Sunday was a great day for a clan gathering, daughters, grandchild, uncle, cousin and niece and to celebrate the day we had a run out towards Ryvoan Bothy, in excellent weather, to view the Cairngorms and to blow the cobwebs away. A couple of passing cyclists wondered whether they had bumped into something special - and of course they had, an outing of the Ross & Taylor Clan. "Wee Nip" is on the right (Uncle Bill) the nickname coming from the warm hospitality given out by Bill and his late wife Ina to folk dropping in to see them and always having time to share a "wee nip" - a tot of whisky - before heading off. Imagine, Bill, a Scotsman having a birthday on Hogmanay!On Tuesday we started to build an ark, and just as we had rounded everything up two by two, the rain eased (40+ millimetres in 36 hours), the sun came out and we ended up with a very warm, humid spell of weather. As well as the flowers and vegetables in the garden putting on an extra spurt with the wet and warmth, other things in the forest started to stir, encouraged by temperatures in the high teens.
In the damper areas dragonflies really started to emerge in quantity. To the fore were large red
damselflies (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (left), with, in some areas hundreds on the wing. The first green 
lestes (Lestes sponsa) in iridescent green were seen, and four-spot libellulas (Libellula quadrimaculata) (right) were busy beating up and down suitable breeding pools, mating briefly before the female broke away to dab the surface of the water with the tip of her abdomen as she laid her eggs. As she was egg laying, an ever attentive male was hovering close by to ensure no other male would be able to mate with her. The first northern coenagrion (Coenagrion hastulatum) was also seen along with the much commoner common blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). And where is all this bounty of activity to be seen? At a specially prepared viewing site close to the road to the Loch Garten Osprey Centre. Because the site had become very well known as a location for seeing the northern coenagrion, visitors were tramping around the breeding pool trying to see it as well as the other species, destroying the grassy habitat that many of the dragonflies rely on for roosting sites at night. During the winter Abernethy Reserve staff were busy installing a viewing deck so that visitors can get out over the edge of the pool, right into the dragonflies habitat, but without damaging the pool-side 
vegetation. In addition, the wooden structure provides ideal "habitat" for the dragonflies to rest on (below). The two large red dragonflies resting on the wooden handrail are in tandem or the mating position, the male at the front, using the "claspers" at the end of the abdomen to hold the female around the neck, the pair staying together until egg laying is complete. Complicated? You bet. The reproductive organs of the male dragonflies are unique in the insect world. As with other insects the males sperm is situated close to 
the tip of the abdomen, but the accessory copulatory apparatus is located on one of the abdomen segments close to the thorax. So, before the pair get into the position as shown right, the male has to transfer sperm to the copulatory apparatus prior to the pair joining up. The female has then to arch her body down and round until the tip of her abdomen comes into contact with the sperm. I said it was complicated, check out http://www.open.ac.uk/Nature_Trail/DFsex.htm for a picture which is probably easier than my wordy description. Unlike the four-spot libellula, the large red female dragonfly lands on a piece of emergent vegetation reversing down the plant stem into the water before she lays her eggs, still with male attached. Amazing.The aspen trees have also been stirred into life. Traditionally, aspen trees are aways the last
tree locally, to come into leaf, a week or so la
ter than the alders. Aerial surveys have been carried out at this time of year to map the location of stands of aspen because, without leaves (right), the stands of trees are easy to spot. Compared to other broadleaved trees, aspen is sparsely distributed throughout our local woodlands, and because of this a big effort is going into regenerating stands and planting saplings to expand its range. Aspen (Populus tremula) is one of the most widely distributed trees in the world, occurring from the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia to North Africa, and from Britain across most of Europe and north Asia to China and Japan.Locally and in Europe, recent research has highlighted the ecological importance of Populus tremula for a wide range of forest species, from mosses and lichens to fungi and insects. Notable
