Wonderful Water Voles

Well happy Saturday to you all! The weather improved slightly today after all the rain of the past week and I was so glad of the brief reprieve as I was off out to Mickell Trafford today on some Water Vole Training and Surveying with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust. The training was great, delivered by their Water Vole Project Officer who is hoping to do some indepth surveying on the River Gowy and Weaver between now and October. Apparently the best time to survey is around June when the vegetation isnt too high so you cant see any signs of Water Vole.

Looking for feeding sites and latrines

So some interesting facts I learnt today...

There has been a gradual decline in Water Vole numbers since the Iron Age in Britain but particularly so follwing the Romans (introduction of towns, roads etc) and WW1.

Main reasons for decline: agricultural intensification, reduction of habitat (agriculture and river diverting for flood protection etc) and introduction of American Mink.

The British Water Vole apparently is the only vole that swims / lives around the water, their european relatives have not adapted to water like British Water Voles, and its believed to be a behavioural response to predation, they dont have any special adaptations to be in water (no webbed feet for example) and actually would drown in water if unable to get out after a relatively short time.

They need to eat between 80% and 90% of their total body weight each day!

There was a lot more I learnt but it would fill pages! The second bit of learning was how to survey and then after lunch we headed out to Hockenhall Platts to look for Water Vole. We didnt see any as the river was very high after all the rain, but we did see feeding stations and we did hear one eating (I cant believe how loud it was). We saw a latrine site on the other side of the bank with the help of binoculars. We also saw lots of Field Vole latrines and feeding stations along with rat burrows.

It was a great day and I'm keen to get out and do some surveys and spot a few more Ratties!

Water Vole Feeding Site

Post holiday blues...

Hey all, well the sun has been shining but there is a grey cloud about my head a bit today...I think I have post holiday blues. After such a fantastic week in Iona its been back home with a bump! Fabulous to be back with Tom and Archie and be walking again over Thurstaston but Island life is lingering in my mind! Anyway despite this and a flat battery on my car this morning I have had an interesting morning at Bidston Hill and Tam O Shanter Urban Farm.

I met the Ranger for the area this morning and I will be volunteering with them for probably the next three months or so every Monday. I'm really excited about going there and I think the ranger was happy for some extra help on a Monday when he is short staffed!

After seeing the hebridean sheep at the hostel I am looking forward to learning a bit more about grazing stock and farm animals in general at the farm along with seeing how much experience I get working alongside the ranger too. The farm has a range of livestock including pigs (who enjoyed a good scratch off me this morning!), sheep, cows, donkeys, chickens, ducks, geese and bees! I don't think they have an up to date management plan so it might also be an opportunity to look at drafting one for my assignment for Reaseheath. So all in all I'm pretty excited.

More information on Tam O Shanter http://www.tamoshanterfarm.org.uk/index.htm

Iona NTS Thistle Camp 12th - 20th April 2012

Well I'm back after a fantastic and inspiring week on the island of Iona on the North West coast of Scotland and what a week it was. I was a co-leader again on one of the National Trust for Scotland's Thistle Camp conservation holidays. We had the most amazing weather for the whole week, we were so lucky. I cant remember a better week for weather in the 6 years and 13 camps I have been on!

So I travelled up first thing Thursday morning from Liverpool to Edinburgh dropped my bags off at the tool store in Charlotte Square, had a quick mooch around town and then met the leader Marcus to go and do the BIG food shop for the trip. There is only a very small and very expensive shop on the island of Iona so we needed to shop for the whole trip for 12 people. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea breaks too! So that's a lot of food normally around 4 shopping trolleys and about £300+ for the week. That evening I met up with a good pal Anna and caught up with her at a lovely bistro on Dalry Road.

Friday 13th - Unlucky for some! But thankfully not for me! Look what I met on the way to meet the group in Princess Street Gardens...Vulpes vulpes!

But to be honest he didn't look too good and I worried seeing him at 8:30 on a busy Friday. After meeting the group at 9 at Charlotte Sq we set off on our travels to Oban to catch the 2pm ferry over to Mull and then one last ferry over from Mull to Iona. By the time we got there we were a bit tired. Our accommodation for the week was the fantastic hostel on Iona. A very homely building with fantastic views from the North of the island looking towards the Dutchmans Cap and Rhum in the distance a great place to spend the week and highly recommended for anyone wanting to get away from it all!
Click here for the Iona Hostel Website and John Maclean's blog

The beautiful carved hostel sign

As luck would have it there was a bit of a problem for space which meant that 5 of the group on the first night and 2 on the second had to camp as the hostel was full. Being a huge fan of camping I was so happy to get the opportunity to camp on the island and we only had to get over one fence to go to the loo in the night in the hostel! See picture of tent below!

