Yes, the truth is out, the Cairngorms National Park Convener stated as much in a recent article in the local Badenoch and Strathspey Herald newspaper. According to the details listed on the National Parks website -
http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/learningabout/whatisanationalpark.htm , National Parks (and there are more than 100,000 worldwide) are protected areas and there is one organisation called the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that helps to look after these protected areas globally. Their definition of a protected area is “A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”. I was therefore, quite taken aback when I read the Park Conveners article “Park Talk” on the 10th January. The first sentence that amazed me stated “The uncompromising
conservation message of recent decades is not what is important to most people”. This was followed a couple of paragraphs later with “So if we want our national parks to be influential we talk less about the loss of nature and much more about the love and wonder of nature; more about how we need the landscapes and wildlife to put hard cash into the pockets of businesses large and small”. This general theme was also given by our local MSP Fergus Ewing when asked about the general thrust of the article stating “The objectives (for the Scottish National Parks) include, put simply, conservation and recreation and social and economic development” but “in the event that there is a conflict that cannot be resolved then the first named objective takes precedence” however “I was anxious that the aim of considering the interests of the local residents may not be fully taken into account, if the first named principle and objective were to be preferred”. So, plans for 1500 new houses in Aviemore, 200 in Carrbridge, 40 in Nethybridge, a doubling of the size of Kingussie, a go-kart track outside the Aviemore permitted development boundary along with a neighbouring touring caravan site is what the Park – sorry Enterprise Company – is all about? Little of this is mentioned in a document, produced by the Park, out currently for public consultation (see
http://cairngorms.co.uk/look-after/cairngorms-nature-action-plan1 Cairngorms Nature Action Plan) aimed at “protecting” what is important, in nature conservation terms within the Park. It took me a day to respond to the first draft and even with many critical comments about flowery writing and lack of honesty as to the state of our wader populations, woodlands and over managed grouse moors, all still seems to be hunky-dory in the second draft. Despite the wee bee
Andrena marginata being singled out as a “key species for focused actions” the caravan site mentioned earlier will obliterate one of the few sites locally/nationally. Sadly, the folk charged with looking after something as important as the Cairngorms National Park have little real experience “out in the field” and it is left to the “uncompromising conservationists” in their own time and at their own expense to try and find out what is important in conservation terms at a proposed development site to inform those people making the final decisions. Enough, I’m starting to sound like a grumpy old man!
So, what has one of the uncompromising conservationists been up to this month? Interestingly enough the planning application for both the go-kart track and caravan site mentioned earlier came before the Cairngorm Park planners for approval or otherwise early in January with the outcome that both applications
be approved. However, at the planning meeting it became apparent that despite the Park, as one of several organisations brought together to initiate the Cairngorms Wildcat Survey (
http://www.highlandtiger.com/cairngorms_wildcat_project.asp), it had failed to recognise that wildcats had been recorded within territorial distance of both applications and that the standard survey method of “camera trapping” had not been undertaken to prove presence or absence. Of all the species recorded by local natural history recorders, none of the species found carried the “European Protected Species” tag, and, because the wildcat could be present and European Law would be broken if it/they were disturbed, the developers have now to undertake a survey, using camera trap technology (static automatic cameras usually focused on a rabbit bait) to see whether these amazing animals are present. A visit
by myself to the proposed go-kart track site, in the snow, on the 26th did find cat tracks, but whether these belonged to the real McCoy or a wide ranging domestic cat, I couldn’t tell. A couple of days later I was back on site standing in front of a BBC Scotland camera being interviewed by Jackie O’Brien about why the kart development might pose a problem for wildcats, an interview which took almost a month to make it to BBC Reporting Scotland. Sadly, my ten minutes of questioning was reduced to just one quote whilst more recent interviews had been filmed and added with the developer and a staff member from the Park.
Despite January being in the depths of winter a request for information by the Highland Biological Recording Group for interested folk to go and look for an APHID had been carried over from last winter. Of course
most folk are more aware of aphids being active during the summer months when they can be seen in huge numbers on roses and garden plants as well as many wild flowers, trees and shrubs. But this request was for one specific aphid, active only during the winter months – even, possibly, in the Highlands of Scotland. This hardy species is the large willow aphid (
Tuberolachnus salignus) and is active from August through to February, with none having been found during the other five months of the year. See
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/insects-spiders/common-bugs/aphid-watch/index.html for more information. It was thought to have been seen in Inverness-shire but without a 100% positive identification, so any finds would be new for the Highlands. I have to admit to having spent lots of time searching along the branches and twigs of willow trees and bushes without ever seeing one so it was a bit of a relief when an email arrived from Murdo to say that he had positively identified the aphid near Strathpeffer on 15
December. Despite this find though, I still find it hard not to walk past a willow bush without having a quick glance just in the hope of seeing this 5mm monster of the aphid world. On one “quick glance” I did though
manage to find something else which initially I thought to be a lichen (above left) but which eventually turned out to be a fungus. It was small, reddish, and growing up through the bark of a dead bit of willow still attached to a live tree. With a bit of help from expert Liz, I was lead towards a fungus called
Perrotia flammea and when I checked the internet both fungus and spores (above left) matched the descriptions. The NBN map showed the main distribution to be close to where Liz lives on Deeside, Aberdeenshire and with just one of the thirty-five known records occurring outside Scotland, the most recent record being from 2005. So, the first new record for Abernethy Forest in 2013.
