The clean air of Coed-y-Rhaeadr

After days of wind and rain the weather forecast offered something quieter, still blanket cloud but with the wind easing.  Coed-y-Rhaeadr would be worth a visit with high water flows and there's also something of interest as the area is covered by the Coedydd Nedd a Mellte SAC designated for its old sessile oak woods and ravine woodland. Parking up and a group of walkers arrived back from their outing and were coated with mud to their knees, indicating the paths were in a poor condition.  The enthusiasm for a walking mudfest wasn't that great, so a walk  was made to an area with less footfall i.e sans waterfalls and one that straddles the geological boundary of Carboniferous sandstones (quartz arenites and conglomerates) and underlying limestone lithologies.

Coppiced oak and pollarded beech tree.

The geology also influences the flora with oak, hard fern (Blechnum spicant), common hair-cap moss (Polytrichum commune) indicating sandstone bedrock, whilst ash, wych elm and sycamore indicate limestone bedrock.

Veteran pollarded sycamore adjacent to a derelict track.

Within the woods there is also evidence for past habitation with long abandoned derelict trackways leading to equally derelict buildings. One substantial pile of rubble was intimately associated with several mature pollarded sycamore trees (neophytes) playing host to a visually impressive covering of native epiphytes including polypody ferns, bryophytes and macro-lichens. A nearby veteran ash tree trunk provided suitable habitat for an old growth forest lichen - Peltigera horizontalis.

Peltigera horizontalis

The attrition of wind and recent snowfall had brought down plenty of lichen covered twigs, branches and trees and in one area a beard lichen - Usnea Florida was conspicuous on the woodland floor and high up in the canopy. A lichen indicator of very low levels of atmospheric pollutants.

Usnea Florida

With dusk approaching the walk was cut short and the end to an interesting wander.

Killarney National Park - 2

Due to a “series of disasters” Ireland has one of the lowest land coverage % of woodland in Europe and even then a depressing area of that is under commercial forestry of alien trees. The oak woods in Killarney National Park represent a significant percentage of the remaining native oak woodland and are designated as a Special Area of Conservation.

The Killarney oak woods have been afflicted by the Victorian era enthusiasm for alien flora and fauna that saw many exotic trees planted including rhododendron and Sitka deer introduced for sport shooting. Unusually for conservationists they are in unanimous agreement that Rhododendrons and Sitka deer are not desirable for native woodland regeneration. The eradication of rhododendron from the native woodland is an ongoing affair undertaken by commendably enthusiastic volunteers and likely to take many years. Google satellite isn't much use either as rhododendrons form an understorey and what may appear to be broadleaved woodland from above is an impenetrable wall of rhododendrons as an understorey. Additionally in an effort to regenerate the woodland, exclosure fences have been erected to keep out the Sitka and native Red deer, the exclosures do not appear to have entrance gates for visitors. Nonetheless the woodland sans exclosures and rhododendrons is worth seeking out.

There appear to be several generations of oak trees with veteran pollards and coppice stools interspersed amongst maiden trees, pointing to changes in historic woodland management. In some areas a case could be made for natural regeneration, whilst in other areas the regular spacing of oaks in linear arrangement indicates plantations.  Much of the older oak woodland in the Forest of Dean originated from Napoleonic plantations for naval ship timber and oak morphologies in the Killarney woods bear a striking resemblance to the Dean oaks.

The Lusitania flora was also chanced upon, notably the Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and Saint Patrick's Cabbage (Saxifraga spathularis).

Fruits of the Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo)

St Patrick's cabbages (Saxifraga spathularis) epiphytes on a veteran oak pollard.

The lichen communities are well represented.

Green satin lichen (Lobaria virens)

Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) and Green satin lichen (Lobaria virens)

There are also some fine viewpoints in the woodlands offering more expansive views.

Killarney makes a great base for exploring the National Park and I can thoroughly recommend it.

