rois,Margarat Ross's cave,Elgol; Isle of Skye.

Rubha Smuaireagagus Uamh MairearadRois, Ealaghol; Ant-Eilean Sgitheanach.


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Diamonds

Shetlands two National Nature

Reserves (NNRs) celebrate theirDiamond (60th) Anniversaries this year.They are part of a suite of NNRs acrossthe country, selected to showcaseoutstanding nature.

At the top of the island of Unst,Hermaness is the most northerly NNRin Great Britain, while Noss, off the farside of Bressay, offers an adventurousday out which starts with an inflatableboat ride. Both reserves boastspectacular cliffs supporting greatgannet colonies and other seabirdsbreeding in internationally importantnumbers.

Over the years, technology hasbrought many changes to the life of thereserves.

Gone are the days of the Nosswarden carrying water to the houseusing a milkmaids yoke; now asolar-powered pump does the work.Hermaness is also moving with thetimes, and visitors now have the luxuryof crossing the bog on a recycled

plastic boardwalk to get to the cliffs.This will help protect the fragilepeatlands from eroding.

Access to Noss is available only inspring and summer, but you can visitHermaness year round. Both places arediamonds in Shetlands crown of visitorattractions.

Success at Loch Fleet

Harbour seal pupping at Loch Fleet

National Nature Reserve has been verysuccessful this year, with the first pupseen at the beginning of June and themaximum pup count being 51.

Aberdeen Universitys CromartyField Station has had a team on siteregularly monitoring seal populationsfor the last ten years. Recent researchinvolves GPS tagging seals at LochFleet to track their movements andproviding an insight into their behaviour.

Initial results have shown that sealstend to stay within the area, visitingcommonly known haul-out areas.However, a few seals have been moreadventurous, visiting locations inOrkney and the Kyle of Tongue, one-way journeys of up to 120 miles.

Unlike their grey seal counterparts,harbour seal pups can swim just a fewhours after they are born. At a seal-watching event organised by SNHand the Cromarty Field Station, nearly50 participants were lucky enough towitness a pup, only hours old, taking its

first swimming lessons!Ospreys also had a successful year

at Loch Fleet NNR, and a second pairof birds successfully raised two chicks.This doubles the number of ospreysnesting on this reserve.

Wellies and Waders

In one of the wettest years on

record for Orkney farmers the annualagricultural show, the County Show,was almost cancelled because of thesoggy showground!

However, at the last minute it wentahead on a miraculously dry day.

SNH staff were at the show topromote uptake of the new Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).We are a key delivery partner for thisScottish Government funding scheme.

The Show was an ideal opportunityto discuss the scheme with landownersand alert them to the land managementoptions available to help protect speciahabitats and species.

Our displays focussed on AECSnational priorities designatedsites and priority species such asbreeding waders, for which Orkney isa stronghold in Scotland. Hen harrieron moorland sites was a key topic, withthe emphasis being on ways to manageland for their favourite food theOrkney vole.

But its not just farmers who go tothe show, most of the local communityalso turns out to enjoy the event. Sowith help from Orkneys World HeritageSite Rangers, SNH staff had a chanceto talk to many people about Orkneysamazing natural heritage and to be partof our largest community event.

SNH Area NewsNorthern Isles and North HighlandCorrespondents: Juan Brown, Adam Rose, Christine Skene


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Seed restoration

Ben Lomond Site of Special Scientific

Interest (SSSI) is set to be ademonstration site for a European-widewild seed conservation project.

The National Trust for Scotland(NTS) which manages Ben Lomond,is an associate partner of NASSTEC(NAtive Seed Science, TEchnology andConservation). NASSTEC is bringingtogether partners from research,industry and conservation to improveknowledge of using wild seed inmontane plant restoration projects.

Four PhD students will investigate allaspects of seed restoration, includingseed production and viability. Seedcollected from several key Scottishmontane plant species, such as Alpinemouse-ear and spring sandwort, willbe germinated and planted out by thestudents, with help from Scotia Seeds,a NASSTEC partner which specialisesin wild flower seed production, andNTS staff.

Lindsay Mackinlay, NTSs NatureConservation Adviser said, This project

will teach us a great deal about howto collect and use montane wild flowerseeds properly and to be more creativewhen restoring soils which have beeneroded by footpaths, overgrazing andhill tracks. We may also be able toreintroduce species to locations wherethey were recorded previously but havegone extinct.

