Guest blog! From big bog to big forest.

A treat for you this time, bloggers. We recently played host to a small group of long term residential volunteers from other reserves in the region - giving them valuable experience of different habitats and management, and helping us out at the same time. I'm delighted to say that Ben agreed to make a guest appearance on our blog. Many thanks to Ben and the other vols (Steve, Gillian and Michael) - it's always a pleasure to welcome volunteers to the reserve and we're delighted you enjoyed your stay.

Still no news on the webcam front I'm afraid - without going into detail, the technology and distance just keep throwing us googlies, but it'll be sorted as soon as we can. Apologies again. Now, over to Ben...

Hi there!

My name’s Ben and I’m working as a long-term volunteer up at the Forsinard Flows Reserve in Sutherland. A few weeks ago, my colleague Steve and I, along with two other volunteers from the Central Highlands Reserves, were invited down to Abernethy to help out with some work that they needed a few extra pairs of hands for. The work we do up in Forsinard is mostly to do with removing the forestry that was planted in the ‘70’s and trying to get the blanket bog back to being nice and wet. Abernethy was a complete change of pace for us and it was really interesting to see how they are encouraging the forest to expand!

 We turned off the A9 onto some of the back roads towards Loch Garten and were immediately swallowed by the forest. We passed the Osprey Centre, nestled neatly in the trees, and headed out deeper into the forest. I thought nothing could feel as remote as Forsinard, but as soon as we got onto the track to Forest Lodge, if felt like we had entered another world. We followed the track through the open forest, and soon came across a clearing in the trees with Forest Lodge looming under the canopy. My first thought was that it reminded me of “The Shining” (which I had just read the week before), but as soon as we got closer, we could see the warm light seeping from the windows. The whole place is clad in wooden panelling (the largest all-wooden residential building in Britain!) both inside and out.

We piled out of the truck, with our breath misting in the cold air, and met Phil Golder, Abernethy Assistant Warden, out by his van. Phil showed us around (there was even a log burner which Steve was rather excited about) and told us the plan for the next day. I was already pretty enamoured with the place.

We had the rest of the afternoon off, so the four of us headed out for a short walk before the sun set. We only climbed a small hill, but at the end, the landscape opened up and we could see right out across to the mountains, which were wreathed in grey cloud. Every time I looked around in Abernethy there was something new to see, and it always felt like a secret. 

As soon as we got back, Steve headed straight to the log shed to cut us some kindling, and that night we settled in around the log burner to chat, with a cup of tea. The lodge has a really homely feel when the sun goes down.

The next morning, we woke bright and early after a cold night (Steve and I had two duvets and three blankets on our beds!) to get ready for the day. There was a heavy frost outside, but the rain looked to be closing in already. Phil and Fraser (Abernethy Warden) showed us which tools we’d need for the day and we headed off in the Landrover. It was a wet day of digging peat and damming drains, while Phil felled some trees for us to use (You can see how much fun we had!). The aim was to get the forest to partially flood itself, creating an area of marshy land which would kill some of the trees and open some areas up for breeding birds. Although killing the trees seems against the interests of a forest ecosystem, it actually increases the diversity of the forest as a whole, because it creates pockets of different habitats. This creates a mosaic pattern of open and closed forest. Wildlife likes mosaics!

Yay! Steve, Ben, Gillian and Michael

On the next day at the reserve, we had the opportunity to follow one of the wardens on a deer stalk. It’s important for deer populations to be controlled in Abernethy because they have no natural predators in the UK, after wolves were hunted to extinction here. Deer numbers have become artificially high, so it’s a key job on the reserve over winter to try and keep their numbers to a more sustainable level and prevent over-grazing of young trees. It was amazing to be involved and although we didn’t manage to get any deer that morning, just being outside in the crunchy frost was brilliant. We did manage to spot a couple of roe deer though.

As part of native forest regeneration at Abernethy, the species composition of the forest is also considered. Scots pine is Scotland’s only native conifer tree species, but it grows slowly and so can be outcompeted by invasive non-native species which spread from nearby plantations. The other volunteers and I helped out with some control of these invasive species, which essentially involved going to an open area where seeds were being blown over from neighbouring plantations and taking out all the non-native trees. We had to basically climb the side of a mountain, in the snow, and pull out any saplings we saw that weren’t native Caledonian forest tree species.

After we finished the area, the sun was setting and I turned around to the most amazing view of the reserve. After having my head buried in the snow for a few hours, it was a bit of a shock! I could see Loch Garten to my left and all the forest across the valley in front of me. The sun was setting and it gave the view a stunning, soft orange glow. I could see a ridge above us on the hill which I thought might be the summit, so I tried to climb to the top, though in 3ft of snow this was probably ill- advised. I reached not one, not two, but three false peaks, and with my confidence a little knocked, I decided to turn back. It was our last day working on the reserve, so I took my time sliding down to the others. The view was just too good!

That last evening was really lovely. We watched “Brave” (very apt, considering the landscape we were surrounded by!) and sipped on some warming whisky around the fire. In the morning we got up early and went out for a sunrise walk to say goodbye to the reserve one last time. I’ve got a lot of photos of frost and the sun in the trees from that morning! We even saw two eagles (though we couldn’t tell if they were white tailed or golden) flying up the pass by Cairngorm. We said our goodbyes to the staff and headed back onto the track. It felt strange joining the traffic going north. Back to reality (sort of…). I loved the reserve so much I’m applying for a summer internship there next year!

 I’d like to thank all the staff for being so welcoming and giving us the opportunity to experience a lot of what the reserve has to offer. I’m sure I’ll be back soon!