SNH Area News


North Highland Correspondents: Ian Mitchell, Nathan McLaughlan, Tamara Lawton


For peat’s sake


In the last few months, a number of land managers in Sutherland and Caithness have been awarded funding to manage protected areas sustainably for their peatland habitats and species. The funding came from the Scotland


Rural Development Programme (SRDP), and in particular the Rural Priorities element. This provides a wide range of funding for projects across Scotland, including the management of nationally important nature sites. Among the successful applicants


were a common grazings committee in north Sutherland, who have been awarded almost £94,000 to manage West Borgie Site of Special Scientific Interest. The management will protect the peatland and bird interests on the site, which is part of the internationally important peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland. Their plans include low levels of


grazing on upland and peatland areas and the removal of gorse and bracken from the site. This will contribute to the government’s target of bringing 95% of the features on Scotland's nationally important nature sites into a condition that is favourable.


Hide and seek


A new wildlife-watching hide overlooking Balblair Bay near Golspie is now open at Loch Fleet NNR. BalblairWood is already a popular area for walkers and wildlife enthusiasts, and the new hide will allow more people to enjoy the wildlife from a sheltered dry environment. The new hide demonstrates what


can be done using locally grown Scots pine, sourced from Sutherland. It was developed through a partnership involving Highland Birchwoods, SNH, Sutherland Estates, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Forestry Commission Scotland. The hide lies on the north shore of


Loch Fleet, about 1km from the Balblair Wood entrance on the Golspie to Littleferry road. The best time to see birds is on an incoming tide. Notable sightings have already included otter and brent goose, which is an unusual species for this part of Scotland. The hide was officially opened by


the primary 5/6 class from Golspie Primary School, whose teacher, Miss Macleod, has strong connections with Loch Fleet. Her mother grew up in a cottage a few hundred metres from the new hide. So it was gratifying that she could attend the opening and describe growing up in what is now an NNR and how the area has changed over the past 60 years.


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West coast surprises


Dundonnell BiodiversityWeekend was held in August last year to help celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity. Dundonnell Estate lies by the


coast in a beautiful part ofWester Ross and has a rich variety of habitats and species. Activities included moth trapping, electro-fishing, night-time bat surveys and a lot of species recording in different habitats. The results are still being gathered into a report on the area’s wildlife, which will be available on the SNH website later in the year. Initial results, however, show a


number of interesting finds. A total of 58 macro-moth species were recorded, with three of them nationally scarce across the UK: the Scotch annulet, plain clay and angle-striped sallow. Plant surveys found many new


records for the area, such as soft lady's mantle and hart's tongue fern, only previously recorded from five other sites in the whole ofWester Ross. Another highlight was finding wild cranberry, only recorded once before inWester Ross in 1881! And there were also sightings of at least 20 red squirrels, following their recent re-introduction to the estate. The events got an eager response,


especially with the younger ones returning enthusiastically early the next day for more fun, after a late-night bat survey.


The Nature of Scotland


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