A Happy New Year to you all. To round off the year I thought it would be nice to run through a few of the highlights of 2007 and bring you up to date with a few items from the Christmas and New Year break.
January.
2007 started with a wee personal project within the forest in trying to sort out how many sites or 'patches' of twinflower there are within the reserve. Over the years people had visited areas where the plant was known to grow, some just to see this brilliant pinewood plant and others to work on the plant ecology, habitat, patch size etc. Over time various grid references came into being, two or three sometimes referring to the same patch, so did we have 20 or 60 patches? The aim of the project was to visit each site and, using mo
dern technology (a global positioning system unit), decide once and for all what constituted a patch and to give that patch its own accurate location. Plant recording in January I hear you cry! Well yes, the creeping stems of the twinflower retain their leaves all through the year so provided there isn't lots of snow it is possible to find it. A short article on twinflower appeared back in June when I showed Andy carrying out research on pollination of the flowers. However, what I failed to mention was that 2007 was the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus the father of modern plant and animal classification, and twinflower, Linnaea borealis, is the only plant or animal he gave his name to. To read more about Linnaeus go to http://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=51 . The first person to fully describe a plant or animal, has their name added to the full Latin name hence Linnaea borealis L. (or Linn.) means that Linnaeus was the man who first described twinflower. Similarly, Cortinarius pinicola Orton shows that my friend the late Peter Orton was the first to describe this fungus. Sorry, I digress. The survey found that the reserve holds more than 40 patches of twinflower (difficulty in separating a couple of patches and two more added recently) and to date I have not seen the results of Andy's pollination work.
dern technology (a global positioning system unit), decide once and for all what constituted a patch and to give that patch its own accurate location. Plant recording in January I hear you cry! Well yes, the creeping stems of the twinflower retain their leaves all through the year so provided there isn't lots of snow it is possible to find it. A short article on twinflower appeared back in June when I showed Andy carrying out research on pollination of the flowers. However, what I failed to mention was that 2007 was the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus the father of modern plant and animal classification, and twinflower, Linnaea borealis, is the only plant or animal he gave his name to. To read more about Linnaeus go to http://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=51 . The first person to fully describe a plant or animal, has their name added to the full Latin name hence Linnaea borealis L. (or Linn.) means that Linnaeus was the man who first described twinflower. Similarly, Cortinarius pinicola Orton shows that my friend the late Peter Orton was the first to describe this fungus. Sorry, I digress. The survey found that the reserve holds more than 40 patches of twinflower (difficulty in separating a couple of patches and two more added recently) and to date I have not seen the results of Andy's pollination work. .
February & November.
At one twinflower site I was blown away by the naturalness of the forest, big mature Scots pines, big fallen decaying Scots pines with the creeping stems of twinflower covering some of them, and a very 
active section of the River Nethy threatening, at some point in the future, to wash quite a bit of it away. I live in awe of areas of 'naturalness' like this, and even though man has had his grubby hands on this bit of the forest in the past, it is one of the hidden gems within the bigger Abernethy Forest that has remained fairly undisturbed for about the last hundred years. I doubt I could take you anywhere in Britain and show you a piece of pristine, natural forest, woodland that hasn't been altered by man, so these small, but relatively "natural" pieces of ancient woodland, growing and dying over hundreds of years need to be 
left to carry on doing just that. As I looked at these logs my thoughts turned to the possibility of some of the fallen logs providing a home to the rare green shield moss Buxbaumia viridis, and as you know from recent diaries, following my first encounter with a few popping out of the snow on a big dead alder log almost a year ago, I've managed to write a new chapter on the status and distribution of this moss in that time. Seven logs with about 20 c
apsules in January has now grown to 31 logs with 125 capsules by the end of 2007. The search goes on and as the snow melts and the days get longer a mini expedition to the riparian woodlands north of Inverness beckons.