Our tens from the Kitchen window!

John Maclean who owns the hostel has been a crofter on Iona for 12 years and has a great flock of Hebridean sheep, you can tell they have a bit more attitude than the usual white fluffy sheep you normally see. Apparently their brains are sizeably larger than the average sheep and they have some great horns, they are brilliant. John uses the wool from their fleeces to make blankets and sell them and I kicked myself at not buying a fleece to have a go at spinning myself some wool. Maybe when I am up again another year...

Some of John's Hebridean Sheep !

Saturday 14th April - This was our first work day and we woke to sunshine. Our main task for today was walking over to the marble quarry on the south of the island to prime and then pain some of the industrial machinery that has lay unused since the 1800s. Apparently the quarry was only used for less than a decade but the industrial archaeology is of interest and importance so one of our jobs was to protect it against the sea spray and elements to prolong its life as much as possible. It was a great spot to work right next to the sea and a seal came to join us for our lunch. The before and after pictures of the steam powered machinery are below!

Before the primer and top coat

After

Our lunch stop by the marble quarry

Some of the girls from the group finished off the painting whilst the boys went and hauled boulders about for a boggy bit of ground for one of the pilgrims paths. After work we headed back to the hostel to make the evening meal, we all take it in turns to cook or wash up and it always seems to work well.

Sunday 15th April - Today was another glorious day and as it was Sunday the girls decided to head off to the Abbey to get a feel of life in Iona and the birthplace of Scottish Christianity. I'm afraid that's as far as my knowledge stretches around the religious significance of the island, but to find out more Click here for the Wikipedia entry on Iona . Whilst the girls went to church and a tea room or two the guys (with my help and advice of course!) headed over to haul boulders again for a boggy stretch of path. It was a tough job as movable boulders are few and far between as most rock is bed rock. Once you have found a rock you then have to pinch bar it out and then heave it around a hill to the bog. What usually happens is the boulder gets stuck in the wrong bit of bog so you need to haul it to near its final resting place, dig out a small amount of bog then put the boulder in place. In the end we got there! see below...

Hauling the Boulder to improve the pilgrims path

It was another hot day and it was really sheltered where the bog was, it was beautiful. I found a Caterpillar during my lunch but as with most caterpillars I couldn't identify it. The afternoon was spend clearing ditches and painting the village benches and gates. See below...

One of the cross drains cleared by the Abbey

Painting one of the gates

After everyone finished work we all headed over to a disused croft to check out some storm damage (there was quite a bit) and then we headed over to the Machair and spent an hour or so relaxing by the fantastic beach on the west side of the island known by the locals as the Machair. We spend a few hours after work relaxing by it on the Tuesday and Wednesday too. But I'm sure you can see why below....

Monday 16th April - Another glorious day spent beach combing a number of coves on the West side of the island. Absolute bliss. I was amazed at the difference in beach from cove to cove both in structure of beach and what you would find washed up. Some beaches were sandy, some pebbles, some crushed shells. Some had lots of kelp washed up, others none, A few photos from Monday are below. About 4 of the group went off to Staffa for the day to see the Puffins. I have been before in June and managed to get so close to these beautiful bird but I think it was a bit early in the year for them to be nesting in April but apparently there were some to be seen in the sea.

Shell beaches

Fantastic pink seaweed to be identified shortly!

I spent two hours on this beach paddling and looking at all the shells washed up

Iona Abbey

Flag Iris - perfect ground cover for the Corncrakes found on Iona

Thrift and lichen (Ramolina?) growing on the rocks on the shore

 

Kelp filled beach

Tuesday 17th April - Today we started work on another pilgrims path which goes by the machair and up hill to eventually reach Columba's Bay. There have already been huge improvements to the paths drainage thanks to an islander who has done really great neat work with a digger creating channels down the side of the path, however there is still some water flowing down the path that needs directing off the path into said drainage channel so our task on Tuesday and for part of Wednesday was to create some water bars that are made across the path. It was quite hard and muddy work - so because of that I absolutely loved it! We split into two groups Marcus took one and I tool the other further up the path. We first had to find appropriately sized large flat rocks around the site which was easier said than done so we had a good supply to chose from when we constructed the water bars. We then had to dig a ditch across the path which followed the flow of water down the path. This took quite a while as there were son many stones. 

The before picture!

