A Forest Walk

After a morning last week doing a guided walk with a fantastic family from Northern Ireland I decided the rest of the day was too good to waste and walked home from Brodick through Glencloy. The glen has a mixture of open fields, where the gorse is currently in glorious bloom, commercial forestry plantations, and native woodland.
The native woodland runs along the burn at the bottom of the glen, and although the buds on the trees are only just staring to come in to leaf, honeysuckle is rambling through many of the trees with bright green shoots, giving the trees an illusion of full leaf (spring tends to be later here on Arran than further south- for obvious reasons). After crossing the burn, the path climbs up and joins a forest road through a conifer plantation. A significant part of Arran's landscape is managed by Forestry Commission Scotland. This includes areas of commercial forestry, clearfell, and open moorland. In many places these clearfell areas that are left after the trees have been felled are being allowed to regenerate naturally, or native trees are being planted in the place of the imported sitka spruce that has been removed.
Dead trees are left standing in the empty places as calling posts and perches for raptors and other birds. This is not the only thing that the local forestry officers are doing for our birds, in some parts of the forest, curious objects have been appearing in trees. I am often asked by people why plastic barrels have been placed high up in trees. The answer is simple, they have been put up to provide homes for barn owls. The scheme has been very successful, and the evidence points to an increase in the population of barn owls as a result of these innovative owl boxes. During the Wildlife Festival it will be possible to join Forestry Commission Scotland for a special guided walk during which the FCS Rangers will be investigating the breeding success of one of these nest sites. Spaces are limited and disappearing fast so book early to avoid disappointment! Link to barn owl walks page.

The perils of plastic bags and balloons

A recent kayaking trip on the west coast of Arran revealed that our marine birds are also getting started with their breeding season. Rafts of eiders were spotted off shore, with groups of 8 or so males and females gathering up and down the coast. Pairs of shelduck and mergansers were also spotted. Spring can be an optimistic time and it was great to see these signs of courtship.
However, the trip also reveled a darker side of life as large amounts of plastic and other rubbish was being swept ashore on a rolling swell from the Irish Sea. A line of debris about 50m off shore stretched from Imachar to Lochranza. Amongst the rubbish were some really dangerous items for wildlife, including this balloon. Filled with helium, it once brought a smile to someones face, but released, accidentally or deliberately, it inevitably found its way in to the sea where it could easily have been mistaken for a jellyfish. Leatherback turtles and even whales and dolphins have been known to eat balloons and plastic bags, often with fatal consequences. Marine litter is a serious hazard to wildlife, and it is not just balloons and plastic bags that cause problems. Smaller plastic pieces are ingested by seabirds, such as fulmars, and these can also be fatal. Birds and animals may become entangled in fishing nets and lines and other abandoned debris. Microscopic particles of plastic are ingested by all sorts of creatures. Plastics easily absorb pollutants and these then enter the food chain- our food chain.
Here on Arran, many of the villages organise regular beach cleans to try and minimise the amount of rubbish on our beaches. The Marine Conservation Society, one of the charities involved with the Arran Wildlife Festival, campaigns to reduce the amount of plastic that enters the sea in the first place, through education programmes, encouraging a reduction in plastic bag use, and annual beach cleans. For more information have a look at the MCS website's pollution pages: http://www.mcsuk.org/mcsaction/pollution/introduction

Booking lines now open!

It is March 13th and although it is also a Friday, this is a lucky day for the wildlife festival as today the booking lines have opened and bookings are starting to come in. Our new programme has been launched- you can look at it on the wildlife festival website.
For information or to book your places just call 07501337532.

Meanwhile, from a wildlife point of view, a new season is emerging on Arran with the first spring bulbs now in bloom. The birds are singing, and although the weather is still cold and a little bit grim, there is an optimistic air of spring about the place. Our summer visitors are starting to return and the coming days and weeks will only see more and more activity. Watch this space!

13th-20th May 2009

An exciting programme of events is being prepared for this years Festival. This blog will be updated daily during the Festival. If you are attending an event and would like to write a piece for the blog and share your photos then please contact us.