The 1st September was an
interesting day. Car packed early and
off we went to Grantown on Spey to erect the tent and install tables and stands
for Janet’s tweed crafts as we attended the annual Motormania event. This event attracts mainly vintage cars from
all over the country along with a few “boys with their modern toys” in the form
of high performance Fords, Lotuses and even the odd Ferrari: one sitting
proudly with its
rear bonnet open to show a pretty amazing engine. With all town centre roads closed several
thousand folk wandered up and down the High Street, side streets and car parks
to admire the gathering of automobile history.
The day was very dull with rain threatening to fall and the breeze
ensured that the tent was well pegged down before leaving Janet to test her
selling skills with the visitors. At
about 2.30pm my mobile rang with Janet asking I get back to Grantown asap
because a pole had broken and the tent was blowing down.
So, armed with brown parcel tape, extra rope,
string and tent pegs I headed back to Motormania to see what I could do to
help. Most of the time the wind rattling
the tent wasn’t too bad, but every so often a huge gust was funnelled up the
High Street and the tent was being severely tested. The adjacent tent had already collapsed and a
few of the charity tents had been taken down ahead of being flattened. I managed to add supports to the broken pole
and went round the tent adding additional guy ropes and pegs in the hope that I
had done enough to keep the tent in contact with the ground. Not quite, and as the gale force gusts
continued to batter the tent and, having lost a bit of shelter from the
adjacent tent that had already collapsed, the flimsy multitude of uprights and
cross-pieces which allow the tent to neatly fold to a central pillar decided
they had had enough. One by one poles
and cross-pieces gave way and despite standing as an extra “pole”
to support
the side taking all the wind, we had to call it a day and as I continued in my
“support” role, Janet packed everything away, admitting defeat. Somehow we got the tent frame almost into its
concertina shape though one upright had to be snapped off and many cross-pieces
bent back into shape, and with everything back in the car we headed home. The aluminium tent frame ended up in the
local recycling centre and a bit of re-investment will be needed before the
next outdoor event, but thankfully all of Janet’s goods survived apart from one
set of bunting which I’d used to try and keep everything upright. Overall though the day was a success with the
biggest gathering of cars to date, a huge visitor attendance and Janet managing
to sell a few of her amazing bags.
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| Janet's tent/stall before the gale |
 |
| Remember the old AA patrol man? |
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| A selection of the older cars on display |
After arriving home I got a very worrying
phone call from daughter Ruth. She had
been notified that the company covering Badenoch and Strathspey with houses,
Allan Munro Construction, had applied for planning permission for three houses
in a piece of woodland known as The Knoll, adjacent to the church hall where
she is in charge of the Under 5’s playgroup.
The playgroup works to the principles of a “Forest School
thought I should visit the site to gather information
for an objection to the application.
Ever since Ruth became playgroup leader she has been telling me about
the loss of this particular woodland as more houses kept appearing and the last
thing a playgroup leader needs to be doing is check the local paper every week
for planning applications. On visiting
the woodland I was astounded that the houses built or in the process of being
built had been allowed by Highland Council and more worryingly, the Cairngorm
National Park Authority. The wood comprises
several ancient oaks, some willows and lots of birch, all growing on a knoll,
and before the recent intrusion of new houses, was a small patch of woodland,
already surrounded by houses. In all
senses of the word this had been “amenity” woodland, an area used by local kids
to play and providing access from a group of 30-40 houses from an earlier
development to other paths and pavements leading to the River Spey and the
local post office. The Park Authority
had recently funded the up-grading of a “core path” running through the
woodland but worryingly had allowed it to be diverted to avoid the
massive
excavation into The Knoll for another of the Munro houses which, interestingly,
had yet to be built. So, routes of paths
were GPS-ed and photos taken of the new houses along with photos of locations
within the wood regularly used by the playgroup, Flower-top place, the Tardis
and the huge fungus covered birch stump known as the Elephant’s foot. The latter location had already been lost to
the garden area of one of the new properties, the fate that Flower-top place
would also suffer when another house nearing completion was fenced off. How could a small patch of “amenity” woodland
have been so badly degraded by housing?
