Day 8 of BTCV Placement - Loch Lomond

Today we were again inLoch Lomond to help the SNH guys with some work on the wetlands.  The areas we'd been working on were now flooded with about 4 foot of water and the places we were working in last week weren't even recognisable. 

To start we had to park and set off on foot about 2 or 3 miles from our original position.  Once ready we set off on a 20/25 minute walk to get to the only accessible part we were working on last week.  Today we had to use the steel chromes to remove the floating grass from the pond.  To start with it was rather easy but as we began to move onto the deeper and essentially more tangled parts it took maybe 2 or 3 of us to remove just one clump.

Once the grass was loose and dragged up the embankment we had to leave it to drain for a while, it was so absorbed with water that it weighed a tonne!!  The blisters at the end of the day show the effort that had to be put in!! ha ha.

After lunch we moved onto another area.  We walked to this plot through a beautiful woodland and some of the boggiest ground i've ever had to negotiate.  The most interesting part was walking over the soft and spongy ground which I soon realised to be spagnum.  This was very interesting as the Langlands Moss area I'm doing just now is being worked to promote spagnum to grow, but I've only seen it growing under the surface of the water in the reservoir.  It was certainly an experience to see what it's like when fully formed.

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Day 7 of BTCV Placement - Easterhouse, Glasgow Fort

Today we were in Easterhouse at the Glasgow Fort planting wild flowers in the service yard behind the complex.  We were still pretty tired from our 2 days at Loch Lomond clearing willow trees, but this was the last day before the weekend and were intent on getting it done at all costs.

The day started out miserable with the rain fair coming down, we made our way to the Glasgow Fort only to realise we'd forgotten the gloves..so it looked like the cold weather was going to be made better by having to plant with our bare hands.  Luckily though, we opened the first aid box and made good use of the rubber gloves in there =D ha ha.

After making our way to the service yard with a game plan of doing the work as swiftly as possible, we couldn't find the plants!!  We looked right up and down the grass and fencing but none to be found, so we went back to the van.  Only to decide on having a second look where we actually found them =P

The rain was pretty constant all day and we had 300 plants to work through.  With 6 of us, we made light work of the plants and managed to finish pretty early..which was more than welcome as we were all soaked through.  Not a good day to be kneeling on the soggy grass and not moving much, it certainly was a cold experience.

That's us now finished the planting for the whole area, very much pleased =)

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Day 6 of BTCV Placement - Loch Lomond SPA

Today we were in Loch Lomond at the SPA (Special Protection Area) to continue on the days work we had done on the tuesday.  Today we were to continue with pulling the cut willow and birch across the pond an stacking it behind the pathway.  Today we had a twist though with a fire going (watched over by Nick from SNH =P) to burn the branches and logs cut from the willow trees.

Through the course of the morning we got the fire going gradually in order for us to use it fully in the afternoon.  We had the lads from Cardonald College with us today which was a great help for us to blitz through the work we had.

The morning started off really well with the sun shining and everyone working away in t shirts.  Me and Ali made some excellent progress clearing a large area away in our section using the rope to drag it across the stagnant water.

We broke for lunch around 1 and made our way over to the tree line across the meadow so we could sit on a large hummock under the sun.  About 20 mins into lunch the rain clouds rolled in and gradually started to drizzle, just when we were packing up the supplies again the heavens opened....lovely start to the afternoon.

By the time lunch had passed the fire was now burning away nicely and we were then told to cut back on dragging the willow across the water and now to bring it to the fire for us to burn it.  The danger of fire was clearly evident when the wind suddenly changed and blew the flames right into Nick's face, he ended up with his eyebrows singed and the front part of his hair missing..was quite funny actually.

By the end of the day it was a great accomplishment to look back and see the areas we'd cleared, gave a good feeling after being soaked all afternoon, ha ha.

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BTCV Day 5 - Loch Lomond Special Protection Area

Day 5 of the BTCV placement - Today we were in Loch Lomond helping out with Scottish Natural Heritage.  We were clearing away willow trees which had been previously cut down by workers with chainsaws.  The land we were on was a wetland area next to Loch Lomond which in the winter floods over and actually becomes a part of Loch Lomond!!  The problem this then poses is that as the water rises, it picks up the loose trunks and vegetation and carries it away possibly causing damage to fences or affecting farmers land and all in all making it harder to collect when it's all spread out.

We were working with Stuart and Nick from SNH.  We had to move the cuttings from one side of a stagnant pond to the other and lay it at the back.  We made some remarkable progress in our first day there this year, looking back on it I'm sure it was 1/4 of a mile!!

The pond itself was really deep in some places, up to 6 feet.  The grass growing through the top made it deceiving because it was only a thin layer and wouldn't support your weight, whereas it looked as sturdy as a lawn of grass.  I was caught out though, not through negligence but wrong footing, ha ha, up to my hips in freezing cold water..certainly woke me up anyway!!

The land is home to many animals but mainly Geese.  I'll have to look up the specific breeds of Geese as one particular breed that inhabits this land in the winter is very low in population.  In Loch Lomond alone there are 200 of them, this is 1% of the total world population!!  I couldn't believe how low the numbers were.  In some or most other survey areas the population numbers have been dropping steadily, whereas in Loch Lomond the numbers are staying constant.

The area we were in as said earlier is a Special Protection Area (SPA) which is a higher status than any other in Europe.  This basically guarantees against ANY development which could be possibly suggested, not even the government could build on this land as it is protected under EEC Directive.

