Osprey monitoring

Last night the ranger team went out with artist and member of the Scottish Raptor Study Group Keith Brockie to help tag osprey chicks near Lochan Oisinneach Mor. 

This beautiful area provides perfect habitat for ospreys, which breed successfully in wooded landscapes with access to freshwater lochs and rivers. Typically ospreys will build a large, dense nest of sticks high in the tops of Scots Pine or other coniferous trees (although some use artificial platforms and even electricity pylons). They typically lay a clutch of three eggs from mid-April to mid-May, with young birds fledging between mid-July and August. 

In the past, ospreys bred throughout the British Isles, but were persecuted to extinction by the early 20^th century. Following successful reintroduction at Loch Garten, Scotland has become a stronghold for a new osprey population and there are around 40 pairs of osprey in Perthshire. A possible sighting of new chicks at the nest near Lochan Oisinneach Mor brought us out to assist with the challenging task of ringing the birds, to help with ongoing monitoring of the osprey population and its breeding success. This monitoring is vital in order to secure their well-being in the longer term and results of surveys carried out by the Scottish Raptor Study Group inform conservation planning and policy at a local, regional and national level.

Reaching the nest, or eeyrie, in order to ring chicks involves some spectacular rope-work and is only permissible with a Schedule 1 licence. Thin string is thrown high into the tree, with the aid of a stone to carry it up and over a suitably sturdy branch and back to the ground. The string is then used to winch up a climbing rope. This secured, the climber ascends using mechanical jumars to reach the top of the rope, then free climbs up to the nest, arranging the rope for the return abseil down. Keith performed these tricky manoeuvres with the swiftness of an acrobat, avoiding rusty old nails stuck into the tree trunk by collectors aiming to illegally take eggs from the nest site and the razor wire set up to deter the collectors. 

However, on reaching the nest site there had been no sign of an adult bird. Ospreys are typically monogamous and highly faithful to their partners and their nest. Usually the female would be guarding the chicks, so her absence and the lack of sounds or signs of droppings indicated that there were no chicks after all. Having checked, Keith confirmed the nest was empty. Nearby, we found several osprey feathers and a broken osprey eggshell, but there was no sign of the egg having been fertilised. It was not certain what had happened and why the nest had been abandoned. Nests may fail because of adverse weather or inexperienced birds breeding for the first time as well as through disturbance. Perhaps the ospreys would try again here or close by.

We decided to visit another nearby nest. Here we found a female circling as we approached, calling and alarming to the chicks, who would have been lying flat in the nest. It wasn’t possible to climb the very old and rotten tree to reach the eeyrie, so we watched for a while, and then retreated some distance to let the ospreys settle down in peace, whilst we surveyed the nest with a telescope. We were delighted to see two, large, very healthy-looking chicks in the nest, stretching their wings and being fed by the female bird. They will soon fledge and eventually become independent enough to soar high above lochs and rivers, perfecting the art of fishing through plummeting dives underwater.

Alpines and sunshine

As the mercury soared in Perthshire, we decided to get up into the cooler hills to search for alpine flowers on the top of Beinn a’ Ghlo – designated a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its rare flora and fauna. This hill habitat includes alpine and boreal heathland, the best examples of which, in the UK, are found in the Scottish highlands. 

Taking our time, we shuffled from Glen Tilt up Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain ("the upland of the corrie of the round lumps") heads down and necks exposed to the sun as we examined the ground flora. Amongst the scratchy heather and a feathery, spongy and scaly mix of mosses and lichens, we found a rich carpet of bright flowers such as tormentil, milkwort, buttercup and heath bedstraw, and some beautiful specimens seen usually at higher altitudes.

If you're out on the hill, look out for these tiny but stunning plants, which survive extremes of Scottish weather to display their vibrant colours in the summer!

Mountain pansy (Viola lutea)

Common cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

(Further down Glen tilt, the rare flower Small cow-wheat grows in two protected sites - it appears in only 19 sites in the whole of the UK!)

Small cow-wheat (Melampyrum sylvaticum) 

Dwarf cornell (Cornus suecica)

Alpine azalea (Kalmia procumbens)

Alpine clubmoss (Diphasiastrum alpinum)

Busy Beavers

If you go down to Mill Dam today…you’re in for a beaver surprise!