The Black Wood of Rannoch - October 2016

I had briefly visited the Black Wood of Rannoch, back in May and decided then, that it warranted a return visit(s). Events conspired to present an opportunity to further explore the woodland, during a weeks stay in Kinloch Rannoch, in late October with the potential for autumnal colour.

Surprisingly for a woodland, there is plenty of literature on the Black Wood of Rannoch and the surrounding area. Through documents, surveys and maps, woodland historians have pieced together a history of the wood, identifying major timber felling events and periods of regeneration. Archaeologists have recorded iron working sites, charcoal platforms, lime kilns, saw pits, saw mills and occupation sites, to provide an indication of the level of natural resource exploitation. Scientists have published papers and reports on numerous aspects of the ecology and species that inhabit the woodland. Judging by the number of old painted stakes, marker posts denoting transect lines and new orange spray painted stakes, the Black Wood is an area of ongoing scientific research and monitoring activities.

Granny Pines and regeneration, in the Black Wood

Geology, Glaciation, Climate and Soils

The geology underlying the Black Wood is predominantly Dalradian metasedimentary rocks, though away from streams, bedrock exposures are limited.  The area has been repeatedly inundated by glacial ice during the Quatenary, the last time during the Loch Lomond stadial. The littoral of Loch Rannoch provides evidence for the origin of glacial debris, as amongst the metasedimentary rocks of local origin, are pale speckled granite rocks that originate from the Moor of Rannoch granite pluton to the west of Loch Rannoch. Analysis of glacial landforms has allowed Geomorphologist to hypothesise that an Ice Cap ~1 Km thick, formed over Rannoch Moor during the Loch Lomond stadial, with outlet glaciers spreading out across the landscape. The study of glacial landforms has led some to hypothesise that there were areas of cold and warm based Ice and that the cold based Ice may have preserved relict landforms from previous episodes of glaciation.  When the climate ameliorated, the Loch Lomond stadial glaciers retreated and the Ice Cap down wasted, leaving behind an extensive assemblage of glacial till, morainic debris and glaciofluvial deposits, mantling the land.

Stream exposure of inclined bedrock and riparian woodland

The metamorphic bedrock underlying the woodland is relatively impermeable and rainfall drains through the superficial deposits and soil layers. The Loch Rannoch area receives a mean annual rainfall of ~1.5 metres and higher amounts over adjacent elevated ground. Away from forestry tracks and wandering along animal track ways that contour the slopes, there are a surprising number of spring lines and flushes encountered.

Flush mosses 

The nature and topography of the woodland floor has generated a range of soils: mainly podzols, gleys and peats. The diverse nature of the ground topography and soils has created a mosaic of micro-habitats within the Black Wood of Rannoch, exploited by flora to produce vegetation communities in ground and field layers of: mosses, rushes, sedges, grasses, herbs, shrubs and bracken.

Woodland history

The general consensus amongst woodland historians is that once upon a time the Black Wood extended further west, east and south. The combination of over grazing and unsustainable tree felling, reduced the wood to a core area, with Gaelic place names, Old maps, remnant Scots Pines, hinting at the former extent of the wood. Matters could be far worse, if it wasn't for enlightened individuals in times past, initiating programs of woodland regeneration, but on the whole it has been a case of gradual decline. From 1947 the Black Wood, has been managed by the Forestry Commission and what exists today reflects the good and not so good aspects of the Forestry Commissions management of the woodland, that they in turn took ownership of. Conservation areas, regeneration and expansion of the Caledonian Forest are the good aspects and Management plans are in place to underpin a number of objectives and ambitions.

Scots Pines and Birch

The not so good aspects of the FC's management are being revisited, non native trees removed and native trees of local provenance planted. A significant area of the Black Wood has also been designated as a Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest, legally protected and specific management plans cover these areas.


