Inaugural Meeting at the Riverbank Cafe (1st December 2019)
Dunalastair Water (8th December 2019)
The weather was not very kind to the first attempt at a field meeting of the Rannoch Natural History Society. There were four of us.
Actually it didn’t rain for most of the time but the waves on Dunalastair Water were not conducive to seeing ducks. We saw two Goosanders in flight and three mute swans. The Whooper swans were probably at the west end, sheltering from the wind which brought in the rain showers.
We started by looking at the Schiehallion Boulder Beds in the form of the erratic at Lassintullich. The walk conversation included reference to bracket fungi, Phytophthora ramorum ( the organism causing the larch disease once thought to be a fungus now thought to be more closely related to algae - an Oomycete), Ash die back, Wood sorrel, fox glove, pleurococcus, lichens, Beatrix Potter, symbiosis, goldeneyes, dab chicks, Dalradian limestone, quartzite, red squirrels, pine martens, grey wagtail, common sandpipers, dippers, beavers, horse chestnuts, alder, rock rose, Wood anemones, Langmuir circulation (white lines in lochs). Chaffinches, bramblings.
We had a chat to Walter Bannister as we reached the road and he confirmed that he no longer has red squirrels at his feeders but does have pine martens. It is likely that pine martens are responsible for the decline in the number of red squirrels that is being noticed in the Rannoch area.
(8th December 2019)
Schiehallion Limestone Pavement (19th January 2020)
There was a cold wind for the second walk of the Rannoch a Natural History Society. This one was to the Schiehallion Limestone Pavement. There were 22 of us - a good turnout. Six people came from Perth. I was too busy to take photos.
For details of the limestone pavement click on the link below.