Once the ditch was dug we then had to place large stones with a flat side against the downward side of the ditch so they were only slightly higher than the path and flat facing the ditch to help channel the water down the length of the channel. Once there were all in place we had to lay the stones at the base of the channel for the water to flow over. This was trickier than it sounded as we had to watch the gradient but also make sure it wasn't too deep or too shallow. We got there in the end, but I have to admit, one of the volunteers Derek definitely had an eye for it! It seemed every rock he places was perfect and he moved at such a pace he was fantastic! Anyway here are some before and after pictures of the water bar...

After digging out the trench

Some wind battered juniper on the hill alongside the path - fantastic

After all the digging we had nearly finished the water bars and headed down to the beach to watch some spectacular waves coming into shore. The weather had definitely changed but it remained gloriously sunny and we just sat for an hour being mesmerised by the waves at the machair beach. To top it off that evening we had a fire on the beach down from the hostel underneath the stars and the satellites it was fantastic, especially with a wee dram of whiskey! Magical.

 

Fantastic waves crashing on the beach

Wednesday 18th April - Today was a mix of tasks. Again another gloriously sunny day! First we headed up to finish off the water bars which only took about an hour to complete by packing stones in behind the stones to stabilise them and tidy up the site. The finished water bar below!

The completed water bar!

Rubbish from the wee cove

We then headed over to Columbas Bay to do a quick litter pick. We headed there for a brew and then we split off into two groups. I took the larger group over to the smaller cove just east of Columbas Bay and luckily we took plenty of bin bags as we collected a depressingly large amount of plastic bottles and rubbish that had been washed up on the shore. It was really sad and eye opening to see how much rubbish there was. On first inspection it just looked like a usual stony bay with a few washed up damages bits of rope, lobster pots and buoys but on closer inspection there were hundreds of pieces of rubbish. See below for just what we managed to collect in about half an hour.

The cove where we litter picked

 The other problem with Iona is rubbish removal. There is only one large public bin on the island and anything else that is to be taken off the island by the council has to be paid for so the NTS get charged for anything additional that needs removing. I personally think this is awful, surely it is doing the island a favour but I guess when you in get into discussions like ' who owns the island?' NTS and what are their responsibilities versus the council (and community members) then it all gets a bit more complicated.


After the litter pick we headed over to the marble quarry to finish some painting. A group went to finish moving the rubbish back to the van and collected some sand that was needed for Thursday's tasks and the rest of us headed over to another boggy bit to lay some new stepping stones. The amazing Derek once again excelled prising rocks off hills and shifting them through bogs. However I'm very pleased with my contribution which is the rock that is two rocks away from the one Stuart is standing on! See below...

Our new bog crossing point!

After all this excitement we headed back to the machair to watch the waves then headed back to hostel where I made a rather fantastic apple crumble. I tried the deconstructed approach where I cooked off the crumble separately - it worked and people had seconds and thirds!!! I was very honoured!

Thursday 19th April - Our last proper work day and full day on the island. Again a day full of sunshine and cracking views. Today we worked in two groups. First we all carried cement, water and sand up to the cairn on duni hill. This was quite hard going but the steep bit was short and sweet luckily and at the top we were blessed with some fantastic views.

 A group cemented the cairn and another group which I lead headed down towards the abbey to improve the drainage on the path into the village and collect pebbles from the beach to grave the area by the kissing gate. The views were spectacular whilst we worked and I was really really happy with the improvements we made to the drainage. We removed some of the grass that had grown over the gravel path, cleared, widened and extended the drain above the path and cleared below the path.

Area of path drained in front of Abbey

After lunch and a walk to get an ice cream (it was hot in that sun!) the whole of the group head over to Moll Farm to clear away some storm damage before the croft gets tidied properly and re-let by the NTS (if anyone is interested its beautiful croft and has a great position meaning you can see both sides of the island from the croft. Since it was the last day most of the group walked back to the hostel along the coast and packed. Marcus and I made three giant lasagnas and we fed all the group plus the hostel owner, 2 hostel staff some other of the hostel guests! It was a great evening and it was sad to think the week was coming to an end. Marcus and I both got lovely thank you cards from the group which was really touching and we got the place ready to leave for the 9am ferry.

Friday 20th April - Our last day on Iona and time to travel home. I woke early so headed down to the beach at 5:55am to watch the sun come up over Ben More from the beach by the hostel. It was fantastic and was so glad I did it.