Back home, as I prepared my letter of objection, I was able to find out,
and the lack of any of the statutory bodies reacting to what was going on was
quite worrying. Highland Council now has
an e-planning website so all recent planning applications for three of the four
new houses can be looked at, the fourth amazingly, has been on the go since
2008 so falls outside the time when the e-planning site was set up. The current application would see three
houses built in a very elevated location on the top of The Knoll with a new
road to be installed by cutting deeply into the northern edge of the
woodland. This road would have to cut
across the new core path funded by the Park and across the path regularly used
by the Under 5’s! Fences delineating
each house would run down the slope to meet the fences of the old houses comprising
Railway
Cottages, cutting off the route completely back to the roadside
pavement used by the Under 5’s. The
location map for the current application interestingly, didn’t show any of the
recent new houses. Most worrying was
that the planning application hadn’t been called in by the Park’s planners
despite the houses removing any notion of “amenity woodland” for local
folk. Checking e-planning for the other
new houses revealed that none of these either, had been called in by the Park
Authority. Checking the current Local
Plan for Kincraig, an area designated for housing was shown to the north of the
village, with no mention made to houses being acceptable in The Knoll
woods. All very odd! So, my letter of objection was written to
Highland Council and copied to the Park Authority, Dave Thompson our local MSP
and to Danny Alexander our MP. Ruth and
the playgroup leaders and children were photographed by the local paper
standing in the wood holding “Save our Wood” placards, and a meeting was
organised by the Kincraig Community Council.
Lots of Kincraig folk objected and before Highland Council had to make a
decision Munro Construction withdrew their application. Hopefully, the now much reduced area of
woodland can be legally designated as amenity for locals to enjoy and, just as
important, the future of the local playgroup should now be assured despite them
having to re-locate Flower-top
Place
 |
| The Under 5's Flower-top place + one of the new houses |
 |
| The Knoll woodland, as shown on the current Local Plan LBS128 is the route of the old footpath |
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| The same woodland area as last map showing new houses and loss of woodland prior to current planning application. Plots 1, 2 & 3 refer to current planning application. |
September saw the last of the butterfly
transect visits, the 26th week of transect walks which started way
back in April. Once the cool, dry spring
was passed we had what a lot of folk locally have been calling a “proper”
summer. There have been sunny periods
and a spell in July when temperatures reached 30 degrees C, but most of all it
has been incredibly dry, and checking with Strathspey Weather it is possible to
see that, until 27 October this has been the driest year since 2003 if you
compare the annual running total of millimetres of rainfall (Jan added to Feb
etc).
J
|
F
|
M
|
A
|
M
|
J
|
J
|
A
|
S
|
O
|
N
|
D
|
|
2001
|
20
|
66
|
108
|
148
|
164
|
212
|
296
|
391
|
448
|
569
|
622
|
687
|
2002
|
57
|
148
|
187
|
215
|
264
|
303
|
406
|
456
|
493
|
599
|
682
|
702
|
2003
|
86
|
107
|
141
|
199
|
266
|
291
|
324
|
354
|
389
|
470
|
496
|
582
|
2004
|
82
|
130
|
170
|
236
|
262
|
356
|
380
|
491
|
531
|
636
|
683
|
725
|
2005
|
109
|
196
|
242
|
292
|
364
|
436
|
454
|
516
|
544
|
674
|
779
|
807
|
2006
|
15
|
45
|
98
|
134
|
188
|
225
|
274
|
325
|
410
|
496
|
549
|
611
|
2007
|
57
|
91
|
151
|
163
|
252
|
360
|
465
|
536
|
597
|
626
|
732
|
788
|
2008
|
111
|
163
|
237
|
329
|
354
|
434
|
500
|
588
|
635
|
731
|
784
|
810
|
2009
|
26
|
98
|
170
|
197
|
247
|
301
|
423
|
500
|
569
|
666
|
777
|
884
|
2010
|
70
|
143
|
188
|
242
|
289
|
328
|
415
|
513
|
630
|
700
|
818
|
848
|
2011
|
41
|
96
|
167
|
194
|
265
|
356
|
465
|
607
|
662
|
712
|
748
|
847
|
2012
|
75
|
99
|
103
|
261
|
313
|
401
|
499
|
556
|
613
|
682
|
719
|
789
|
2013
|
35
|
67
|
87
|
126
|
192
|
246
|
283
|
329
|
366
|
420
|
-
|
-
|
With the summer of reasonable weather you
would have thought butterflies would have responded but, overall, 2013 wasn’t a
good year despite 23 of the 26 weeks transects being walked. From the table you can see that of the
regulars, green-veined whites showed the biggest increase and it was nice to
see that small tortoiseshells also were up in numbers. After their record breaking year in 2012,
scotch argus numbers were more normal but at 11 species this was the lowest number
for a few years. Large heath and red
admiral were seen, but not on one of the transects. Better management of the roadside verges
along the moor
section could be beneficial as would a reduction in woodland
development on the moor itself. Grazing
rather than heather burning would also help, but with no real stock retained by
the farmers with common grazing rights, this is probably not an option. I have asked whether vegetation cutting could
be trialled, especially near to the transect.