Never a dull moment

Its never dull on the Isle of May NNR as

the autumn months bring a change offocus when we welcome our grey sealsback for another pupping season.

The summer months on the islandare dominated by thousands ofseabirds, but as summer graduallygives way to autumn, thousands ofgrey seals start hauling themselvesout in anticipation of another breedingseason.

Atlantic grey seals give birth topups from late September, with birthrates peaking in early November andlate stragglers being born in earlyJanuary. The Isle of May supports oneof the largest grey seal colonies on theeast coast of the UK, with the last pupcount revealing just over 2,300 pupsborn on the island.

Seal colonies are always livelyplaces as bulls (males) will engage inaggressive fights for territory whilstcows (females) will nurture young pupsuntil they reach independence (whichhappens at just three weeks of age).

The Isle of May certainly experiencessome changes during the seasons andthe autumn is just another example ofhow important this National NatureReserve is on both a local and nationalscale.

SNH Area NewsForthCorrespondents: David Steel, Sarah Eaton, Gavin Johnson

dunes restoration

A partnership of interested parties

land managers is working to restodamaged sand dunes at St AndreWest Sands beach in Fife.

A busy recreational beach, WeSands was made famous in the 1film Chariots of Fireand backs onthe home of golf, The Old CoursThe beach is also part of Eden Esnationally and internationally protefor its habitats, birds and mamma

However, since the early 2000dunes have deteriorated due to vipressure and erosion caused durwinter storms.

The West Sands Partnership, includes Fife Coast and CountrysTrust, Links Trust, Fife Council, SNand University of St Andrews, hasdeveloped a management plan aiimproving the health of the dunes

To date, a 140m-long dune habeen rebuilt using tens of thousanof tonnes of sand. Nearly 2km offencing has been installed to protextensive area of replanted dune

The beach is no longer mechacleaned seaweed is left on thebeach which encourages new duto form. Plant species such as sasea rocket and sea sandwort havecome back. This has allowed sandaccumulate, helping to rebuild a nand resilient dune habitat.


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Argylls mermaid purses

We are looking for information about

common skate egg cases in Argyll frombeachcombers, divers and fishermen.

Our hope is that the informationwill help solve the mystery of wherecommon skate lay their eggs. Commonskate are the largest elasmobranch eggcases you are likely to find in Scotland and the rarest.

They are about the size of an A5sheet of paper with short, slightlycurved, horns at the corners.

Divers might spot green, leatheryeggs with the fish still inside in rockyareas at depths from 10 to 30m.Beachcombers may find empty eggcases in the shallow water on thebeach, in which case they will be flatand black.

However, they are more commonamongst the seaweed in the strandlinewhere they dry and shrink, crinkling upand developing a coating of brown,papery, bark-like material.

Join The Shark Trust Great EggcaseHunt at www.eggcase.orgto help

you identify any egg cases you find.Remove any empty skate egg casesfrom the beach and email us at [email protected] with the location and dateyou found them and a photo using aruler or a 2p for scale.

Arctic terns return

When the Hebridean Mink Project

was launched in 2001, one of our keyaims was to protect the internationallyimportant bird species that nest here.

The American mink is an invasivesemi-aquatic carnivore, which, afterbeing accidently introduced, hashad a devastating effect on our localenvironment. Over 250,000 trap nightsand 17,000 captures later, and withvery few mink now thought to be left,we are now starting to see genuinesigns that the wildlife is recovering.

Working as a trapper can be verydemanding, but it can also be hugelyrewarding at times.

Recently our team were workingin West Loch Tarbert, monitoring anetwork of sites around the coastline.This year they were pleased to see thatArctic terns have returned to breed onthe small island of Iosaigh, for the firsttime in many years.

That they bred successfully onIosaigh and other locations this summeis hugely encouraging and not only

shows the benefits of the project, butgives hope that in the future theseremarkable birds will continue toprosper. With many tourists visiting theHebrides to experience our fantasticscenery and wildlife, the local economywill hopefully also continue to benefit.

SNH Area News

Correspondent: Jane Dodd, Roddy MacMinn

Harris pearls

The freshwater pearl mussel

populations of Scotland are threatenedwith extinction if we cannot reversethe dramatic decline the species hasexperienced in modern times.