Then all there was to be done was to move everything into the van say good bye to John and head to the ferry. We got the 9am ferry from Iona to Mull and were waved off by some of the islanders doing a Mexican wave on the pier which was such a laugh. We spotted an otter on the way to Craignure. We dropped off some of the volunteers in Craignure and caught the 10.55 ferry to Oban, left some of the volunteers at Oban and drove down to Edinburgh. Marcus and I unloaded the van, caught up with Jon (one of the other paid thistle camp leaders) and then I headed off to catch my train home.

I was met at Lime Street Station in Liverpool by my fabulous Tom at 10.15pm. After 14 hours worth of travelling, 2 islands and 2 countries I was pooped and ready for bed. But a fantastic trip and one I will remember for a long time to come! 

Well guys I have been back at work a whole two days and already im feeling fed up of lack of communication but not to worry tomorrow im catching the train to Edinburgh to co lead another NTS Thistle Camp to the beautiful island of Iona! I have only been there once before and only for a day on route to Staffa to see puffins but I cant wait to get back over there. All I remember from my brief visit last time was the Corncrakes making their unusual calls that sound like someone running their nail quickly along a comb. They are fab and Im really looking forward to the fact that im camping the first two nights as I think it will be awesome to listen to the corncrakes at night. Anyway I am going to attempt to keep blogging whilst im away on my new fangled phone, but if that doesnt work then I'll try and draft it all and write it up when I am back home. So for now enjoy the weather and the nature that surrounds you all, remember taking notice of the beauty around you improves your wellbeing. Its simple so make sure you take time to take notice. x

Sunday sightseeing

Sunday was a great day. No smoke alarm during the night which was a bonus. We got up and headed off to Inchnaholme Priory on Lake Menteith. Its a Historic Scotland property and you have to get a small boat over to the island which takes about 7 minutes. The lake is supposed to be home to otters and ospreys but we saw neither despite it being fairly quiet. We got to the island and it was fantastic such a peaceful place with a great feeling. The Canada Geese obviously thought so too as they were just nesting there when we got there and were a bit grumpy defending their nests. The priory is in ruins but its still well worth a trip. There are three Sweet Chestnut trees that are over 400 years old. They are awesome. Unfortunately my phone had run out of umph so I didn't take any pics with my phone but Tom did with his so will put some pics up of the magnificent trees when I find his camera. We also saw some Great Crested Grebes too I think on the lake.

After Inchnaholme we gave the dog a fuss and headed over to Dollar Glen and Castle Campbell. We parked in the lower car park and walked up the glen. Its a cute little gorge and I absolutely loved how lush and green and spring like it was. Look at the log below covered in spring foliage. I'm not sure of the species of plants but there were ramsons all about and what looked like a type of small and petite wild euphorbia but I need to check it out in my plant id book at some point.

After Dollar Glen we headed over to Flanders Moss Nature Reserve which is just down the road from Thornhill. Its a small but perfectly formed nature reserve that is recreating the bog that existed right across the area. It was fascinating to read about the moss and how the peat used to be 5meters deep but after the clearances the area was dug for peat for fuel by the peat lairds and much of the remaining area is now drained and farmland. Its admirable whats been done and there is a fantastic viewing platform. See below. I'm just not sure how they can keep visitors coming without extending the reserve of putting more board walk in. It would be a great place in summer for pond dipping, dragonflies and would be a great spot for birding with Hen Harriers being seen there and Kestrels but also imagine its a perfect spot for midges!!! It has a 900m circular path all on board walk. See below...

Another great day finished off by a fantastic meal in the Lion and Unicorn pub in Thornhill. Top food, top service and very reasonable price wise.

I cant remember what day it was but we also saw 4 Red Kites near Doune. I've not been yet but at Ardgaty there is a red kite viewing point which probably explains why we saw them there.

Smoke 'morning' alarm!

After a great little drive Friday evening to lovely Kippen and round abouts where we saw so many deer darting from the roadside. We passed by Lake Mentieth on the way back, the sun was setting and the lake was still it was fantastic. We then hit the hay relatively early after some pizza and garlic bread.

Saturday of our trip was rather amusing. We were woken up at 4 by the smoke alarm in the little wigwam we were staying in bleeping. There wasnt a fire, the battery was just flat but it meant that we were up and out by 6am! We headed north back to The Hermitage where I had volunteered with the NTS a couple of weeks previous. All large wheels of wood had gone and it was amazing how clean and tidy it all looked ready for the new season! We took Archie for a wander and admired all the great Douglas Firs. They are soooo huge, awesome! We went for a walk from the Hermitage to Rumbling Bridge. We saw a red squirred (and so did Archie!) and heard so many birds in the forrest it was great. The rest of the morning was spent browsing the shops in Perth and buying cheese and venison burgers in Perth farmer's market. In the afternoon we took the dog up Ben Gullipen which was a lovely little Ben, only about 400m but well worth the views from the top over Callander and beyond and the weather was kind of us. The only down side was the O2 phone towers at the top!