Granny Pines

Granny Pine and Birch

The Granny Pines define the special nature of the Caledonian Forest, their size and morphology, adding presence and a visual indicator of a woods age. The Granny Pines in the Black Wood have been dated by dendrochronology to the late 17th C. To my eyes, some of the Granny Pines have a form akin to pollarded Oaks, with large spreading crowns and as with Oak woodlands there is also Wood Sorrel growing beneath then amongst the needle litter. The survival of Granny Pines has been attributed to their unsuitability for timber.

Woodland floor under a Granny Pine

Hummocks

Anyone wandering 'off piste' in native Pinewoods will encounter 'hummocks' and the Black Wood of Rannoch is no exception, with 'Hummocks' covered in bilberry and heather, sometimes with a Scots Pine or Birch tree growing on them. Some hummocks are of a substantial size, others are in an embryonic state, with a blaeberry/moss cushion colonising a pine stump.

Hummock forming on pine stump

As far as I could tell, the majority of 'hummocks' in the Black Wood, do not appear to be erratic boulders blanketed in vegetation and instead are most likely formed from relict pine tree stumps, although a case could be made for wood ants nests also making a contribution. Conventional wisdom suggests the formation of a 'hummock' takes some time and they are a feature of Caledonian Pine woods with a long history of continuous woodland cover.

Hummocks

Bones of the Forest and windthrow

Foresters indoctrinated in 'modern' forestry at the old Forest schools, would no doubt be aghast at the scruffy nature of the Black Wood, there are a visible number of snags and fallen deadwood in the conservation areas within the Black Wood. The snags and windblow are a positive development for biodiversity and the organisms who are dependent on deadwood for habitat. Standing deadwood is a particularly important resource as the decay rate is slower than fallen material on the ground. The slower decay rate in standing deadwood is exploited by different organisms, to those that breakdown fallen wood on the ground, which in turn means increased biodiversity.

The deciduous woodland

A feature of the Black Wood is the prevalence of Birch, Rowan and Willow trees, that add diversity and a welcome splash of autumnal colour. Whilst Birch dominate some woodland areas, it seems that the Rowan trees are good indicators of the grazing level, in one enclosure where deer have been excluded for some while, it is now dominated by Rowan, in stark contrast to the numbers of Rowan trees in the wider woodland. Having typed that there are numbers of Rowan seedlings on the ground under trees where birds have roosted and this might indicate a further reduction in grazing animals/pressure. With very little imagination, it is easy to extrapolate how Highlands woods and the wider landscape might appear with a reduction in grazing of herbivores, to conservation levels.

During the visits, significant numbers of Fieldfares were seen feeding on Rowan berries and blaeberries, plants that rely on avian dispersal and the reason why Rowan saplings, Blaeberry and Cowberry. can be seen growing as epiphytes on Granny Pines.

Fungi

I had anticipated some native Pine woodland specialists and was not disappointed.

Scaly Tooth fungus (Sarcodon squamosus)

Gypsy mushroom (Cortinarius caperatus) and Ostrich-plume Feather-moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis)

Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Unidentified solitary Amanita fungus and Five-ranked Bog-moss (Sphagnum quinquefarium)

I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to the Black Wood of Rannoch, although only exploring a small fraction of its extent, there was still plenty of subject matter to photograph, much to ponder and the unique atmosphere of a native Pinewood in autumn to savour. Definitely a place to return to again.

An update on the Ardvar Woodlands Special Area of Conservation

I visited Ardvar woodland back in December 2015 and blogged about the unfavourable declining condition of this Special Area of Conservation. It seems the Assynt Peninsula Deer Management Group is still dysfunctional, as yesterday Scottish Natural Heritage released an article on Deer Management on the Assynt Peninsula. A decision is due in the near future on whether the Scottish Government will issue the first Section 8 Control Order of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996  requiring the Landowners to cull the deer population to a level that will enable woodland regeneration to take place.

Trip report Part I - A change of plan from the Far North to the Cairngorms NP

A cottage was booked back in January for a week at the end of May in the North West of Sutherland, plans had been made for walks, views, wildlife, flora, geology etc.