Regular visitors will have seen fallen trees, lying forlornly next to jagged, bright orange stumps, cut to a sharp 45 degree angle. Look more closely and you can see numerous teeth marks, where (in particular) alder and downy birch trees have been comprehensively gnawed by newly resident beavers!

These architecturally-minded rodents moved into Mill Dam in the autumn of 2013 and the signs of their activity are visible all around the loch. Experts in engineering, beavers fell the trees not only for construction of their burrows, dams and lodges, but also to munch on juicy bark (they enjoy the cambium layer between the outer bark and heartwood), which is central to their vegetarian diet.

A feeding area, with stripped twigs and bark

It’s amazing to see the hard work of these native animals as they make themselves at home! As a keystone species, beavers have a big impact on the survival and abundance of other members of the ecological community in which they live. Whilst the initial impacts of beavers' endeavours may seem drastic, as they coppice and dam wetland areas, the results of their labours can be hugely beneficial for other wildlife and wetland systems as they regulate water flow and improve water quality. Otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, invertebrates such as dragonflies and fish are just some of the species which may be helped by the presence of beavers. 

Beavers are crepuscular, so the best time to catch a glimpse of them is at dawn or dusk. We’re keeping a close eye on beaver activity at Mill Dam and feeding the results of our monitoring into the Tayside Beaver Study Group monitoring programme. As time goes on it will be interesting to see whether the beavers are here to stay!

Ranger Events 2014

Our events programme is now out for 2014. There are some new events and some old favourites. Have a look at www.athollestatesrangerservice.co.uk/ranger_events.cfm and start thinking ahead to the light evenings and warm sunshine.

Sleep Through Christmas?

For some of you, sleeping through Christmas might seem like an attractive option. Bats should be sleeping just now but the mild weather has wakened them and many have been spotted both in twilight and during the day. The warm weather triggers them to wake up and go and hunt for food. Bats can cope with waking up so long as there is some food available, there are quite a few moths still flying so hopefully they can have a feed and sleep again when it gets colder.

Pipistrelle bat - all our bats are small, but this is the smallest

Really cold weather can also wake them because although there body is in a deep-state of metabolic slow-down, an alarm goes off if their body temperature drops too low. They will then wake up and try and find somewhere warmer.
All our British bats are small and have a high surface area to volume ratio which means they lose heat very easily. Hibernation is the only way to survive through a cold winter.

They will also wake up once every 3 weeks or so to drink, as they lose a lot of water while hibernating
Other British animals that hibernate include dormice, hedgehogs, frogs, toads and lizards.

Our Wildlife is Ready for Winter

The hills have had their second full carpetting of snow here after a wild stormy day on Wednesday with proper blizzards. If you want to come out to the hills now, full winter gear is recommended - ice-axe, crampons and winter boots. Many of the tracks are icy - so you need to take care on bikes too.

 

White hills on Thursday morning from the estate office

However, the wildlife is ready. Our red deer have grown their thick winter coats, with hollow, duvet-like hairs and the mountain hares have moulted to their winter coat. This white coat is perfect camouflage for conditions like we have now, but it's a disaster if we have a mild winter. When there's no snow, their white coat makes them obvious for miles around, and a hungry golden eagle can follow them very easily, before swooping down and helping themselves to a good meal. Winter is a hungry time for eagles and mountain hares can be an important part of their diet. If they can't find hares, they often survive on carrion.

Too obvious when there's no snow!

Ptarmigan (Mountain grouse) and some stoats also go white in winter for camouflage.

WILD WEATHER

Winter suddenly seems to have arrived in Blair Atholl. Torrential rain, hugely swollen rivers and snow on the hills added to the long dark evenings have definitely made it feel like winter is upon us.

River Tilt in spate

 

The Witches Rock - not such a good place for swimming today! The river is running behind it too.

Up until now the wildlife has had an easy autumn with mild weather and an abundant autumn harvest to feed up on to prepare for winter. This week hedgehogs, bats and amphibians will be heading into hibernation. Our red squirrels have been stashing food furiously over the last few weeks, so that on bad days like we are having just now they can stay warm and cosy in their dreys for most of the day.
The red deer have pretty much finished rutting, but the stags will be exhausted and need to feed up frantically before the winter gets really bad.