We will be back in the same plot tomorrow to continue the same work as today and hopefully will clear the rest if not most of the vegetation.  If it comes to the point where we're not making enough progress then we will burn the rest of the willow.

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Loch Winnoch RSPB Nature Reserve

Day 4 of BTCV placement - Today we were in Loch Winnoch at the RSPB Nature Reserve.  We had plans to go to Loch Lomond today but this was changed to wednesday.

Our role at the nature reserve is to cut back the long overgrown grass and to then rake it up and remove it from the paddock.  The paddock is a very large wetland in the middle of a wide valley, which makes it very susceptible to cold winds!!  Most of the grass has already been cut by the RSPB themselves using large machinery, although some hard to reach areas have been left to us to do with petrol strimmers.

The plans for the paddock - with it being a nature reserve - is to have wild flowers growing to promote and encourage wildlife to come to the area.  Although it is land owned by the RSPB flourished with birds, there is also other wildlife inhabiting Loch Winnoch including frogs, otters, butterflies and dragon flys.  To encourage the wild flowers to grow, they need a very harsh climate, which is already provided by the cold and wet weather, but also to have a soil base which is as lacking in nutrients as possible.  When the grass is cut, the cuttings have been left on the ground, which if left to decompose will result in the nutrients seeping into the soil and defeating our goal of a wild and natural habitat.

We had a selection of tools including rakes, pitch forks and petrol strimmers.  I had a shot of the petrol strimmer today, my first time using one; it was great fun =D  The only problem is after a while it can hurt your back as the strimmer is particularly heavy and the vibrations can make your hands go numb.

We have made good progress in the time we have been there, removing a huge quantity of cuttings and also making progress into those hard to reach areas.  The cuttings are piled at the back away from the paddock, for which purpose we are not too sure of just now, but one useful suggestion may be for compost or possibly animal feed.

On a tragic note unfortunately, we found a dead otter at the far side of the paddock, lying at the back.  As we were looking, one of the RSPB rangers came over and told us how he had found the otter along with another younger one at the side of the road just along from the nature reserve.  What he believes happened was actually quite heart breaking when he told us.  Apparently if a younger otter is hit by a car, the parent will try to drag it off the road, the conclusion we could come to with the fact both were found together is that the parent was doing exactly this when she/he too was struck by a car.  Rather tragic seeing as this was the first time I'd ever seen an otter, unfortunately it was dead.  One thing that struck me was the size of it though, I never knew them to be such large creatures, much bigger than a cat, even the younger one.

On a lighter note though, one of our volunteers, Hannah, has just completed a course in Zoology.  She has agreed to go to the nature reserve an extra day each week to do surveys of the wildlife there.  One of her priorities is to survey the otter population and determine where their habitat is, where they may look for food and for what reason and what frequency they must cross the busy road.  If the survey determines there is a risk to the otters due to their frequency of crossing the road, we can then - if plausable - consider an otter crossing point or to dig a tunnel for the otters to cross safely.  Hopefully this shall materialise in the coming weeks and we can help avoid any more tragedys.

Tomorrow we will be in Loch Lomond, we're not sure what exactly we're doing as of yet, but when I'm home again after it, I will be posting a new blog afterwards =)

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Friends of Langlands Moss dam building cancelled

Was supposed to be up on Langlands Moss today building dams for the local nature reserve. The weather looked rather promising this morning but unfortunately it's turned absolutely wild!! Gale force winds and heavy rain..no good when moving 3 metre panels and using a sledgehammer!! ha ha.

Hopefully we'll be back up next weekend weather permitting. We're currently there just now to do work on the Moss as it has just became a nature conservation area/sight of special scientific interest. The land was previously a conifer plantation, which was cut down and considered for the site of a new landfill in East Kilbride, this was rejected fiercely by the community (obviously)..this was on top of - quite a few years ago - a peat company wishing to turn the site into a peat 'mine'.

Finally the council stepped in and had the land granted the title of SSSI. As the conifers were cut down and the stumps left, large hummocks have been left on the land covered in moss and heather. We need to transform the nutrient levels of the moss in order to make it habitable to more wildlife. In order for us to do so we need to raise th acidity of the soil, which assures no further or at most very little growth again of conifers or wild flowers.

In order to raise the acidity of the soil, we have decided to make dams in the area coming down in steps from the crest of the hill. As the dams fill up with water and back up, a type of fungus called spagnum develops in the trapped and stagnant water. This spagnum is what turns the soil acidic. Gradually over many months and years the spagnum spreads up above the water line and across the landscape. There may be a few - if not just one - conifer tree still growing in the moss, these are usually cut down if they appear in large numbers, but they have a more novel use in the eyes of conservation.

As the conifers are supposedly unable to grow in acidic soil, they are a good guage to read as to how the nutrients in the soil are changing. If there are many small to medium confiers then the spread of acidity isn't far enough. Whereas if you have many medium to large trees then you know something is obviously wrong.

In the area we are working - Neptune's Staircase - there is one lonesome conifer tree in the distance, one solitary tree lost in a field of stemmed growth and prosperity. This is perfect for our work as we can use this to mesaure it's growth, colour and condition to judge the acidity of the soil without any special scientific mesaurements..it's nature's own natural acidity guage.

The dam's are holding up well and are filling quite nicely. I had a few pictures of the dams we've built so far but unfortunately I deleted the email and have requested the pictures again, once I have them I will post them here or link to them on the next blog.