Invasive species patrol........

Last night I was having a check up on some of the invasives records we found last year. To my dismay, the few square metres that we found at Keltneyburn last year has now become several hundred square metres.....illustrating how quickly these species can spread. I found several other sources between here and Aberfeldy.......we definitely need to try and get a grip of this next year before it becomes a big problem that is too expensive to rectify. You can see white butterburr here in the foreground as well, another invasive species present in the Lyon catchment........

Himalayam Balsam at Keltneyburn

Two invasives together......

White butterburr with himalayam balsam growing through it......

A swath of white butterburr........

Under the butterburr leaves......

You can see here that after a period of time, that much of the ground vegetation is going to get shaded out.

Red squirrel on a Wellingtonia

Two more great photos from Kristina Hayward.

Little partridge in the garden.......

Newtyle beat on the Middle Tay

These two great pictures of Newtyle were taken by head ghillie Martin Ritchie. There are a few fish moving in the middle river just now. If you are ever looking for a great place to fish in the middle Tay, you could do a lot worse than give Martin a phone. You can get the Newtyle details through the FishTay website.

Another great picture of Newtyle on the Tay.......

Loch Voil

Loch Voil lies in the glen to the south of Glen Dochart. Another typically wet and midge infested wilderness within the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. I was down here yesterday looking at a woodland regeneration site, and took a moment to visit Rob Roy's grave on the way back.

Trees on the shoreline.......

Rob Roy MacGregor's grave

Rob Roy is buried in the graveyard at Balquidder near Loch Voil.

Defiant..........

Balquhidder Church

Closer......

On Aberfeldy Golf Course

Himalayam balsam on Aberfeldy Golf course

Himalayam balsam looks slightly different in different circumstances, depending on density, level of shading, age etc. This is HB in all these photos......it is useful getting your eye in for it at this stage. Once flowers come out, seeds can be produced very quickly indeed, and it will soon be too late for pulling. These pictures were taken on Aberfeldy golf course two weeks ago......they will almost certainly all be purple by now.

And again......

And again........

And again.......

And again......

And again.......

The 13th green

How invasives get started........

This nice little plant has been planted by the council in a new playground in Aberfeldy.

Fairly harmless, you would think......

Closer......

Compare this with the lambium below, which is definitely becoming an invasive species in some woodland areas. Notice the similarities.......pretty leaves, spreads quickly to cover the ground area.......just like an invasive plant!!

Invasive Lambium beside Loch Dochart

Closer........

The River Lochay yesterday

This is the lower Lochay, just above the Bridge of Lochay hotel on Boreland Estate.

Looking up the Lochay

Looking down the Lochay towards hotel

A rapid fall in level.......

The river level on the lower Lochay is artifically controlled by the power station, levels going up and down several times a day.....these rocks had been covered in water a few hours before......this unnatural flow regime tends to promote erosion of the banks, as seen below.

Under-cut banks on the River Lochay