My Morning commute hell.....

Whilst on my way round Speyside, this is the aweful sight that greets me in the morning at the moment.

Terrible i know....but someone has to do it! It does suprise me that this type of weather does seem to take people by suprise. This may not be a regular sight as it used to be, snow does fall in Scotland an the UK in winter, but it seems that the majority of people do carry on in their normal behaviour. Routines, preparedness etc needs to be changed in accordance with the conditions (not just for the snowy times), slow your driving speed down, give plenty of time to get where you're going, have proper clothes with you, shovel in the car, food and hot drinks etc. Or if you don't have to go out ...then don't....enjoy the snow and be thankful for a white Christmas.

I know someone who is enjoying it.....

Look, no leaves!

This November we have enjoyed the unusual sight of rowan trees laden with fruit long after the leaves have fallen. Why? Our rowans are usually snapped up early on by the annual autumn invasion of Scandinavian thrushes - redwings and field fares. Was the invasion late this year? Were there simply too many berries? If the annual influx was indeed late, sheer numbers now seem to be making up for it - there now appear to be tens of thousands of these autumn migrants all across the Speyside area. The abundance of rowans reflects the general abundance of all fruits this autumn - both wild and cultivated. Sign of a hard winter to come? Maybe, but more likely just a reflection of the growing conditions we have had throughout 2009!

Flooding affects Speyside Way...

As you may have seen from news bulletins over the last few weeks. Moray was hit hard by the 48hrs of rain we had recently. The Speyside Way did not go unscathed either. The route dissappeared along with alot of the road and part of a bridge in fochabers and was turned into a burn round the back of Milnes highschool.

Diversions are inplace and repair work is commencing at a good pace.

Just goes to show the power of two hydrogen and one oxygen molecule.

Cross this bridge when you come to it.....!

Congratulations to the team for a project well done! This bridge over the the Burn of Coire between Tormore and Cromdale replaces two sets of stepping stones that were proving somewhat hazardous in flood conditions.
The main construction work was carried out by an army training unit and the ancillary works by Speyside Way Ranger staff. Other ground works were done by Tulchan Estate - thank you for your assistance with this project. The bridge had its first test very soon after completion in the flooding of 3rd and 4th September. Ironically, the main threat to the bridge did not come directly from the burn, but from water pouring off the fields above. The test was passed!

The aliens have....not landed!

At this time of year (especially this year) you will be noticing a bumper early crop of fungi. These much misunderstood and misstrusted of life forms, often go unoticed by the busy throng of folk. Thanks to the recent wet weather they have come out in force.


But cast your eye earthwards and you will start to see that these amazing organisms come in many forms and amazing colours. Out on a walk on the tomintoul spur last week, i came across this specimen:

This is the Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) one of the poisonous fungi that can be found. So called because of its use as an insecticide when mixed with milk and left out on a saucer for the flys to feast on. Many tales are linked to the fly agaric concerning shamanistic uses in many northern tribes of lapland and siberia.

As with any fungi, if you are not sure of its species, then DO NOT PICK IT and more importantly DO NOT EAT IT. Always go with someon ewho knows what they're doing, or like i do just appreciate from afar the lovely colours and formations.

No fairies were found or harmed in taking this photo.

Nature's bounty.

Wild fruits are especially rich this year. Rowans, blaeberries, wild strawberries, cloudberries (known as 'evrons' in this part of the country) on the higher ground, are all in abundance. Was it the weather in the spring? Did the bees have good weather at pollination time? Is it a sign of a hard winter to come (I hope not!). Whatever the reason, there's no excuse for missing out on rowan jelly with your lamb or venison in the months to come!

Rowan berries (Mountain Ash, Sorbus acuparia)

Recipe for rowan jelly

900g (2lb) Rowan Berries
900g (2lb) Crab Apples
1.8lt (3 pints) Water
Sugar

Pick over the rowan berries, removing any stalks, wash if necessary, drying well.
Wash the whole crab apples, removing any bruised parts.
Place the fruit and just enough water to cover into a heavy bottomed saucepan.
Bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 20 - 25 minutes, until tender.
Strain through a jelly bag or muslin cloth, allow about 4 hours for this, do not squeeze as this will cause the jelly to become cloudy.
Measure the volume of the liquid, add 450g (1lb) of sugar for each pint (600ml) of liquid.
Place the sugar in an ovenproof bowl and put it in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 10 - 15 minutes.
Place the juice back into a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, stirring until fully dissolved.
Bring to the boil and cook rapidly for 10 - 15 minutes until the setting point is reached.
Skim the surface if necessary, allow to cool slightly then pot.