Black Wood of Rannoch 

The trip started well with a stopover on the Friday at Kinloch Rannoch, with a dusk and dawn visit made to The Black Wood. The hotel porter seemed bemused to see someone heading out for a walk in the rain at dawn. The Black Wood is a remnant of the Caledonian Forest, a Natura 200) site, Special Area of Conservation, Site of Special Scientific Interest and managed by Scotland's Forestry Commission. I last visited it in 2008 and well overdue a return visit.

Field layer diversity in the Black Wood of Rannoch

The blaeberry was flowering in the wood field layer and despite the rain, bumble bees were out gathering nectar and pollinating the blaeberry.

Blaeberry flowers

Bog Beacons were conspicuous in the wetter places of the wood.

Bog Beacons

The attrition of storms on the wood was evident with wind thrown branches littering the woodland floor.

Wind throw

Some parts of the wood had an interesting dynamic of Scots Pine and Birch trees.

Mosaic of Scots Pines and Birch woodland

My visits have only scratched the potential of the Black Wood and a note has been made for a more extended visit in the future.

The trip up the A9 and onto the single track roads through Sutherland passed soon enough and we reached the holiday cottage on schedule. It was a warm and sunny afternoon, opening the door to the accommodation revealed a cold and damp interior. A dead bumblebee on the duvet, a dying beetle on the floor and other assorted dead invertebrates added to the unwelcoming atmosphere. A further surprise was an information notice over the kitchen sink that stated the tap water wasn't fit for drinking and instead bottled water was supplied instead, sadly there were no bottles of drinking water anywhere. Further disappointment was an inspection of two cups for a restorative not beverage suggested that hygiene standards had slipped too. Oh, and the hot water was courtesy of a wood burning stove, which meant lighting and stoking a fire to ensure hot water: you really do need to to actually experience this to appreciate the convenience of gas/oil/electric boilers. This may sound like first world problem territory, but the prospect of spending a weeks holiday in this most unwelcoming of accommodation was beyond the pale. We decided we would bail out and find alternative accommodation. Sadly, the internet wasn't accessible and it seemed from the cottage instruction book that guests needed to call a number and sort any access problems themselves.

Fortuitously, the owner then turned up and after introductions, I expressed some forthright opinions. He blamed an error on the cleaning roster of the estate for the the state of the accommodation, confirmed he had never personally stayed in the accommodation and appeared to have some difficulty in accepting that opening an email from his phone outside on the mobile phone network was not the same as internet access. He offered to fully refund the £460 booking fee and also offered to let us stay overnight whilst we sorted out alternative accommodation. Without hesitation we accepted the offer of a refund, declined the second gesture and left, to find internet access. It was hugely disappointing as the location was superb, but we were also hugely relieved having dodged a bullet.

With one exception, all previous visits to Scotland had been to accommodation owned by Scottish residents and these have been exemplary. Our one and only previous poor experience of holiday accommodation in Scotland, was also courtesy of a sporting estate owned by English gentry. So if nothing else, sporting estates have some consistency in providing underwhelming accommodation in our limited experience.

Rose Root, Strathy point, Sutherland

The Tongue Hotel had no room availability, but the bar area had wifi and over coffee the quest for accommodation began. We established the following :

• A lot of accommodation had been already been booked on a long term basis by contractors for renewable energy developments.
• Durness was the focus of a week long running festival, The Cape Wrath Challenge and that had seen accommodation booked far and wide.
•  Coast 500 visitors, and other tourists to the area meant overnight accommodation in the local area was at a premium.  

A patron in the bar kindly helped by suggesting we drive along the coast road to Thurso and check out the BB's / guesthouses for vacancies, this seemed the best and a room was available at The Sheiling, Melvich, the owner, room, facilities and home cooked breakfast were all superb. We had dinner at the Strathy Inn - very good - and managed a couple of hours at Strathy point: taking in the views, looking for cetaceans and photographing the flora. Next morning we contacted Sykes Cottages, a company we had booked accommodation with before and were able to talk to a representative. There was no accommodation available in the NW Highlands, widening the search to wider Highland area and a rental property in Kingussie was available, we booked it and headed south.