Perhaps the most amazing sight this year was the 30-odd green-vein
whites flying over the first ever corn crop on the farm section of the transect,
accompanied by a few small tortoiseshells and the only meadow brown seen this
year. The link below takes you to the
Butterfly Conservation website but there is data missing for April 2012, there
is no data as yet for 2013.
 |
| Loch Garten butterfly transect data 2013 |
Way back in January I made a rash
decision. After giving a talk to the
Grantown U3A group I was asked about leading a walk to see some of the
Abernethy fungi. I explained that I
wasn’t an expert on fungi in general but would be happy to take them to see
some of the tooth fungi that I had surveyed and was confident at being able to
identify. And so it was that the date
arrange came into view at the start of the month. As we arrived back from holiday at the end of
August the first thing I did was to go and have a look at one of the local
tracks where tooth fungi usually
fruited in good numbers. However, with the dry summer few had appeared
so a bit of frantic searching was undertaken so see if there were at least a
few species to make the visit worth their while. Sadly, with common species like Hydnellum
peckii missing it wouldn’t be possible to see regular species side by side to
compare and note differences but after looking around enough species were found
to make the visit possible. A single H.
peckii was found along with quite a few Bankera fuligineoalba. An impressive Hydnellum caeruleum was also
present as was Hydnellum scrobiculatum a species that is still going through
the DNA checking process to arrive at its true identity. We finished off with a tiny patch of
Phellodon melaleucus close to a nest of bumblebees which had been dug out by a
badger. As we were
making our way back
along the track I was drawn into an area of what would normally be a small pool
to let the visitors see an unusual sedge for this type of area, Carex aquatilis
(Northern Sedge), normally found along the River Spey and the extensive
river-side marsh lands. There was
something odd about the sedge and when the visitors had gone I went back to the
pool, now dried out due to the prolonged spell without rain. At one end of the pool this sedge stood very
tall, taller than normal, whilst further up the pool the same(?) sedge was
growing but at about half the height of the first and I began to think of one
of the clumps as being a hybrid. This would
involve samples being sent to an expert but first I thought it best to involve
botanist Andy who agreed that one patch looked like true Carex aquatilis and
the other the hybrid between C. aquatilis and C. nigra = Carex x
hibernica. All very confusing. Also, in the same pool another sedge looked a
bit odd and I seemed to remember Andy saying that there was already a hybrid
sedge growing in this pool. This sedge
looked like Carex vesicaria (bladder sedge), a species that has so far not been
found in Abernethy, and sure enough, when I checked the database the sedge
turned out to be the hybrid between Carex vesicaria and Carex rostrata (bottle
sedge) turning it into Carex x involuta.
The pool is full of bottle sedge but where was the bladder sedge with which
it had hybridised? One for the
future. More intriguing was the hybrid sedge
flower head was covered with black
balls of the Anthracoidea smut fungus
mentioned last month, a fungus which is usually faithful to the sedge species
it is growing on, so would this one be bottle or bladder sedge? One for Kew
to try and sort. About half of all the
bottle sedge flower heads were also infected with the fungus which will
probably turn out to be Anthracoidea subinclusa once the experts have checked
it. From the books the bladder sedge
looked to be quite a bonny and distinct sedge so I thought it would be worth
having a look for it, though my first encounter was totally by accident. Re-visiting The Knoll housing site I had a
bit of time to spare before going on to see daughter Ruth so I popped into an
interesting boggy area surrounded on the drier ground with mature oaks on the
edge of the River Spey. In amongst the
vast stands of Northern sedge I could see what looked like a very heavy headed
bottle sedge which, on closer inspection, turned out to be bladder sedge. Also nearby was lots of bottle sedge so it
was easy to see the differences between the two species. Again the bottle sedge had the smut fungus
present. In amongst a group of willow
bushes I came across a population of Carex lasiocarpa,
a tall graceful sedge as
its name, slender sedge, implies. Though
found through quite a bit of the UK Abernethy Reserve .
Was it possible that this sedge could also have been infected by the
smut fungus? I was hoping that no one
was watching as I wandered back and forth amongst the sedge that almost
reached
my waist, regularly bending over to check the flower heads. Bingo, several heads of the sedge were found
with the fungus, so a few were carefully collected for checking once home. Under the microscope the spores looked
different to the ones found on the other sedges to date and didn’t look like
the A. subinclusa fungus (found on the bottle sedge) as listed currently in the
literature as being the species associated with this sedge. The message from Kew suggests that it
probably is different and might, just might, be new to the UK
 |
| The hoursehair parachute Marasmius androsaceus growing from a cone was also found |
 |
| Sarcodon glaucopus found after the U3A visit! |
 |
| Bladder sedge left & bottle sedge on the right complete with smut fungus |
 |
| Carex lasiocarpa with smut fungus |
 |
| Spores of smut fungus on Carex lasiocarpa |
As a change to searching through sedge beds
I thought I would have a day out trying to re-locate a patch of alpine
bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpinus) last seen in 1995 by a friend Sandy
Payne. The location was close to the
Chalamain Gap, the footpath linking the Cairngorm road to the Lairig Ghru and
the location for a sad loss of life during last winters snows. The start of the path takes you past the
reindeer enclosure and as
the path rises you get an amazing view of the
Northern Corries below the Cairngorm Plateau.
