Tuesday 16th August

The estate is becoming very active and busy with everyone getting ready for the horse trials. This is a four day event starting on Thursday 18th up to Sunday the 21st of August and takes place in the fields in front of the estate office, just below Blair Castle. There will be many different events taking place including dressage, stallion parades, show jumping and cross country. There will also be a Bruadar country fair arena which will host falconry, vintage tractors, gundogs and canine partners to name but a few. While you at the trials why not also visit some of the many stalls which will be selling anything from wine, food and delicacies to clothing, accessories and things for pets and horses. You don’t have to be a horse lover to go to the trials, there is something for everyone so come along and enjoy a day at the horse trails and country fair.
                      
Despite the clouds and the threat of rain yesterday it was a great day for butterflies and dragonflies. There were large numbers of Scotch Argus butterflies and I was counting up to 25 in any 100m section of the transect, and that was only the ones I spotted. If you actually had time and stopped to look harder you would have been able to find far more as they were all sitting on Scottish thistles and in the heather round about. The heather flies were also out in large swarms and the dragonflies were having a great feast, catching them in mid-air then flying off with their prey. If you have the chance it can be really interesting just to take some time out and watch your local wildlife and it is a great way to relax.

Wednesday 10th August

The heavy rain during today and last night has mean that we have had to cancel our Gala night which was due to take place in Blair Atholl tonight.  We will hopefully be rescheduling for later on in the year so keep posted for information. 

Up on the Glen Banvie trail near Ruichlachrie a male merlin was spotted resting on a rock whilst out on a landrover tour.  The merlin is the smallest bird of prey which inhabits the UK.  They feed mainly on small birds but also on large moths and small mammals.  At Glen Banvie it would probably be feeding mainly on wheatears and meadow pipets.  They have fast flight in order to catch their prey and will sometimes even use vegetation to take them by surprise.  So keep your eyes open whilst up the glens because you could spot the smallest bird of prey, the merlin, or even the largest bird prey in the UK, the sea eagle (also called the white tailed eagle) if you are really lucky. 

Merlin

Sea Eagle in flight

Friday 5th August

The stalking season has started again and will run until October 20th so to help minimise disturbance we have our hillphone service in place. This allows walkers to call and get information about where stalks are taking place and advice about alternative routes in the area. The hillphone service is updated daily and information about stalking can be found on the notice board at the Glen Tilt car park, by calling 01796 481740 or online at www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/hftsh then following the links. Please avoid crossing land where stalking is taking place to avoid disturbance to stalks.

You may have noticed while you have been out and about that there are quite a few purple coloured droppings lying about from many different animals. This is because the blaeberry is fruiting and the fruits are eaten by many different species of birds and animals. Ptarmigan, black and red grouse particularly rely on blaeberry foliage as a food source. In the Caladonian forest insects eat more blaeberry than any other understory plant and these insects are particularly important for capercaillie chicks in their first few weeks of their life.

Blaeberry flowering

                   
There are quite a few different types of fungi out at the moment and one of the ones spotted in Glen Tilt was a stinkhorn. This particular mushroom as you may have guessed by the name smells particularly pungent, like rotten meat. This is to attract flies which will land on its slimy cap and pick up the spores to disperse them. You may come across a stinkhorn as a fruiting body when it is encased in a what appears to be a squidgy white ball. If you are out walking and smell something really bad then take a closer look, it may turn out to be something you do not expect.

Stinkhorn ©Peter A Ferns

Friday 29th July

We have had some great sightings of ring ouzels up in Glen Tilt near Forest Lodge lately. Ring ouzels look similar to blackbirds but can be distinguished mainly by the white band across their breast. The live mainly in upland areas and are a summer resident, coming to Britain to in March/April to breed in gullies, crags and steep sided valleys. They will migrate in September and head back towards north-west Africa where they overwinter.

Ring ouzels are a red list species due to their declining population which is thought to be down to low first year survival rates and possibly a high adult mortality rate as well. If you fancy seeing ring ouzels then have a walk up Glen Tilt and you should be able to spot them flying about in the glen above forest lodge.

