Upland birchwoods

A recent trip to the Scottish Highlands, staying at Kinloch Rannoch and upon arrival it was apparent the autumnal colour palette of deciduous trees, meant plans needed to be revised, to take advantage of the photographic opportunity presented. The appeal of photographing upland birchwoods, increased after a frustrating trip up Ben Lawers, that achieved nothing more than the following a 'munro baggers trench' and some very infrequent breaks in a persistent band of cloud that blanketed the summits and obscured the views. Disappointing, as I venture into the hills for the views, not to tick off a hill list. The small consolation of the Ben Lawers ascent, was a brief, but impressive Brocken spectre.

I decided that my photographic ambitions be revised from summit views, to finding an autumnal upland birchwood, with hills in the background under an atmospheric sky and given the iffy Mountain Weather Forecasts, of high winds and low percentages of clear summits, it seemed a wiser choice.

Ordnance Survey maps were appraised for deciduous woodland, then cross referenced with online historic 1:10,560 OS maps and then satellite imagery, to eliminate newly planted or regenrated woodland. A comparison of modern OS maps and the 19thC OS maps, also lends credence to woodland historians assertions that some upland birchwoods are mobile in the Highland landscape. It soon became apparent that there were a number of locations to choose from and in absence of a strict definition, I decided that anything above the 300m contour line would be a reasonable basis to define an upland birchwood, ecologists would rightly beg to differ, but it seemed a reasonable cut off point for my needs. Locations were then assessed for : geology interest, interference of views from municipal infrastructure, expansive views etc and a list of potential sites arrived at to visit, weather permitting.

The weather duly obliged with sunshine and showers.

Of the upland birchwoods visited, some had been enclosed with deer fences to allow natural regeneration to take place, whilst others were left open and I can only assume that deer were being controlled, as there were signs of woodland regeneration with saplings growing. Where there were no deer fences or apparent controls on grazing pressure, the woodland showed no signs of regeneration. In all the upland birchwoods visited, Bracken was conspicuous by its presence in the field layer and adjacent landscape, prompting some ecologists to speculate that these were formerly Oak woods.

A ravine chanced upon, revealed the potential for the wider Highlands landscape, if the grazing regime changed. The mixed woodland consisted of: Aspen, Rowan, Hazel, Willow and Birch, that contributed to an excellent autumnal colour palette

The decision to lower ambitions from summits to lower elevations proved a good decision and some less visited parts of Perthshire were explored.

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.

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