active section of the River Nethy threatening, at some point in the future, to wash quite a bit of it away. I live in awe of areas of 'naturalness' like this, and even though man has had his grubby hands on this bit of the forest in the past, it is one of the hidden gems within the bigger Abernethy Forest that has remained fairly undisturbed for about the last hundred years. I doubt I could take you anywhere in Britain and show you a piece of pristine, natural forest, woodland that hasn't been altered by man, so these small, but relatively "natural" pieces of ancient woodland, growing and dying over hundreds of years need to be 
left to carry on doing just that. As I looked at these logs my thoughts turned to the possibility of some of the fallen logs providing a home to the rare green shield moss Buxbaumia viridis, and as you know from recent diaries, following my first encounter with a few popping out of the snow on a big dead alder log almost a year ago, I've managed to write a new chapter on the status and distribution of this moss in that time. Seven logs with about 20 c
apsules in January has now grown to 31 logs with 125 capsules by the end of 2007. The search goes on and as the snow melts and the days get longer a mini expedition to the riparian woodlands north of Inverness beckons.My 60th birthday present from Janet and the family was a day out with Neil McIntyre learning all about the art of taking good photographs like the Achlean waterfalls left. http://www.neilmcintyre.com/
March.
The first Firwood diary was written!This was the month when we felt winter was letting go, oystercatchers and lapwings were back in the fields, song thrushes and meadow pipits sang in Nethybridge and on nearby moorland, the first butterfly appeared, but the best sound was the calls of frogs and toads as they moved back to their breeding pools to start the breeding process all over again.
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April - May.
Osprey arrival time with 2007 following similar soap-opera theatre
as in previous years. Henry, if you are reading this could you please try and arrive by the first week of April this year! Also Caperwatch time with lots of early mornings and many fingers crossed down at the Osprey Centre. All the migrants had arrived by first week of May and, following a very dry and sunny April, lots of flowers were blooming early. In the forest, blaeberry was flowering three weeks early, the forest buzzing with bumblebees as they visited the flowers. Bombus monticola the bilberry bumblebee is one of the less common bees to be seen easily at this time. See Jennifer's website at http://www.sbes.stir.ac.uk/people/postgrads/harrison.html . Some of her work is being carried out in Abernethy. Wood ant nests were also teeming with ants as they re-thatched their nests and foraged in the forest for food.
as in previous years. Henry, if you are reading this could you please try and arrive by the first week of April this year! Also Caperwatch time with lots of early mornings and many fingers crossed down at the Osprey Centre. All the migrants had arrived by first week of May and, following a very dry and sunny April, lots of flowers were blooming early. In the forest, blaeberry was flowering three weeks early, the forest buzzing with bumblebees as they visited the flowers. Bombus monticola the bilberry bumblebee is one of the less common bees to be seen easily at this time. See Jennifer's website at http://www.sbes.stir.ac.uk/people/postgrads/harrison.html . Some of her work is being carried out in Abernethy. Wood ant nests were also teeming with ants as they re-thatched their nests and foraged in the forest for food..
June.
Lots of birds had young on 
the wing which was just as well this year as June and July deteriorated into one of the wettest summers on record. Just my luck to get a short paid contract to go looking for a little mason bee (left) Osmia uncinata! Even on days when the sun shone the temperature was too low for the bee to fly. Despite the poor weather six new sites were found for the bee. In addition, searching nearby forest tracks for the bee also turned up a first location east of the Great Glen for a conopid fly Physocephala nigra ( see http://hbrg.org.uk/Conopids/ConopidMain.html ) and a new sites
for the small blue and dingy skipper butterflies. On Loch Garten a few families of goldeneye were still around and alarming common sandpipers let me know I was getting too close to their mobile family.
the wing which was just as well this year as June and July deteriorated into one of the wettest summers on record. Just my luck to get a short paid contract to go looking for a little mason bee (left) Osmia uncinata! Even on days when the sun shone the temperature was too low for the bee to fly. Despite the poor weather six new sites were found for the bee. In addition, searching nearby forest tracks for the bee also turned up a first location east of the Great Glen for a conopid fly Physocephala nigra ( see http://hbrg.org.uk/Conopids/ConopidMain.html ) and a new sites
for the small blue and dingy skipper butterflies. On Loch Garten a few families of goldeneye were still around and alarming common sandpipers let me know I was getting too close to their mobile family. ST is honoured by being named as one of thirty Highland Naturalists as part of the celebrations for the Highland Year of Culture. Wow!
