SNOW COVERED MOORLANDS AT MUIRSHIEL Feb 2009

This was the view that greated me as I made my way to work back in February - Snow, snow, and more snow!
It was magical once I got to work, as no-one else had been out and about since the snowfall apart from the birds and animals. - no footprints anywhere.
In the afternoon, I headed up part of the road towards the old mines up on the moors. Snow covered everything and it all looked clean and crisp and brilliantly white in the strong [but cool] sunshine.
At the riverside it was hard to believe the size of the icicles. These ones are about 6foot [2metres] in length!
This was the good side of snow - the bad side was it was COLD!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I'd add in another little poem I wrote at the end of Octeber, one morning whilst at Muirshiel Country Park I felt inspired to sit down for ten minutes and pen this little poem.

Muirshiel Morning

Muirshiel morning has dawned clear and bright

Hard to believe there was a storm last night

Shades of Golds & Coppers & Browns

reach from the treetops right down to the ground

Scarlet leaves of a Guelder Rose, shine bright and clear

the sounds of a Robin, and a Wren skulking near

Long fallen trunks lie thick on the ground

Pointing the way that the winds knocked them down

The green of the rushes are now tipped with brown

and the Rosebay Willowherbs have fallen to the ground

The sun is shining throught the raspeberry leaves

and the clumps of ferns are swaying gently in the breeze.

The rhododendrons which used to cover this ground

are slowly but surely all being cut down.

They took over the area and swamped it indeed

a single monoculture where nothing could breed

but it is being replaced with the trees of this land

and slowly but surely, these woods will be grand.

this was written oriiginally on the 27th October 2008, on the Lower Habitat Trail at Muirshiel Country Park.

This is the road to Muirshiel at the mile marker [1 mile to go!]. It was a beautiful morning a week ago, and I couldn't resist stopping to take some photos on my way to work - nice route eh! There is a small parking area at the trees on the right [an old 'guarry' area - but quite small. Enough for a couple of cars to stop.
The hills are just past their best as the heather bloom was a few weeks ago and only lasted for a couple of weeks - just when it was raining all the time!!
The brown stuff in the foreground is braken which can rapidly take over hillsides and smother the 'natural' vegetation.
The River Calder flows down the valley towards Lochwinoch and the riversides are quite steep as it cuts its way down. This means that cheep are excluded and therefore the trees get the chance to grow past eating height!
At the end of the road is the Muirshiel Visitor Centre. There are some huge Chestnut trees all around the centre and carpark, a remnant from when the area was a private Victorian shooting estate - and the trees were part of the garden policies.


A little view of the start of the Windy Hill path which goes up through an area which was covered in Rhododenrons in 1995. There is the sound of a Robin singing right at the start [unfortunately you will also hear my camera 'zoming in'! sorry]. The Rhododendrons were cut down in 1995-1996 (with which I helped) and a few trees planted in tree tubes. However the large Birch trees in the frame also set seeds of their own and the entire area has now started to regenerate by itself with masses of young birches getting to between 5 and 10 feet now, with plenty more young ones comming on below.

Patch had a lovely patrol on Tuesday morning up to the Windy Hill Gate, at Muirshiel. He had a bit of company too - a young springer spaniel called Buster, who had only been up to the park once before. Patch and he had a great time running around after balls, and then, when they got up on the trail proper - running around sniffing out all the exciting scents they could find, but always staying within sight of their owners!!
Eventually, when they were a bit puffed out and as their owners had stopped to take photos, they both sat down for a short rest too!!

Back down at the centre, they spent the afternoon, lying around whilst there was a bit of greenwoodworking going on - but always keeping their noses, eyes and ears open for anything else which might be of interest!
It was a beautiful autumn day and we did get some lovely photos.
Muirshiel centre - old picnic site.

This is a view of the Calder river valley taken from Muirshiel Regional Park.

This is a wonderful place to visit - about five miles up in the hills behind Lochwinnoch, and less than 20 miles from Glasgow City Centre. It is so peaceful and tranquil most of the time.

Apart from the cars which come to visit the centre, and the occasional plane flying overhead, there is virtually no non-natural sounds. In fact if one walks up the track on the far side of the park, which leads to an old Barytes mine, it is possible to hear nothing but the sounds of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and the insects visiting the heather flowers..........and the odd sheep bleating too!

It is well worth a visit especially between now (23rd June ) and mid july, as there are some cctv cameras on a Hen Harriers nest in the region, and they are beaming back LIVE footage of the birds. We had 3 chicks hatch out over the last week, the last one on thursday afternoon - to an audience of 12 people who had dropped in to visit and were watching the screens at the time!!

Some of the trails are in 'mature' wooded areas, others are through young plantations, and yet others go through areas of cleared conifer woods which have been replanted with native deciduous trees.