What not to do on a friday afternoon.....

So its friday lunchtime and your thoughts are turning to what you've got planned for the weekend ahead, visit family, do that annoying DIY job you've been putting off, sleep for two days.....So you busy yourself finishing up all those little jobs at work, empty your in tray so you can finish with a clear mind.

Thats not what i do....no no no no, i go out onto a deserted moorland and drive into a hole! Yay!

Ta-da!

So now what do i do? Cry, run around screaming, have a good talk to myself about the idea of camping out for the weekend. Well i looks like i'm gonna have to dig. 3 hours later....i sit back and have a virtual hamlet moment.

So i leave it for the weekend and get a lift home with chris. Stressing over the weekend that a pack of teenage grouse are going to find it and i roll up monday morning with it jacked up on bricks etc. But no, its still there and still stuck! Cue another 5 hours of huffing and puffing with chris to dig it out. Having exhausted our list of de-bogging tricks (we were just digging it deeper) we call on ged to come to our rescue. One phone call later here he comes with a tractor from alocal farm. Piff paff poof and i'm out.

The day was not all lost though, it was sunny, we had beautiful views of the cairngorms and ladder hills and we found this little blighter:

An Emperor mouth caterpillar. This will spend its time on the moorland eating heather and eventually turn into this:

Alls well that ends well. Thanks to everyone that saved me and my toyota, thanks paddy for the company (he ran around alot) and Jim.....can we get a four wheel drive tractor next financial year please?

The bear nessecities......

for any ranger are two fold when out working on the Speyside Way.

They happen to be, exhibit A:

A workmate, or dogs body as i like to call him. This is chris (Australlis Blokus) very handy to have around for the heavy lifting and dirty jobs, whilst i umm and aaarrrgghhh and finger wag. Here we are just fresh back from installing a gate up near garvault wood, i did do my fair share of the work, just to put your mind at rest.

Second is this, exhibit B:

My old mate paddy. (Blackus labus, pinus in bottomus, get in wayus, sit on bit of wood you are trying to cut or hammer) amoungst other names. He's always there with me everyday, sharing the great outdoors, we've had many adventures and here's to many more. He still gets more fanmial and people asking how he is than me....not that i'm jealous.

Oh i do like to be beside the seaside.......

One would think that when on a seaside safari event, you would be training your eyes seaward for leaping dolphins, diving gannets and majestic ospreys....but no far from it infact.



Armed with sweep net and i.d charts, chris and plus dogs set out with a band of eager folk to see what the delights of the coastal section of the speyside way could reveal. This section takes you along the old portgordon railway line and through the Spey Bay golf course wood. When the sun finally does come out, grassy rides and glades in woodland are a mecca for insect life. Butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies galour were out showing off their beautiful colours and dramatic fly displays.



The catch of the day had to be this little fella, (caught by chris after a manic couple of minutes with the sweep net on the No.9 fairway).

Its a wood wasp Urocerus gigas. Last time i saw one of these i was sitting down for my lunch in a larch plantation during a harvesting contract and this little fella decided to try and bore into my leg. That isn't a sting, it's an "ovipositor"which the female uses to bore into wood and lay her eggs through.

Well done chris!

If you go down to the woods today...........

..beware of a tiny surprise! Yes with the year forging on regardless the foliage along the Speyside way is teeming with life....some nice and some not so.

My usual daily activity when i get home is for a tick check, first for the dog (because he loves the fuss and a tummy tickle, also as he roams through the undergrowth for most of the day...that's his job),then on myself. These tiny little blighters just sit around waiting for the unwary traveller, dog, deer, ranger to walk by and give them a lift and a feed.

Female deer tick.

The best way to deal with them is to keep arms and legs covered, tuck in trousers to socks, check regularly for them on your clothes, especially after having walked through long grass, braken etc.

When you get home check your skin especially round the groin, armpits, backs of knees anywhere warm with soft skin. For more information about all things ticky check out this website.

http://www.tickalert.org/

Battling on regardless....

"Whatever the weather, we'll whether the weather, whether we like it or not......or so i think it goes. One day its up in the barmy high 20's and feels like the sub tropics, the next day its monsoon conditions....what do you do. Where the apprpriate clothing and then pack every other type of garment in your bag or van in my case.

