2 Bogs, a swamp and some islands.
The Scottish Natural Heritage Stirling National Nature Reserve team manages 3 NNRs across central Scotland and we are quite often asked what do you actually do? What does managing nature reserves actually entail? Well, now you can find out.
We have just started a new blog called “2 bogs, a swamp and some islands” after the types of reserves that we work on. These sites are Flanders Moss, which you will all know, plus another bog site called Blawhorn Moss near to Bathgate, and the Loch Lomond NNR which is swampy land around the Endrick Mouth, part of Loch Lomond, plus 5 islands on the loch itself. Flanders Moss is the biggest of the sites and the most visited, so there will be more posts about it than the other reserves. All these sites are very difficult to see beyond the boardwalks and paths so the blog will give you the chance to see the distant corners of these special reserves without getting your feet wet.
We aim to update the blog 2-3 times a week and the posts will tell of what wildlife we are seeing on the reserves, what work we are doing and whom we are meeting on the sites.
So, if you are keen to find out more about these special nature reserves then, have a look, the web address is below:
https://2bogsaswampandsomeislands.wordpress.com/
For those on Facebook you can also follow what is happening on NNRs across Scotland with the Facebook page Scotland’s National Nature Reserves. All our blog posts will also feature here.
https://www.facebook.com/ScotlandsNNRs/
Flanders Moss Improvements
My email inbox has been steadily filling with complaints about the state of the access track to Flanders. I can only apologise that it is so rough at the moment. It is disappointing that in the last 2 years we have spent quite a bit of money on it, to no long term improvement. So all I can say is that we are busy applying for more money to re-profile the track and get an improved surface that lasts much longer, but this work may take a little while to come to fruition so, please bear with us.
More positive news is that we hope to improve the path and boardwalk over the winter to give a drier path. The wettest part of the path will be replaced with a new section of boardwalk, the flooded areas of boardwalk will be raised and the rest of the path will be resurfaced. So the hope is that by next spring we will have a much improved surface all the way around.
In the car park, the wildflower meadow has had a good summer. It has now had its annual haircut and there will be another 400 wildflower plugs planted soon which will help to make the meadow a colourful and wildlife-rich welcome to the reserve.
If you would like more information about Flanders Moss NNR you can find it on the NNR Scotland website (www.nnr-scotland.org.uk) or contact me, David Pickett on david.pickett@snh.gov.uk.
The Wee Vine 