Swollen rivers can be very dangerous for any hillwalkers or trekkers out in the heart of the Cairngorms where there are no bridges. Red deer and other animals can also get swept away. The rivers here do rise and fall very quickly.

The River Tilt at Marble Lodge. See how quickly the water levels rise.

Cold, wet and windy weather is the most testing for the animals and birds that stay here in the winter. They can cope well with very cold, crisp weather, and snow is not too bad so long as it's not very deep. But cold, rainy or sleety days are worst because the wet penetrates down to the skin and get the creatures really cold. The only way they can combat this is to eat a lot to keep up their energy levels, but if there's not enough food around then it get very bad. We shall soon see what the winter has in store this year.

Bye Bye Birdy

Many summer holiday visitors have been leaving Blair Atholl over the last few days, and with the dismantling of the horse trials it has gone quiet. But this is not just because all the people have gone, many of the summer bird visitors have flown off too. Suddenly we notice that there's no oystercatcher piping or sandpiper peeping. The swallows have been flocking for a couple of weeks now, but are almost ready to go, and will be followed soon after by the house martins.

Huge numbers of swallows congregate on phone wires at Old Blair. They flock together like this prior to the start of their journey.

Swallows head to South Africa, where they can continue to feed on insects. Although it seems to us as though they go to Africa fro the winter, in fact, they only come here to breed, spending much more of the year away. The abundant insect life that we have in the summer helps them to rear their chicks successfully. Swallows mate for life, females choose males depending on the length of their long tail feathers - those with the longest tails are the most sought after! Most pairs will raise 2 broods of chicks while they are here, but mortality will be 70 - 80% in the first year. The migratory journey is particularly hazardous. If they survive to the next year, young birds will return to the same place that they came from, e.g. your garden.

The Buzzing of the Limes

The grounds of Blair Castle have many common lime trees (Tilia x europaea), including the wonderful lime avenue drive up to the Castle from the village. This was planted way back in 1737, though some trees have been replaced since then.

Lime avenue from Blair Castle to Blair Atholl

The lime trees are now flowering, and this provides an absolute late summer feast for many of the smaller nectar feeding insects, such as bees, wasps and
 moths. Walking underneath the trees you can hear how alive the canopy is with beasties - the air is literally buzzing above your head all the way up the avenue. The flowers are pollinated by these insects and the resulting seeds have a special wing which allows them to sail in the wind to find new places. These seeds look nothing like the green citrus fruit called a lime - the tree's name comes from Linde, the German word for rope, because ropes used to made from the inner bark of the lime tree.




Lime flowers

 Lime fruits and the lime nail gall. The fabulous lime hawk moth, sadly not found in Scotland, but common on lime trees in the southern half of Britain

A flutter of excitement

A brief flurry of excitement the other week. Returning from a butterfly survey in Baluain Wood, above the castle a flighty fritillary butterfly was sighted. After a short but mad dash, waving the butterfly net wildly about to apprehend the fast flying and elusive insect, it was caught. A few tense moments as the butterfly was carefully transferred from net to viewing pot and allowed to settle so its identity could be confirmed. Then a sudden release of baited breath and mild sting of disappointment - this wasn't the pearl bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) that we had been hoping to find but its close cousin, a small pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria selene).

What is it? PBF or 'just' small PBF?!

Strange to think that we put such value on rarity that we should feel any sort of disappointment at seeing such a lovely butterfly up close. For the pearl-bordered fritillary is more scarce than the small pearl-bordered but the populations of both are threatened in the UK, so to come across either and capture a photograph is something of a treasure. The excitement of discovery is heightened too by the close similarity of the two species - often easily confused - the most obvious difference being the number of white 'panels' on the underside of the wings, requiring a close look for confirmation. If any further confusion were needed over the matter, the 'flight periods' of many butterfly species (the times when they are on the wing) are out of sync with the usual timings due to the long staying winter weather earlier in the year and subsequent rapid advance of summer. In the end it all adds to the excitment.

There are more ways to distinguish the two than by the under-wing patterns alone.For a more detailed comparison of the two Boloria click here or check out the Butterfly Conservation website (follow the species links above).

Definitive small pearl-bordered Fritillary

Scarce beauty - Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Where Have All the Butterflies Gone?