Thursday 28th July

The weather this last week has been exceptional. It has been very hot and sunny which has been great for spotting butterflies. Although we were seeing very few over the last few months we have been spotting a lot more now. Whilst out and about you can also hear many young buzzards around at the moment calling to their mother to be fed. The wet weather over that previous weeks have also made a lot of fungi grow so it is a good time to go out and test your identification skills.

We have loads of great events coming up including animal antics tomorrow and on 12th Aug between 1 and 4 pm at the castle grounds. You will get to have a look at skins, bones, feathers and nests of some of the animals you can expect to find in Scotland and can ask questions and test your knowledge on wildlife. Also we have feeders and homes on Tuesday 2nd Aug at the Atholl Estates Information Centre where you can come along and make bee, bug or bird boxes. This event is between 2 and 4 pm. Next week we also have a wet and wild event from 10:30 am until 12 on the 19th July, meeting at the information centre where you can discover what lives in the rivers around Blair Atholl.

Saturday 23rd July

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.  Walkers, dog walkers and cyclists alike are all welcome to use the estate to enjoy the great outdoors and we accommodate the public by providing a car park and waymarked trails so you can get right into the heart of the glens without disturbing the running of the estate.  All we ask in return is that you please remember that this is a working estate and that you are responsible and follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.  This means acknowledging and following signs if it means you are redirected from where you want to go for your own safety and keeping the place clean by not leaving litter lying around. 

Please be aware that your access rights do not apply when there are either clear signs indicating you should not be there, the area is clearly maintained like a garden or is enclosed by a wall such as in the castle grounds and when you have been asked to go a different way by a member of staff for yours and their safety.  We had an incident on Sunday when a cyclist refused to take an alternative route when he was asked to because sheep were being moved up Glen Tilt after being clipped.  The path itself was very narrow with steep drops on either side, one leading to a river.  Because the gentleman was in too much a hurry he ploughed on into the sheep scattering them everywhere and separating lambs from ewes because they panicked.  In turn he created a very dangerous situation.  By ignoring all requests for him to take an alternative route he broke the access code.  In the end it took three hours for the shepherd and the dogs to calm the sheep back down and get them to their new location. 

By following the Scottish Outdoor Access Code it means that everyone has the right to use and enjoy the great outdoors and also estates and businesses can function with minimal disturbance.  Please don’t be irresponsible; signs and advice are there for a reason to keep you and everyone else safe.  We are incredibly lucky to be able to have access into wild areas as not many countries have the same rights so if we all respect each other we can continue to use and enjoy the great outdoors and see the wonders that wildlife has in store for us.

More information can be found at http://www.outdooraccess-scotland.com/

Wednesday 13th July

Today we went out with the Cairngorms biodiversity officer to look for dragon and damselflies to learn a bit more about them and their life cycle.  We had great weather for it as it was really sunny and hot and the damselflies were out in their masses even if the dragonflies were absent.  As we were trying to capture them with a net to identify them, birds were swooping down from above the loch and rainbow trout were jumping up from below also trying to catch them to fill their bellies.  The swifts were also swooping across the surface of the water with their beaks open grabbing a drink on the move before going back to capture more damselflies. 

We saw many different species including one which was only known to have come up as far north as Loch of the Lowes.  This was the Azure Damselfly.  It is a blue damselfly which can be identified by having a U shape on the abdominal segment 2, unlike the common damselfly which has a club shaped marking.  It was a great find and even better to know that this species is expanding its range and moving further north.  There has been a population of Azure damselflies identified at castle Fraser but it is thought that this must be a relic population. 

Other species we encountered were the Common Blue, Large Red, Emerald and the Blue-tailed Damselfly.  The latter we only saw in its larval form and could be distinguished by having no markings on its lamella (the three tail like structure on its rear).  Emerald larvae on the other hand had three vertical lines on their lamella.  Whilst pond dipping for damselflies we also caught a very large diving beetle larvae and spent a lot of time trying to avoid walking on the hundreds of tiny frogs and toads which had just emerged from the water.  All in all it was a good day, very informative and a lot of fun.