Hello everybody! My name is Daisy, and I’m the new lowland raised bog apprentice. Woohoo!!! I’m based in Stirling, and will be checking out bogs in the Stirling and Falkirk areas (and maybe some further afield). I will be carrying out invertebrate surveys on some fabulous sites to see what’s ‘really out there’, and generally trying to figure out what bogs are all about. Lowland raised bogs (LRBs to those in the know) have been subjected to wide-scale damage through drainage for agriculture, peat-cutting and afforestation (amongst other things) and as a result have suffered massive declines! I really want to find out the best ways to restore and manage LRBs so that we can protect these amazing habitats and the fascinating species they are home to.
So… I started two weeks ago today. Since then I have been getting my head around the subject (lots of reading to make the noggin swell), speaking with my lovely mentors, “hello Craig (Buglife) and Paul (Butterfly Conservation)”, going on field trips and getting soggy and tearing my trousers on fences. Ooh, and I went on a lichen ID course and it was really interesting. Now I can’t walk past a tree without squinting at lichens and looking like a right nutter. Oh yeah… and I’ve been settling into my new home in Menstrie! I normally live with Mr Daisy… he is working for Scottish Natural Heritage in the Outer Hebrides (where I’ve just moved from), so for now it’s just me and the dog.
Here is one species of Cladonia (not sure which one!) from Wester Moss. Very pretty.
This one is exciting… a common lizard. Went on a BTCV work party to Flanders Moss NNR to clear some scrub and a volunteer accidentally disturbed this lil fella. This is the first lizard I have seen in the UK, so I was pretty chuffed.
By April, I aim to start surveying invertebrates. Exciting! Leading up to that I will have to visit dozens of local LRBs and decide whether or not they are interesting enough to warrant further investigation. I’ll do this by noting any relevant features (e.g. bog pools, mature pine trees, bare peat) and doing a wee habitat survey of the bog vegetation. Then I hope to focus my attention on a select few sites and collect masses of data throughout the spring and summer, for later analysis.
I am most looking forward to moth trapping, surveying pine trees for interesting inhabitants, being outside all summer and becoming… THE BOG LADY! Oh yeah! The plan is to keep this up pretty regularly, so check back for more tales from the bog…