July.
More bees whilst on holiday in the Uists, finding 12 sites for the northern colletes bee Colletes floralis, but the main highlight really was just walking along miles and miles of deserted beaches, blown by the wind and seeing what had been washed in by the tide. The other highlight is the light and colour, big skies and colourful machair with accompanying giant orchids!July was full of highlights really, with bog orchids re-found, rare moths found in the aspen woods, the masses of creeping lady's tresses in the pinewoods and the appearance of the first of the forest fungi. Now there is a story.....
August & September.
Taylor becomes a single species mycologist - a fungi recorder. Along side the 
work done on the green shield moss, the recording of tooth fungi that took place during these months has to be up there as one of the main highlights of the year. 87 kilometres of tracks were walked and all the little quarries along them were visited. Tooth fungi seem to like the edges of tracks and areas of small scale disturbance as places to grow - so this is where the searches were carried out. At the end of the survey tooth fungi had been found at 507 locations comprising 12 species with 22 needing further work to be identified.
work done on the green shield moss, the recording of tooth fungi that took place during these months has to be up there as one of the main highlights of the year. 87 kilometres of tracks were walked and all the little quarries along them were visited. Tooth fungi seem to like the edges of tracks and areas of small scale disturbance as places to grow - so this is where the searches were carried out. At the end of the survey tooth fungi had been found at 507 locations comprising 12 species with 22 needing further work to be identified. Hydnellum caeruleum - blue tooth is shown right.
.Species ............................................ Number of sites
1. Hydnellum peckii ....................................... 132
2. Hydnellum scrobiculatum .......................... 85
3. Bankera fuligineoalba ................................. 60
4. Phellodon tomentosus ................................ 48
5. Phellodon niger ............................................ 41
6. Phellodon melaleucus ................................. 29
7. Hydnellum caeruleum ................................ 22
8. Hydnellum aurantiacum ............................. 21
9. Hydnum repandum ..................................... 20
10. Sarcodon squamosus ................................. 20
11. Hydnellum ferrugineum .............................. 6
12. Sarcodon glaucopus...................................... 1
.Species ............................................ Number of sites
1. Hydnellum peckii ....................................... 132
2. Hydnellum scrobiculatum .......................... 85
3. Bankera fuligineoalba ................................. 60
4. Phellodon tomentosus ................................ 48
5. Phellodon niger ............................................ 41
6. Phellodon melaleucus ................................. 29
7. Hydnellum caeruleum ................................ 22
8. Hydnellum aurantiacum ............................. 21
9. Hydnum repandum ..................................... 20
10. Sarcodon squamosus ................................. 20
11. Hydnellum ferrugineum .............................. 6
12. Sarcodon glaucopus...................................... 1
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To find out more about the distribution of these relatively rare fungi go to http://www.searchnbn.net/ type the name in the search section and click on 1 or 3 for the simplest maps.
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October.
Bury Market - brilliant, and also covered by the Two Hairy Bikers recently on TV. Janet was tempted and we tucked into fresh black pudding as we stood by the stall, finger-licking good and if you would like to try some try typing Bury black puddings into Google and be amazed!
November.
December.
Happy birthday Janet. The bus pass has just arrived!
A two day working week agreed at school so Janet has time to develop her eBay business putting her expert sewing skills to good use by developing a range of hand-made products. Amazingly lots of men v
isited her eBay site at janet-gardencottage in the run up to Christmas as they searched desperately for that gift that was different and a little bit special, see Egg cosy right.