species associated with aspen include the aspen bracket fungus (Phellinus tremulae) (left) which is pathogenic and therefore a significant cause of mortality for the tree; aspen brittle-moss (Orthotrichum gymnostomum) see Diary 16 March 2007; and the dark bordered-beauty moth (Epione vespertaria). There is also a unique community of saproxylic insects (ie insects which depend on dead wood) associated with dead aspen trees, many of which are rare in Europe, and in 1997 researchers studying this community in Scotland discovered a previously-unknown species of fly (Ectaetia christiei).Aspen trees in Britain very rarely produce seed and its main method of reproduction is
vegetative, with new suckers, or ramets, growing off the roots of mature trees (see extensive suckering in picture left) . The numbers of new shoots produced in this way can be very prolific, especially after a major disturbance such as fire, with the density of ramets reaching 70,000 per hectare. Aspen has an extensive root system, and ramets have been recorded growing up to 40 metres from a parent tree. Because of their access to nutrients through the parent tree's root system, aspen ramets can grow very quickly - up to a metre per year for the first few years. As the ramets grow, they remain joined through their roots, and all the interconnected trees are called a clone. They are all the same individual organism and are therefore all single-sexed, either male or female. The roots from which these suckers grow can be dug up and sent to specialist tree nurseries to grow "new trees". However, they will always carry the same clone characteristics, so by collecting root suckers from various stands, it should be possible in the future to ensure some saplings will be male or female or be perhaps, good at flowering, increasing the possibility of producing some seeds in some years. Seven-thousand saplings, grown by this method, will be ready for planting out within Abernethy Forest in 2008.To promote awareness and interest in aspen locally the Highland Aspen Group (HAG) was formed several years ago, see BBC article below with dashes between /highlands_and _ islands/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6364559.stm
Also, a few years ago, Stewart located a very rare fungus growing on equally rare aspen flowers in Nethybridge, see a "Hidden Highland Gem" at site below, for details
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/e_newsletters/teachdantirspring06/page04.pdf
The warmth after the cool and wet weather stirred the wood
ants nests into "extra" life, with huge numbers of winged ants seen emerging from nests (right) during a walk back along the Speyside Way between Boat of Garten and Nethybridge (bus pass in use again!). To explain what is going on we have to visit that area of insect reproduction again! In the wood ant nests, 
in the spring , winged sexuals are raised - queens and males. On calm, balmy evenings in May these sexuals take to the air to mate. During this nuptial flight one mating provides enough sperm for the queen's lifetime. Hundreds of ants swarm at once but many perish, being eaten by birds and other predators. The fertilised queens of ants building domed nests; Formica aquilonia, F. lugubris and F. exsecta, usually return to their home nest or a neighbouring one and at this point shed their wings. A nest may contain many queens. A newly mated queen may stay in the nest where she was raised or establish a new colony nearby with some loyal workers. Often the daughter colony is very closely connected to the mother nest by trails both above ground and underground. Along the same track a number of dor or dung beetles (Geotrupes vernalis) were also seen. Dung beetles, as their name suggests, live on animal dung (mainly that of herbivores such as rabbits, sheep, cattle, etc.) - 
they feed on dung in both the adult and larval stage. Some dung beetles simply live and breed in the dung heaps left by animals, but others bury the dung in some way or other before eating it or laying their eggs. Most of the dung-burying species excavate tunnels under dung heaps and than haul down bundles of dung into these underground chambers where the adult beetles feed and lay their eggs. This scavenging activity provides a useful service by removing the dung from the soil surface and hastening its break down in the soil. In turn, the beetles also become prey items for pine martens, foxes, owls etc.
A seven spot lady bird was seen, digger wasps have been busy digging their neat circular holes in bare ground and foraging for food and the rowan trees have started to burst into flower. The forest bogs have turned into a sea of white as the cotton heads of the bog cotton disperse in the wind. The first wee bee survey took place, no bees found but the views (below) at Loch Morlich where well worth the searching effort.
Enjoy the read and have a great week.
Stewart & Janet
All photos © Stewart Taylor
