My first memories of becoming fascinated with nature involve sitting in my kitchen with my Father's bird book trying to decide which feathered friends were visiting our feeders. Whilst my love of birds and their intriguing world still remain my main passion, in most recent years I have become increasingly interested in the world beneath our feet. Summer time brings us such a burst of colour, with wild flower carpets making it impossible for me to walk any distance without taking a ridiculous amount of time!
As I look out of the center, not only are my eyes met with flashes of colour from siskins, great spotted woodpeckers and redstarts, they are met with carpets of heather and bilberry, spotted with cotton grass rolling out towards EJ's nest. Cotton grass is actually not a grass at all, but a member of the sedge family. It is most common in bogs, wet moorland and upland areas throughout the UK and flowers May to June. The soft, cotton-like flower and seed heads are what gives this lovely plant its name! These fluffy fronds were used to dress wounds in Scotland during the First World War. Join us at the centre or take a walk at your nearest moorland and enjoy the peace as you watch this distinctive plant swaying in the breeze.
Lots of lovely cotton grass across Abernethy by Alice Hadley.
A visit to the centre will also leave you covered in pollen! Unlike most flowering plants, pine trees are pollinated by the wind. The wind carries pollen from the male flowering part of the plant (the catkin) to the pine cone (the female part of the plant). Each catkin can produce up to six million grains of pollen. So, with the largest single tract of remaining Caledonian pine forest in the UK, it is no wonder the air is currently thick with the yellow, flour like pollen of our amazing Scots pine trees. Pollen, co-incidentally, is the Latin name for flour. Scots pine is an incredibly important species here in the UK; its bark provides a great home for lichens and insects to thrive; siskins, great spotted woodpeckers, crested tits, crossbills and of course ospreys use Scots pine as a food or nesting source, and pine forests create great habitat for pine martins, capercaillies and red squirrels to live in!
Pollen in Loch Garten by Jess Tomes.
On the walk up to the centre, you will notice the bright green leaves of bilberry dotted among the heather. Bilberry is more commonly known as blaeberry here in Scotland and flowers May to June. It is found throughout the UK on moors and in open woodland. Blaeberry produces small, edible berries that are blue-black in colour and can be used to make jams and juices or blue and purple dies. Blaeberry is also thought to be incredibly important for capercaillie chicks, with the leaves providing essential cover and supporting invertebrates, which together with the berries provide a food source for the young!
Flowering bilberry by Alice Hadley.
I have also been enjoying coming across plants completely new to me. This week I came across a small, delicate perennial called chickweed-wintergreen whilst on a walk through the Abernethy forest. This small flowering plant can be found in mossy pine, birch and oak woods and throughout moors in Northern England and Scotland. Sadly it is now less common in England due to woodland clearance and moor burning. It is the county flower of Nairn and considered to be one of the North's best kept botanical secrets. This small flower hardly ever seeds, preferring to spread via runners instead. Chickweed-wintergreen is actually a member of the primrose family and also goes by the name Artic starflower.
An exciting find, the beautiful chickweed-wintergreen! by Alice Hadley.
I am also hoping to see one of Scotland's most iconic flowers soon, twin flower. Being the emblem of Scotland's ancient Calendonia pine forest, it would be a shame to miss such a treat. Twin flowers flower in June and it is much less common now than it used to be due to the fragmentation of the pine forest, which makes pollination a much more difficult task for it's pollinators!
I hope EJ has been enjoying the floral diversity of our beautiful forest as much as I have! She has been spending her time fishing for herself and sat nearby the nest, guarding it from any challengers. Once again, I am in awe of her dedication as a breeding osprey. Despite the sad misfortunes of the past two weeks, she remains loyal to her nest site and every time I watch her chase off yet another intruder I become even more proud of her. I have every faith that she will guard this nest with all her might for the remainder of the season, ready to return for next years. She truly is the most amazing and inspiring of souls.
Our girl.
I hope to see you at the center very soon, so you can all get excited about our botanical beauties with me...and of course our magnificent EJ!
Speak soon,
Alice!