Ahead, the deep cut which is the actual “Gap” beckoned but as I
approached its entrance my route took me up onto the lower slopes of Lurcher’s
Crag to begin my search. September is
the best time to search for this rare plant locally because at this time of year
the leaves turn a vivid red allowing areas of suitable hillside to be scanned
with binoculars. I had a rough, pre-GPS
location, but the vegetation in that area just wasn’t suitable (the
plant needs
dry, wind-clipped heath, usually with common bearberry) so the normal wandering
back and forward searching started. It
took about an hour but eventually a few red erect leaves appeared under-foot
and for the first time in a few years details of the site, patch size etc could
be forwarded to the records people.
Inspired, I started to wander back and forth whilst slowly heading up
hill until eventually it was obvious that I was outside the 700-800 metre asl
zone in which the plant is normally found so the search changed to looking for
montane lichens. It was a nice day so
the aim changed again and before too long I was, for the first time, on the
summit of Lurcher’s Crag with brilliant views all across the Cairngorms and
beyond. On the way up I actually saw
some ptarmigan rather than just hear them as on
earlier outings, and an odd
looking growth on a clump of Vaccinium uliginosum (Northern blaeberry) ensured
there would be a little homework later in the day. More about that next month. I descended so that I was on the Lairig Ghru
side of the Chalamain Gap, enabling my first scramble through the “Gap”,
hopping carefully from boulder to boulder all the way through. Quite an amazing place.
 |
| Northern Corries from Chalamain Gap path |
 |
| Alpine bearberry |
 |
| Looking into the Lairig Ghru from Lurcher's Crag |
The patch of alpine bearberry on the last
outing was about 3 x 7 metres in size and though reasonably red, it wasn’t as impressive
as it should have been so another outing was planned. In 2006 I found a couple of patches of the
plant on hills to the north of what is known locally as The Burma Road, a track
running from Lynwilg near Aviemore over to the River Dulnain, and I had read
somewhere that there could be more. With
a good weather forecast I drove up through the High Burnside housing
development, trying to find the start of the track I knew would take me up the
Milton Burn, through the ancient pines and out to
the open hill, an alternative
to the Burma Road . The track petered out at the deer fence so
the rest of the day would involve cross country walking through heather and
patches of amazingly coloured deer grass (Tricophorum spp.). A red waxcap in a bog was worth noting and is
probably the same species found in South Uist, and in a few damp areas plants
of dwarf cornel were resplendent with red berries and late summer leaves. It was hot, almost windless and clear as a
bell and the hill-top ridge was reached just in time
for lunch, though lunch
for me means rucksac off and with sandwich in hand, the search for the alpine
bearberry started. The habitat looked
right and my GPS told me I was just above the 700 metre contour, and right on
cue a tiny patch of red leaves came into view and by the time my mobile lunch
was finished, three patches of the bearberry had been found, most with nice red
leaves. A scan with binoculars found
another couple of patches but way in the distance several square metres of the
hillside was bright red, a truly amazing sight.
Eventually my walking back and forth searching brought me to the big
patch and the next twenty minutes were spent taking photos of the flowers (well
leaves) from all angles, including some back-lit by the sun. Without the sun the real beauty of this plant
wouldn’t have been seen at its best and as the sun
continued to shine more and
more patches of the plant were found. 19
patches in all were counted covering about 350 square metres, the biggest 17 x
12 metres, and I have no doubt there
would have been more if I’d had time to search the east side of the
summit. With the clock telling me it was
just after 5pm I had to make a phone call home to apologise and to say I was
going to be late. Full sun, no wind, the
brilliant alpine bearberry and in the distance the corries of the Cairngorms
were just starting to cast shadows, it was hard to make the decision to head
for home. But it was time to say cheerio
to the inquisitive mountain hares and time to chase my lengthening shadow down
the hill after a brilliant day up on high.
 |
| Red waxcap, possibly Hygrocybe miniata |
 |
| The unbelievable alpine bearberry |
 |
| The Northern Corries & the Cairngorms at the end of an unforgettable day out |
Enjoy the read.
Stewart and Janet
Strathspey Weather
Butterfly Transect data
 |
| Baby Harry's first visit to Firwood |
 |
| Peacock butterfly also at Firwood but not seen on the transect |
 |
| Ink caps on cow pat! |
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| One of the bigger versions of THE TICK. 13 of these blighters pulled from body after one local outing! |
Photos © Stewart Taylor