That these molluscs veryoccasionally bear a small white pearlhas probably led to their downfall, withover-exploitation by pearl-fishers a keyreason for their decline. Because of thisit was made an offence to kill or takethese mussels in 1998.

This year, in partnership with theOuter Hebrides Fisheries Trust, wehave begun to help reverse the fortunesof this incredibly long-lived species inHarris.

In late summer female musselsrelease millions of tiny larvae into thewater, where a few are inhaled bysalmon and trout. They then harmlesslyattach to the gills of their unwittinghosts for almost a year, before they arelarge enough to drop off and settle onthe river bed.

By encouraging mussels to spawn

alongside fish in a tank, its hoped thatnature can be given a helping hand.

This experimental approach is asmall part of the Pearls in Peril LIFEproject, which aims to restore habitatand secure the long-term survival of thefreshwater pearl mussel in Britain.

Argyll and Outer Hebrides


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Save our Reds

The Saving Scotlands Red Squirrels

project (SSRS) is changing direction insouthern Scotland.

Until recently, the emphasis inthe region was to try to prevent thenorthward spread of squirrel pox virus.This was being carried by grey squirrelstowards the uninfected greys of centralScotland. Now the project is focusingon protecting red squirrels in a numberof Priority Areas for Red SquirrelConservation (PARCs).

Efforts will focus on building onexisting long-term grey squirrel controlaround eight PARCs, ranging from 23to over 1,000 square kilometres in size.This aims to protect their red squirrelsfrom disease and from replacement bygreys.

Project staff are working with localgroups, volunteers and landownersin these areas. The enormousconservation efforts already beingundertaken by landowners andvolunteers across the region aretestament to what can be achieved.

By empowering local communitiesto take a stake in their local wildlife, theproject has every reason to be positiveabout the future of the red squirrel insouth Scotland.

If you want to help protect our onlynative squirrel, contact Red SquirrelProject Officer Alexa Seagrave on01750 23446 or email [email protected]

Crawick Multiverse

Crawick Multiverse is a stunning a

thought-provoking landscape artinstallation which has just openedpublic in Dumfriesshire.

This 1million land restorationis funded by the Duke of Buccleudesigned by the renowned architeCharles Jencks. A former open-cacoal mine has been transformed ispectacular artland and public am

The ecology of the site, and thmaterials found within it, inspired design, which is based around spastronomy and cosmology.

At approximately 55 acres thelies between the towns of SanquhKirkconnel. This was formerly an acoal mining area at the southern ethe Ayrshire coal field. Coal has dand the area is diversifying into otactivity such as tourism. This is givmajor boost with the Crawick Mulespecially as the area is now withthe Galloway and Southern AyrshBiosphere.

The materials on site have bee

used to create a striking landscapdistinctive landforms, and pathwaaround the site connect its fourecologies of grassland, mountainswater gorge and a desert, taking yon a journey past galaxies, universcomets and more.

More info at: www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk

SNH Area NewsSouthern ScotlandCorrespondents: Denise Exton, Karen Ramoo, Leslie McIvor

Plant hunt in Luce Bay

Local SNH staff have just located the

elusive yellow vetch on the Back Bayto Carghidown SSSI on the west coastof Luce Bay as part of their monitoringwork.

This species is one of anoutstanding plant community on thissite, which includes interesting speciessuch as Portland spurge, ivy broomrapeand oysterplant.

With the help of the CountyRecorder several yellow vetch plantswere found on the south-facing cliffslope near St Ninians Cave. Thesetook some finding because the greenhairy pods, insipid yellow/grey pea-like flowers and dainty leaves allcamouflage it perfectly against themaritime cliff vegetation.

In any given year there is nocertainty in finding it as this delicateannual can sometimes not appear forseveral years, until conditions are right.Several plants were found, from smallseedlings to mature specimens.

Historical data shows recordings

on the site since 1955. This nationallyscarce native population is important,as it is at the very northern edge ofits range in Britain, and highlights theunique climate of the Wigtownshirecoast. It mainly grows in Southern andWestern Europe, extending to Iran,North Africa and Asia.

scottish national heritage - the nature of scotland autumnwinter2015_issue22

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