Scottish Primrose, Strathy Point, Sutherland

Sugar Loaf Woodlands Special Area of Conservation

The wind finally dropped, even so the weather was not very inspiring for the hills, with extensive hill fog forecast, so a visit made to an upland wood that I hadn't visited since 2014. The wood is part of the 2,136 acres of the Sugar Loaf Mountain Common, donated to the National Trust in 1936 by Sybil Margaret Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda.  The wood is also one of 4 unit areas that comprise the Natura 2000 site, the Sugar Loaf Woodlands. A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Oak Moss (Evernia prunastri) 

As with most woods the origin and history of the oakwood can only be speculated at; its name Deri, is Welsh for Oak; the nearby town of Abergavenny has an ancient association with iron working and leather tanning, industries that required charcoal and oak bark. There are also a number of charcoal platforms of varying floor/platform area. Many of the oaks show signs of coppicing and high coppice/low pollarding. The earliest Ordnance Survey 6" to the mile map show the wood extent similar to the present woodland. Some sessile oak trees have the look and character of veteran trees, with some possibly of ancient tree status. Woodland tends to pose many questions but few definitive answers.

A sessile oak that appears of some age with regenerating woodland as a backdrop.

A closer look

I thought there would have been some evidence in the more exposed aspects of the wood of storm damage, surprisingly aside from some windblown deadwood and twigs, there was only a cleft bough as testament to winter 2015/16 storms.

A wind blown bough

On the gentler slopes wind had scoured the woodland floor revealing patterned ground, with alternating curvilinear bands of moss and leaf litter in some areas of the wood, the attentions of a mole revealed clean soil with no stone fragments. As the features appear natural and not the result of any agricultural activity I am aware of,  I would hazard a guess at solifluction or hill creep as the process. In other parts of the wood there are lobes of stone, that hint at a more extreme climate in the past.

Molehills and patterned ground

The steepness of the hill slope encourages natural layering of branches for oaks in more open aspects of the woodland.

Natural branch layering

Even in winter it is an interesting woodland to wander around.

Trees with character

As of 15th February 2008 the wood has a core management plan after the Conservation Status Condition of this wood was assessed as Unfavourable (2007), due to:

• Grazing having a strong role in preventing some of the canopy regeneration and in creating a sparser ground flora; 

• Some areas within the SAC/SSSI remain as open areas, especially on the fringe of the site. Whilst having some open areas is beneficial for a range of species, not all these open areas are of benefit to either the SAC or SSSI features; 

• The even-aged and dense canopy in much of the wooded area. This is creating very densely shaded ground, field and shrub layers and is one of the barriers to regeneration of saplings and ground flora. However, more canopy gaps would be expected in the long term as the canopy trees die, or through storm damage in the more exposed parts of the site; Canopy regeneration is a key attribute for signifying the functioning, habitat quality and sustainability of most woodland types, including sessile oak woods. The grazing within all 4 units has suppressed the regeneration of native woody species and in combination with past coppicing has resulted in a uniform age structure. The areas of Sugarloaf woodlands not subjected to continuous grazing, appear to become densely populated with saplings of all species. This may demonstrate that the main factor restricting natural regeneration of woody species in Sugar Loaf Woodlands is grazing and that current grazing levels are incompatible with sustainable semi-natural woodland at this site. The conservation objectives state that the canopy should be composed of locally native trees and, apart from a beech woodland area within Unit 1, the canopy of Sugar Loaf Woodlands is currently dominated by oak throughout. Where beech is present its seedlings tend dominate the regeneration and without management to control these locally non-native seedlings, this will further cause parts of the SAC feature to fail.

From the Action Plan : Summary of Conservation Measures

All of unit is on Sugar Loaf Common and therefore open to grazing, restricting canopy regeneration and extent and luxuriance of ground flora, very difficult to achieve "correct" grazing levels with current tools available. 