The month saw a bit of snow clearing but none of the falls amounted to more than a few inches. Perhaps more remarkable was the unseasonal temperatures at the start of the month with Cairngorm making the
news with a temperature of 13 degs C! The visits to the local aspen woods continued in search of the
Caloplaca lichen mentioned last month but though that lichen has yet to be found at a new site several woods have produced new locations for another rare lichen
Schismatomma graphidiodes (right). To ensure I had the full details, a couple of samples were checked to see the amazing spiral of spores held in the “asci”, a
sac-like structure which holds the spores before they are ejected into the wider world. By taking a very thin cross-section sliver of the lichen and gently squashing on a glass slide with a touch of water, it is was
possible to see the asci and spores held within the lichen and also some that were “ejected” (above left) due to the squashing. Getting thin slivers from the thallus of the lichen which is itself just a millimetre or so in size is quite a good test, but, the thinner the sliver, the better the view under the microscope, particularly at x1000. Slightly less common has been the tiny pinhead lichen
Sclerophora pallida, but provided a few trees have the areas of decay so common on some aspens, the pinhead can usually be found. A visit to a group of aspens near the Dorback Burn held a pleasant surprise with
Sclerophora pallida (above right) growing in abundance in
an area of rot at the base of the tree and its close relative
S. peronalla growing on the adjacent moss circling the base of the tree. Both species are so similar that a chemical test is needed to separate the two species. A wee touch of diluted potassium hydroxide, known as K in the lichen world, is applied to the fertile head of the lichen and if you get a purple reaction (including occasionally the formation of crystals),
S. pallida is the species. Under the microscope the spores of
S. pallida have tiny warts (ornamentations, see round objects photo above left) whereas the spores of its close relative are smooth and slightly smaller by a whole 2-3 thousandths of a millimetre (microns)!
The geese locally have been making the most of the residue of some farm fields that were poorly harvested, leaving lots of cereal heads scattered around the fields. Hundreds of rooks and jackdaws have also been
feeding in the same fields making for spectacular sights when all the birds get disturbed and take off together. In the local fields the geese have been mainly greylags but a few pinkfeet can be heard in some areas and have been heard flying by overhead. The first singing dippers were also heard mid-month and in the wider area both pied and grey wagtails have returned to breed. A visit to the Ryvoan Pass area of Glenmore to seek out more ancient goat willows found capercaillie droppings within a few hundred metres of the track, something that would surprise many folk walking the track, some probably hoping to see the illusive bird. Walking up one of the wee runnels a strange moss caught my eye (left), a bonny, leafy species which I knew
belonged to the Fissidens group, so more work once I got home. The easiest way I find to deal with mosses is to check the leaf under the low powered microscope and make an accurate sketch of what I see, complete with measurements. The leaf had small teeth at the tip and a sort of secondary leaf half-way along the main leaf and, thankfully, a single stalk (seta) with capsule was also present. The book, ‘Mosses and Liverworts of Britain’ is ideal to get you pretty close to species but regularly you really do also need ‘The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland’ by Smith to see finer leaf details (cell sizes etc). The books lead me to the Maidenhair Pocket-moss (
Fissidens adianthoides), a fairly common species but one that was new to me.
Two talks in Grantown on Spey early in the month tested out the grey cells in remembering all the species and additional information within the power-point presentations. Lancashire (with new turbines) also featured quite a bit during the month with visits to Janet’s mum who had a spell in hospital following a fall, but with good progress to
report by months end. Frantic emails towards the end of December put the finishing touches to my write up paper covering my five years of tooth fungi (stipitate hydnoids) surveys in Abernethy for ‘Field Mycology’. Thanks to the editors and a few people who helped with the developing drafts, the paper made it to Volume 14 which arrived with members of the British Mycological Society late in the month. You can see the article at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14681641/14 click on Volume 14 Issue 1, then scroll down to item 6 and click on the PDF file. A great end to all the field work.
That’s it for another month, enjoy the read.
Stewart and Janet
Still finding green shield-mosses
Green elfcup fungus
Sunset Nethybridge Old Kirk
Photos © Stewart Taylor