Whatever the weather, we'll carry on here at Speyside Way Central. There is always something to be done. Just slap on the factor 40 or put on and extra coat and forge on. We're charging our way through the grass cutting along the Way right now, we've already had a mower breakdown, we blame chris but i think it was just years of hard use and it just happened to break when chris was using it.

Our summer events program has started, i took a wee group up Ben Rinnes last saturday in glorious sunshine and had some very impressive views form the top. Check out the friends of Ben Rinnes website to learn more about Morays big hill.


www.friendsofbenrinnes.org.uk

ATISHOOOOO........

Two sunny days here have brought the grass pollen levels up dramatically. This morning it seems to be the turn of the cocksfoot grass (dactylis glomerata) to come into flower (yes, grasses DO flower, see below). A puff of wind rippling a hayfield I was passing today showed pollen drifting from the patches of cocksfoot like a light cloud of smoke. Hay fever sufferers beware!

This distinctive, tall grass (one of the easiest of all the grasses to recognise), much more cultivated by farmers previously than now, was introduced to Britain in the late 1700s from North America. It has lost favour recently as a forage crop with the introduction of many species of ryegrass which are considered more suitable for making sileage. Cocksfoot, nevertheless, is a strong, deep rooted grass which does very well in drought prone soils or in low rainfall areas, and produces very rapid re-growth after mowing

.

Moonshine....

This week there is a tiny crescent moon in the sky - but can YOU tell, just by looking at it, whether it's a new moon or an old moon, whether it's waxing or waning? And does it matter anyway? According to many cultures, there are many things which should only be done under a certain phase of the moon. Take gardening, for example.
It is said that during a waxing moon you should:

• repot your houseplants,
• sow seeds and transplant vegetable crops such as peas, beans, lettuce, cabbage (all 'above ground' crops
  
• plant any fruit trees and bushes
• fertilise all plants

and under a waning moon you should:

• plant bulbs
• sow seeds or plant vegetable crops that grow below the ground, such as potatoes, turnips, onions carrots, beetroot etc

Anyway, back to the original problem - how to tell. Well, help is at hand in the form of a poem by Christina Rossetti:

O Lady Moon.
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the east:
Shine, be increased;
O Lady Moon, your horns point toward the west:
Wane, be at rest.

In other words, (because the moon travels round the southern sky in the northern hemisphere) if the horns on the moon you are looking at point to the left, it's a new moon; to the right, it's an old moon.

So much moonshine? Try it and see.......

Where have all the visitors gone.....

I am reminded of the old Pete Seeger song "Where have all the flowers gone?" - except in this case it's "Where have all the visitors gone?".

After seeing record numbers through the door of the Visitor Centre in May (up 67% on last year), June numbers have crashed again. June has of course been a bad month weatherwise even for NE Scotland, both cold and wet: could it be, to go back to Pete Seeger (well, nearly!) that the response is "Caught pneumonia, everyone" ?

Our figures for May had, of course, two major boosts. The first was the week-long local Whisky Festival which without doubt attracted large numbers of visitors into the area, and the second was the 'Julia Bradbury effect' following a showing on BBC2 of the episode of "Railway Walks" that was shot on the old railway between Craigellachie and Ballindalloch. (This is available on DVD from the BBC and also from outlets such as Amazon). The night after this was shown there was a spectacular spike of hits on the Speyside Way website, and since then we have had a real influx of visitors asking where the locations were!

Never under-estimate the power of the media!

Life and death on the Speyside Way

One of the many benefits of working as a ranger are those concerning wildlife sightings. Sometimes it can be a fleeting glimpse of a squirrel scampering through the trees, a flash of a woodpeckers wing or the cry of a buzzard.

Live sightings are a pleasant bonus to my working day, but unfortunitaly more often than not I see quite a few road casualities. The two victims I see the most are badgers and red squirrels, both are seen scampering across the many roads around the county. As sad as it may be even these RTA victims can help in the on going monitoring of these particular two animals.

If you do see any sightings of badgers or squirrels, then log onto these two websites and report your sightings, yes, even road victims. So even in their death they can help towards the continuing monitoring and research of these two very welcomed residents of Speyside.

www.scottishbadgers.org.uk

www.grampiansquirrelgroup.co.uk

Have a browse through these websites to learn more about these creatures and how maybe you can help with the monitoring of them