Beautiful hot, sunny weather has come to Highland Perthshire. Summer has arrived at last. The sunny weather is perfect for butterflies, but sadly there are hardly any to be seen. The ranger service surveys 2 butterfly transects every week, and the lack of butterflies has been very evident. The flowers are abundant with nectar for the butterflies to feed on, and the weather is certainly warm anough for them to be active.

Ready for a butterfly transect.

The reason that the butterflies are not around goes back to the poor summers of the last 2 years here. Poor weather gave them little opportunity to be active to feed and breed. It may take some time for the populations to build up again locally. However, ringlets are just appearing and will soon be followed by Scotch Argus. These butterflies can be active in poorer weather and so were less affected by the conditions of the last 2 years. So we should see some more activity if the sun stays shining!

Scotch Argus

It's also better news locally with the moths, which are certainly enjoying the warm nights and are making up for the lack of butterflies to some degree. Because they are mostly nocturnal, they don't need sun and warmth to the same degree as butterflies and so are less affected by poor conditions.  This is good news because many bird species are dependent on moth caterpillars to feed their chicks, and moths also pollinate many plants.



Ringlet







Wild Scotland: spaces for nature

A brilliant short video produced by 2020 Vision that we came across and couldn't resist sharing with you. The video encourages and explores the idea that nature needs our help and we need it. The video gives a special mention to several places and projects going on across Scotland and in the Cairngorms National Park too. Make your own wee space for nature - sit back, relax and enjoy it!

Wild Scotland from 2020VISION on Vimeo.

Thanks to @CameronMcNeish for sharing!

New Atholl Walking Trails

The ranger service has been hard at work installing new set of waymarked trails around Blair Atholl and the surrounding area. The way markers are now all in place for visitors and locals alike to explore the trails but the work wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of volunteers and input from the Cairngorms National Park Authority and local Tourism Association.

Three of the trails start from the Blair Atholl Information Centre, located on the main road beside the River Tilt, and two more begin from Struan, to the north. A sixth trail uses the existing trails around the Falls of Bruar, starting from the House of Bruar.

Copies of the accompanying Atholl Trails booklet, guiding you around the walks, are available in the Blair Atholl Information CentreYou can view a printable version of the Atholl Trails booklet, guiding you around the new walks printed copies are available in the Blair Atholl Information Centre. You can also view a printable version of our own Waymarked Trails from Blair Atholl online.

Waymarked Trails on Atholl Estates

Click on the pictures of the trails booklets below to view printable online versions of the publications.

Waymarked Trails from Blair Atholl (published by Atholl Estates)
http://goo.gl/iUIJB

Atholl Trails (published by the Cairngorms National Park Authority)
http://goo.gl/tS2sZ

Countryside Trails Dunkeld (published by Atholl Estates):
http://goo.gl/x2a5v

Cycle Routes from Blair Atholl

(published by Atholl Estates)

This booklet is not currently available as an online document but several 

downloadable route cards are available by following the links below:

The River Tay at Dunkeld and Birnam

Atholl Woods and Loch Ordie

The Banvie Circuit

The Falls of Bruar from Blair Castle

Glen Tilt

Killiechangie, by Logierait

A Day for Dwarf Shrubs

The rhododendron is in full flower in the Castle grounds and looking quite magnificent. However, the common rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum) is not always so welcome out in the wider countryside where it can spread through woodland swamping other vegeatation completely until there is nothing left but the rhododendron. It looks good at this time of the year, but it's not a good wildlife habitat at all.

But there are other native shrubs that are flowering just now. They are a lot smaller than rhododendron, but they don't take over, and provide much more for our birds and animals.

Here are the flowers of cowberry, an evergreen shrub of woodland and moorland, and blaeberry (or bilberry in England), which is deciduous. Both of these flowers will eventually turn to fruit. We know and love the blaeberry, but so do many other creatures - lots of birds and some mammals including pine martens and badgers. The cowberry has a red berry which is not so tasty to us (though not poisonous), but still important for other creatures.

Round ball-shaped flowers of the blaeberry

 In addition the bushes provide food for many insects, which then provide food for birds, especially chicks which need protein to develop. The capercaillie feeds its chicks on caterpillars from blaeberry bushes
These shrubs also provide great shelter, particularly for ground-nesting birds.

Bell-shaped flowers of the cowberry