I can find no further updates or reports subsequent to the 2008 report.

A Special Area of Conservation has legal protection to ensure that habitat is maintained in a favourable condition. However, the woodland falls within an area of common land, that allows registered members of the Sugarloaf Commoners Association (SCA) to graze animals on the Sugar Loaf Mountain common. A record exists in the Commons Register of a Commons Commissioner Decision dated 1988 "In the matter of Sugar Loaf Mountain Common, Llantillo Pertholey and Llanfoist Fawr Communities and Abergavenny Town, Monmouth District, Gwent." Relating to registrations disputes made under the Commons Registration Act 1965. The following is a screen shot copied from the document.

The Commons Commissioner report raises a few questions not addressed in the hearing, notably the Sugarloaf Commoners Association enthusiasm in 1988 to inflate the numbers of registered grazing sheep from an already unsustainable number of ~15,000 to 18,643, grazing 2,136 acres of land. The Commoners Association were notified by a letter produced in evidence that the woodland was registered as a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1985. Judging by a sampling of Decision reports in Commons Registers, the Commons Commissioner was unusually active in the 1980's ruling on Commons Registration disputes, noting the area of Common Land and the surprising numbers of livestock registered under Common grazing rights.

I am uncertain how much common land there is in Europe, but in Wales 8.4% of land is registered common or 175,000 Hectares and in England 3% of land is registered common or 370,000 Hectares.

The New Naturalist book 'The Common Lands of England and Wales' provides an insight into the history and rights associated with common land. The origin of common land is unknown with some suggestions of common land originating in Roman, Iron age, Bronze age or in the Neolithic. The rights of commoners to common land is complex and has even proved challenging to the authority of reigning Monarchs imposing their will.

In June 2006 The State of Common Land in Wales - an indicative study was issued by RSPB Cymru. The following extracts are from the Report Executive Summary

Reform of the management of common land in England and Wales is currently being considered in Westminster and new legislation is expected to follow. Reform has been driven primarily by (i) the need to secure attainment of the UK Government’s target to have over 95% of SSSIs by area in England in favourable condition by 2010 and (ii) the wish to facilitate entry by commoners into agri-environment schemes, and so help secure the sustainable agriculture management of common land in general. 

Various reports in the last fifteen years have set out the need for improved management and protection of our common land; however, there are few current data available to give a clear view of the condition of commons in Wales. This report is an attempt to collate sources on common land in Wales and to assess the state of a small number of commons in Wales. These commons are not a representative sample of commons in Wales; rather, they are presented as a series of illustrative case studies. We also draw some conclusions for the implementation of the new legislation in Wales. 

The report provided an insight into the correlation between common land and protected habitats

45% (79,000 ha) of common land is designated as SSSI
There are 57 SSSIs in Wales that are wholly or mostly (80% - 100% by area) on common land344 commons in Wales that are 80% - 100% by area SSSIs

From information available on 38 of the 57 SSSI's that were wholly or mostly (80% - 100% by area) on common land the following was reported :

• 71 Species Features of the SSSI - 1 was in a Favourable Condition, 3 were in Unfavourable Condition and 67 were in an Unknown Condition
• 85 Habitat Features of the SSSI - 17 were in a Favourable Condition, 39 were in Unfavourable Condition and 29 were in an Unknown Condition

In 2006 UK Legislation was introduced in the form of the Commons Act 2006. The Welsh Government implementation of the 2006 Commons Act appears to be progressing at a pace commensurate with the scale and complexity of Common Land in Wales and in 2012 issued some guidance on frequently asked questions of Section 46 Unauthorised Agricultural Activities. There are also incentives in place for commoners to manage the land to ensure favourable conservation status of SAC/SSSI features and it now remains to be seen if the Unfavourable Condition of Sugar Loaf Woodlands SAC woods improves to a Favourable Condition.