A Day of Rock and Water

Tomorrow is a day of one part for two Rangers.  I will be heading across Loch Lomond from Ardlui with four volunteers to continue with an ongoing maintenance programme on the West Highland Way.  Our usual boat a Pioner is in for repairs and safety checks, so I'll be commandeering the local ferry to take us - well, I'm not sure yet! Somewhere that it can land us, which is not too far away from Doune Bothy.

I'll be looking at/for the sun, while my four charges clear cross drains and water bars and much as I dislike wearing wellies, I'll take mine along so I can get stuck in too.  Last time I just wore steel toe capped boots and so I rather gingerly had to deep from on high - digging out a drainage ditch a foot below ground level, while standing on the level ground.  Last time was wet!  Tomorrow though the forecast looks ok (look quick though or else you'll be into next week).

Gilbert will be on Conic Hill with just 1 other, doing god knows what to the WHW path there - trying to eke out some dregs of life in it I expect, after the, at least, 30,000 pairs of feet that trudged their way up and down it last year alone.

i think we're both looking forward to our time away for the day though.  Will I remember my camera?

Iridescent Lungwort

Iridescent Clouds, Newburgh

As the kids wanted to see St Andrews during the half term break we found ourselves trundling along the A913 through Newburgh.  It was here that we saw these slightly iridescent clouds off to the southeast.  They look like cirrus clouds to me, framed by stratocumulus.  Occurring close to the sun, cloud iridescence is caused by small water droplets or ice crystals scattering light and is normally seen in thin, transparent newly formed clouds.  However, you can see some iridescence in slightly thicker cloud in the lower left hand corner of the picture.  Not the best example, but it's the first time I've seen it, and I was the only person to stop and observe.

I'm glad I did.  Often, when driving, I see interesting 'stuff' happening in the natural world, but I rarely stop and always regret it.  Interesting, as it's basically my job to get others to stop and sense what is around them.

"Stop..............! back a bit, keep going, bit more, ok".  And she was out the door clambering up the lower slopes of Strath Gartney, along the shore of Loch Katrine.  She stopped by what looked to be a small - maybe 17 metre - Oak with Tree Lungwortl (Lobaria Pulmonaria) growing on the west-southwest side, about 1.5 metres above the ground.  This was a pretty good directional indicator as it likes a wet climate, but this sample was dessicated by the prevailing southwest winds and the tree trunk on that side was a beautiful, uniform pale grey, shining in the sunlight.  Yes, there was moss all around the base of the tree, but while there were just a few centimetres on the southwest side, the northeast trunk had much more coverage.  Promise I'll go back and take a photo soon.

Counting Ducks 2

Looks a bit puny!

One true rangery morning counting wetland birds on Lochs Achray and Venachar - 85 Widgeon - was, not really ruined, by the litter left behind by those desperate to camp out in February.  I had to get on with the job at hand knowing that tonight the foxes and the crows would have a right old time of it, spreading the devastation further afield. 

All this was temporarily forgotten as I noticed the mackrel sky from the window.  Pictures later............

Counting Ducks in the Mizzle & Chill

Craig is out counting ducks today, a day of mizzle and chill.  I have no sympathy for him as I would be happy to do it myself today if circumstances allowed.  Anyway, he's out on Lochs Ard, Dhu, Chon, Arklet and Katrine (ah, no, he's saving the last one for me mostly due to the fact that there is so little wetland bird activity there and Loch Katrine is so big, that he falls asleep), doing a Wetland Bird Survey - WeBS for the BTO.  He should be dropping by for a cuppa later with Gareth (Gathers as I prefer to call him).

Never Finished

Playing around with the templates, colours and designs here and I wonder if I'll ever stop....... Well, no I haven't as I've just changed things again.  And I'm thinking I could have just tweeted my thoughts, what with them being rather brief!

Intrepid Rangers Begin......

Tim Messer & Craig Walker have over 18 years experience between them as Rangers, with just shy of half that time working for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park (The Park).  Tim specialises in natural navigation, having been inspired by the men who wrote the books.  Craig is the master of  cool indifference in the face of great fishing - a bit of an expert who designs and ties his own flies, but not obsessed.

Our work as Rangers has lead us to some fantastic experiences and exposure to parts of the Park that visitors rarely glimpse. We want to offer something unusual and intrepid for others to see and enjoy.

We'll be offering a variety of guided walks in and around Central Scotland to begin with, focusing particularly on The Park, because it's our patch and we know it well:

• Ranger guided walks of varying levels, see the unseen parts of the Park - easy, moderate or challenging
• Natural Navigation
• Moonwalks
• Barefoot walks
• Hedgerow foraging
• Bespoke walks

These walks can be for groups of friends, employees, the likeminded - or individuals and we'll adapt to whatever you want to do.

So this blog is a vehicle for Intrepid Scotland  - an independent Ranger Service and for us to share our experiences both in and outside our day to day work.