Another trip north of the border

Well for Easter, Tom, Archie (my dog) and I have headed up to Mains Farm Wigwams in Thornhill, near Stirling. On Friday  Archie and I went for a walk near Callander and saw a lovely red deer. We also saw somd jays and a crested tit. It was a great little walk see below...there were primroses and wood anenome under the trees that looked so pretty. Also there was a gate post that looked lkke it had its own little lichen forest growing on it. See pictures below!

North Perthshire Thistle Camp

Well its been a wee while since I last wrote and the only excuse I have is being busy ish!
A week today I came back from a cracking week up near Dunkeld in Perthshire where I co-lead a National Trust for Scotland holiday called a Thistle Camp. We were based at the Stanley Nairn Centre in Dalguise which you can see below...

There were 10 of us on the trip, 2 of us 'in charge' and 8 volunteers who had paid to come and volunteer their time for the NTS for the week. Our work was based accross two of the NTS properties near Dalguise, there were The Hermitage just outside of Dunkeld  and Killiecrankie just North of Pitlochry. Both properties are fantastic in their own ways. We worked with the two Rangers there Emma and Louise and the Property Manager Ben.

Day 1 - Based at Killiecrankie - a lovely bright and sunny day, cold and bright with a frost on the ground. Our task for the say was levelling off a bank between the visitors centre and cafe which was going to be turned into a childs play area. It was a great task as I had helped to build the tyre bank to the right of the area in 2009. Our work in 2012

The tyre bank we built in 2009 below...

During the first day one of the volunteers decided to 'take the plunge' and do a bungee jump off the relatively new Highland Bungee..!

Day 2 - We worked at The Hermitage today near Dunkeld where there had been considerable storm damage of over 150 of the big trees / Douglas Firs there. The area is known as Big Tree Country with the trees measuring between 40 and 60m in height. In storms in December a large number were felled and have blocked paths and tore up paths, some of which date back hundreds of years. Below are some pictures of the damae. It was interesting to see as I visited The Hermitage back in Oct 2011 before the storms.

Before we started to clear the brash - believe me those logs were heavy!

After our clean up efforts...

The afternoon was spent by two of us trying to remove a root system of a massive Douglans Fir near the old path from Ossians Hall down to the pine cone seat...

We managed to move some of the roots with a bit of help from a Ranger with a chainsaw. I spent the last part of the day moving large wheels / slices of the trunk away from a broken fence.

Day 3 - Based at Killiecrankie today. Todays task was completing the child's play area that some of us started on Sunday. This involved finishing levelling off the bank, driving in posts around the perimeter and at the bank to lay logs to reinforce the bank. We then made a fence around the play area, added a kick board to stop the woodchip falling out of the play area. We levelled off the floor, covered it in a permeable membrane with metal pegs and  then covered the area on woodchip. A whole trailer of woodchip only cost £40 from a local wood mill, bargain!!!

Day 4 - Day off from work! We went to explore Aberfeldy and Kenmore with a lovely walk up to the waterfalls at Acharn.

Day 5 - Another day at the Hermitage but I love it there. Today was spent with two of us reinstating the footpath which has been damaged by the roots of the fallen tree we had tried to remove on Day 2. It was hard work and took nearly all day to reconstruct the path. It wasnt just a case of stabalising the old stones but we ended up finding new stones for the steps, putting in additional steps and flipping some of the existing steps to create more even surfaces. You can see the before and after below! Morag and I worked really hard on this and Emma the Ranger offered lots of good advice and boulder hauling strength too but must say its one of the best tasks I have done in the 6 years of volunteering with the trust! Below are the before and after shots and is the same site as the photo at the end of day 2 of the roots beside the path by Ossians Hall.

Before                                           Mid Task head scratching!                             After

Day 6 - Last day of work on camp before heading home. Today was spent at the Hermitage again. I spent the morning burning brash. Embers from the fire were still burning from a fire we had on Monday and it was scary how I didnt need matches to get the fire going. Cleared more brash from below Ossians Hall by the pine cone seat and then spent the rest of the afternoon barrowing gravel from Ossians Hall to the paths the group has been working on. Hard work but great way to finish the week of work.

We then went to Dunkeld to clean the tools and relax before heading back to the Stanley Nairn Centre. A great week, great work, great place and great company, cant beat it!

Douglas Fir at The Hermitage