Dundreggan News - May 2008

Survey results are coming in, management plans are underway and we finally have real progress with the purchase... but suddenly we urgently need funding to buy Dundreggan Lodge!

Wild weather and all elements!

The past few months have provided an opportunity for me to experience the full range of weather conditions and the wild elements of the Highlands at Dundreggan. During a cold spell in December, the temperature hovered around minus 12 degrees for about a week, and this created ideal conditions for the development of large amounts of hoar frost on the vegetation. Tree twigs, grass blades and fallen leaves all became coated with beautiful crystalline works of natural art, turning the landscape, and especially the sheltered floodplain area by the River Moriston, into a veritable winter wonderland. On several frozen ponds I saw ice flowers – remarkable formations of ice that occur in very cold conditions when capillary action forces water up out of twigs etc, whereupon it freezes into dramatic crystal shapes.

Alder trees in the floodplain area of Dundreggan during a flood in February.

In sharp contrast, a few weeks later, in February, heavy rains caused a substantially-increased water flow in the River Moriston, which flooded out over much of the floodplain on Dundreggan. On another day, also in February, Kerrigan and I made a site visit to Dundreggan with some staff and directors from the Edinburgh-based eco-tourism company, Wilderness Scotland, who are interested in supporting our work there. We went up to the summit of Binnilidh Bheag, where it was virtually impossible to stand upright because of the gale force winds, and our faces were stung by blasts of horizontal sleet and rain. We joked with our visitors that we had arranged the weather so they got a full on experience of wilderness in Scotland that day!

In between all of that, there have also been some calm sunny days, and in early March, again on the summit of Binnilidh Bheag, we had a very different experience, with clear views all around and almost wind-still conditions! Whatever the weather though, I’m touched by the beauty and special qualities of the land and life there.

Reaping the results of our biodiversity surveys

The winter months have seen less practical activity at Dundreggan, in contrast to the summer when many of our biodiversity surveys were taking place. However, a lot of information has flowed in, as the survey reports have been received from the various specialists we commissioned. The fungal survey carried out by mycologist Liz Holden identified 174 species of fungi on Dundreggan, with the birch-juniper woodland on the southern slopes of Binnilidh Bheag providing the greatest diversity of species. Notable fungi included two Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species – the tooth fungi Hydnellum peckii and Phellodon tomentosus – and rarely-recorded species such as the sinuous chanterelle (Pseudocraterellus undulatus) and a wood-decomposing fungus (Amylostereum laevigatum) found on a dead juniper stem. The survey report included a series of useful recommendations for management to benefit fungi, and the caveat that, because of the limited number of days spent on the estate, the list of species is only a partial one, and we expect it to increase considerably in the years ahead.

In 2007, we commissioned Adam Garside to carry out a survey of aquatic invertebrates in Glen Affric, and during that he took time to have a brief look at Dundreggan too. He focussed his efforts on the riparian area of the River Moriston, and the burns that flow down through the woodland on the lower slopes of Binnilidh Bheag, so it wasn’t a comprehensive survey, but it did result in the identification of 36 species of aquatic invertebrates there. We hope to organise a follow up survey that will cover the other parts of the estate, particularly the remoter lochs and lochans, in the next year or two.

We already knew from casual observations that the birch woodland at Dundreggan contained good numbers of wood ants, and this was confirmed by the survey carried out by Jonathan Hughes. He found there was a high density of nests of the hairy wood ant (Formica lugubris) in some areas, but that these were generally small in size. The report highlighted the fact that the ants on Dundreggan have probably been isolated geographically for many decades, and provides an additional basis for the work we envision to link up the forest remnants there with those elsewhere in Glen Moriston, and via a habitat corridor, to Glen Affric to the north.

Joe Hope looking at a lichen-covered hazel near the River Moriston, during his survey of Dundreggan in November.

Lichenologist Joe Hope carried out a survey on Dundreggan in November, and his work resulted in the identification of 178 species of lichen there. These included one BAP species, Caledonian pannaria (Fuscopannaria ignobilis), and 3 Nationally Rare species, one of which is a pinhead lichen (Phaeocalicium praecedens) that occurs exclusively on the twigs of aspen trees (it’s also been recorded at Coille Ruigh in Glen Affric). An additional two species have not yet been identified, and it’s possible they have not been described before – we hope to hear more about these in due course.

This year, we’re planning to have a further series of surveys carried out, including ones for mammals and spiders. Meanwhile, local resident and biodiversity enthusiast Jane Bowman is taking part in a bird survey of Glen Moriston, as part of a national recording project for birds, and we hope that will produce some interesting results for Dundreggan as well.

Pages about Biodiversity on Dundreggan on this site

Biodiversity surveys at Dundreggan - May 2010
Biodiversity discoveries - November 2009
Biodiversity surveys - August 2009
Surveys and biodiversity discoveries - November 2008
Reaping the results of our biodiversity surveys - May 2008
Dundreggan's diversity keeps growing! - November 2007
Biodiversity on Dundreggan - First impressions, August 2009
Biodiversity on Dundreggan

Management planning is well underway

Colin Blyth has been working steadily on drafting a Management Plan for Dundreggan, and we expect that it will be completed by the time this newsletter is distributed. The plan will be an extensive document, with significant sections describing the estate and its features such as geology, biological diversity etc., as well as details of our objectives and programme of planned work. As part of this process, we’re also producing specific plans for deer management, and access and audience development. The latter forms an important element of the Project Planning Grant (PPG) we’ve received from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and we commissioned some independent consultants to prepare this for us.

Allan Common (left), with consultants Duncan Bryden and Bill Taylor, and Colin Blyth (right), on the summit of Binnilidh Bheag on Dundreggan in early March.

Another important purpose of the PPG is to enable us to prepare an application to HLF for a substantial Management Grant, to help fund conservation and restoration work at Dundreggan over a period of 5 years. We submitted this at the end of March, but HLF has a 6 month evaluation process, so we won’t know the outcome of the application until September. Please join us in holding the vision that we get approval for what will be significant funding for our project there!

Progress with the purchase at last!

I’m delighted to report that we finally have real progress with the purchase of the estate, and as this edition of Caledonia Wild! goes to press, we’ve been informed that the transfer of title and completion of the purchase should happen in the middle of May. This is both very exciting and a huge relief, as it’s been a real test of patience for me, and for all of us here, while we’ve waited for the solicitors for the vendors to complete the formalities at their end. It’s almost two years since we signed the legally-binding contract for the purchase of Dundreggan, and I never imagined it would take so long for the contract to be implemented. Now, we’ll be able to move forward with all the plans we've been developing, including those for Conservation Holidays on the estate. Please check our web site, as we’ll soon have further news on there about this exciting development.

Alan Watson Featherstone

Stop press! Urgent appeal: £210,000 funding needed for Dundreggan Lodge!

Pages about Dundreggan on this site

• Dundreggan home page
• Become a Friend of Dundreggan
• The Dundreggan Estate - the perfect site for forest restoration. Management plan in brief.
• £1.65 million Dundreggan deal a milestone for Scotland's Caledonian Forest
• Our purchase of Dundreggan is complete, at last - August 2008
• Dundreggan News: articles from 2006 to the present
• First impressions of Dundreggan's potential for forest restoration
• Biodiversity on Dundreggan - First impressions, August 2006
• Biodiversity on Dundreggan
• The History of the Dundreggan Estate