Ruth won a local "Dragons Den" competition organised by Highlands & Island Enterprise.
Laura & Douglas bought an old farmhouse in the Aberdeenshire countryside with tree sparrows and yellowhammers in the garden, and barn owls waiting on the fences to greet them as they returned from work.
Recent events.
BTO Atlas work continues with outings to less visited areas to undertake roving recording. An outing just before Christmas saw me visiting woodland to the we
st of the Speyside Way combining a green shield moss search with a bird recording visit. Leaving the woodland to cross the moor I came across yet another dead buzzard lying by a fence. There is just a possibility that the bird had flown into the fence but I wasn't taking any chances so I turned my poly-bag inside out so that I could use it like a glove to pick up the bird in case poison was the cause of death. The bird is currently being analysed to determine how it died. This is the third dead buzzard I have found this year, the first possibly naturally injured or shot in the wing and not killed, the second has a possible court case pending, and I will let you know about the third once I have the results back. The tip of a very large, and not shrinking iceberg, I would suggest.For Christmas we visited Laura and Douglas and were looked after like royalty - thank you. On 
Christmas eve Laura commented on the size of the moon rising outside so I just had to go out and have a shot at photographing it. Not sure what the neighbours thought about the odd guy in the field, in the dark, with a camera, but it was a bit of fun and a few nice photos were captured. However, it was when I was viewing the pictures that I realised there was something wrong and the lump of muck on the camera's internal digital filter has meant that I am now camera-less and my faithful companion is currently with Nikon to have the muck removed and the camera serviced.
Christmas eve Laura commented on the size of the moon rising outside so I just had to go out and have a shot at photographing it. Not sure what the neighbours thought about the odd guy in the field, in the dark, with a camera, but it was a bit of fun and a few nice photos were captured. However, it was when I was viewing the pictures that I realised there was something wrong and the lump of muck on the camera's internal digital filter has meant that I am now camera-less and my faithful companion is currently with Nikon to have the muck removed and the camera serviced.To walk off the excesses we visited the coast on Boxing Day. T
he first stop was at Pennan, famous for the film starring Burt Lancaster - Local Hero and, more recently, for some huge land-slips. The second stop was at Crovie just a few miles further along the coast. Both of these tiny hamlets almost defy logic perching as they do right on the very edge of the sea. At Pennan you can at least drive to some of the houses but at Crovie you have to abandon the car at one end of the village, at the bottom of a very steep road, and carry or cart your shopping or goods along the narrow sea-front path to your house. Visitors are asked to leave their cars at the top of the hill and walk down!
he first stop was at Pennan, famous for the film starring Burt Lancaster - Local Hero and, more recently, for some huge land-slips. The second stop was at Crovie just a few miles further along the coast. Both of these tiny hamlets almost defy logic perching as they do right on the very edge of the sea. At Pennan you can at least drive to some of the houses but at Crovie you have to abandon the car at one end of the village, at the bottom of a very steep road, and carry or cart your shopping or goods along the narrow sea-front path to your house. Visitors are asked to leave their cars at the top of the hill and walk down! To see more pictures and read more about Crovie go to:- http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/gardenstown/crovie/index.html. Well worth a visit with the RSPB Troup Head nature reserve just next door (about 85 miles from Firwood).
And so we move into 2008, if it turns out to be half as good as 2007 that would be great. A bit more sun and a bit less rain would be a good start, along with a settled pair of ospreys! Thank you all for your Christmas cards, letters etc, and thank you Christopher for a brilliant calender. Christopher and mum and dad are regular visitors to Firwood and you can see what Chris is getting up to at http://www.chriswebdiary.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ .
With our best wishes for 2008
Stewart & Janet
Stewart's longest shadow on the shortest day!
Everybody getting in on the act on Christmas Day!
All photos © Stewart Taylor
