Ray Collier Country Diary - Guided Walks
10th March 2008 - Guided Walks
There are many guided walks in the Highlands covering a wide range of subjects but one of the most innovative is the Inverarnie Esker Trail near the village of Farr just south of Inverness. A few years ago this area was covered with conifer plantations but the Forestry Commission carried out surveys and then brought in machinery to carve out rides and glades. This enabled visitors to see the size and extent of the eskers that are glacier deposited ridges of gravel and sand. The eskers are impressive enough as they trace the passage of the ice but so are the kettle hole lochans formed by melting ice. There are also large boulders called erratics that were originally carried along by the ice. There are three esker trails with the main red trail being 2.6 km, the blue trail is 1.1. km and the yellow trail is 1.4 km. and these are marked by posts appropriately colour coded. Each walk can be joined together and there is a range of interpretive boards along the routes.
There are rides, glades and large open areas plus the lochans and the area is maintained by the Forestry Commission to keep open the scalloped margins to the rides and glades. This leads to sunlit and sheltered areas so that the geologists, naturalists and the wildlife itself will benefit. The area is a Site of Scientific Interest. Access to the trails is off the B851 road just over a kilometre east of Inverarnie and there is a small parking area on the south side of the road. There is an interpretive panel just inside the gate with a map with the three trails clearly marked. A separate small sign indicates that the trails were opened by Farr Primary School in June 2004.
The main lochan, probably more likely to be a loch as it is over 2 acres in extent with a small island, is unusual in that it does not have a name, not even on the largest scale of O.S. maps. It supports one of the two very large colonies of toads in that part of Strathnairn, the other being even larger at Loch Farr five km to the south. The breeding adults seem to hibernate in woodland just east of the loch whilst immature toads spread out over the lower ground of the strath at this time of the year. The photograph was taken in late summer and shows the extent of the loch with no name. Although nobody seems to have carried out a survey of dragonflies there are several species such as damselflies, darters and dragonflies. The huge and impressive golden ringed dragonfly is still on the wing until the first frosts will kill them off. There are still some butterflies around and one of the best places to see them is the large glade at the start of the trails as on the lower slopes it is well sheltered.
This is a good time of the year to see family parties of siskins and lesser redpolls and later in the year mixed flocks of both these attractive woodland birds. The Scottish crossbill also nest in the conifers but these are early breeders as, depending on the seed crop from cones, they can nest as early as January. If you go early in the morning you may well see roe deer grazing in areas outwith the trees, foxes crossing rides and the elusive otter on the lochans or along burns. Red squirrels are found in woodland throughout this strath but the best way of noting their presence is the stripped cones as the animals themselves are very elusive.
There are many guided walks in the Highlands covering a wide range of subjects but one of the most innovative is the Inverarnie Esker Trail near the village of Farr just south of Inverness. A few years ago this area was covered with conifer plantations but the Forestry Commission carried out surveys and then brought in machinery to carve out rides and glades. This enabled visitors to see the size and extent of the eskers that are glacier deposited ridges of gravel and sand. The eskers are impressive enough as they trace the passage of the ice but so are the kettle hole lochans formed by melting ice. There are also large boulders called erratics that were originally carried along by the ice. There are three esker trails with the main red trail being 2.6 km, the blue trail is 1.1. km and the yellow trail is 1.4 km. and these are marked by posts appropriately colour coded. Each walk can be joined together and there is a range of interpretive boards along the routes.
There are rides, glades and large open areas plus the lochans and the area is maintained by the Forestry Commission to keep open the scalloped margins to the rides and glades. This leads to sunlit and sheltered areas so that the geologists, naturalists and the wildlife itself will benefit. The area is a Site of Scientific Interest. Access to the trails is off the B851 road just over a kilometre east of Inverarnie and there is a small parking area on the south side of the road. There is an interpretive panel just inside the gate with a map with the three trails clearly marked. A separate small sign indicates that the trails were opened by Farr Primary School in June 2004.
The main lochan, probably more likely to be a loch as it is over 2 acres in extent with a small island, is unusual in that it does not have a name, not even on the largest scale of O.S. maps. It supports one of the two very large colonies of toads in that part of Strathnairn, the other being even larger at Loch Farr five km to the south. The breeding adults seem to hibernate in woodland just east of the loch whilst immature toads spread out over the lower ground of the strath at this time of the year. The photograph was taken in late summer and shows the extent of the loch with no name. Although nobody seems to have carried out a survey of dragonflies there are several species such as damselflies, darters and dragonflies. The huge and impressive golden ringed dragonfly is still on the wing until the first frosts will kill them off. There are still some butterflies around and one of the best places to see them is the large glade at the start of the trails as on the lower slopes it is well sheltered.
This is a good time of the year to see family parties of siskins and lesser redpolls and later in the year mixed flocks of both these attractive woodland birds. The Scottish crossbill also nest in the conifers but these are early breeders as, depending on the seed crop from cones, they can nest as early as January. If you go early in the morning you may well see roe deer grazing in areas outwith the trees, foxes crossing rides and the elusive otter on the lochans or along burns. Red squirrels are found in woodland throughout this strath but the best way of noting their presence is the stripped cones as the animals themselves are very elusive.
posted by Corinne @ 10:59 AM
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