Someone in my Facebook feed mentioned this woodland so I went searching for more info and found this video. How fun! I live in western Oregon in the Pacific Northwest and many of our forests look very much like Ariundle, only they cover far wider expanses. We do have horrific clear cutting issues in our state, but we also have great beauty. Your comments lead me to suggest several books to you, if you aren't already familiar with them. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer and a novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers. And while I'm at it, you might find The Wild Trees by Richard Preston fascinating as well, about the people who first "discovered" the ecology of the redwood forest canopy. I used to live in that part of California and many of the places and people overlap my own life, which made it even more interesting to me. Thank you for the lovely walk.
Hiya - thanks for the comment and the recommendations. I haven't properly read a book for....oooo....almost 20 years now I'm afraid but it's nice to have some in mind. Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, sadly, as we're playing catch-up by trying to restore woodlands and connect fragments together.
Your Vids are just like BBC documentaries!! . Morven summit camp,bone caves and Skye lookout vid! Fantastic information and top information too.Bothie information video is great too👍. ATB Ben.F
Thank you Ben for taking us round the Ariundle Oakwood and giving us so much information. We have visited this wood severel times over the years while on holiday in Locharber . We have always visited it in early May when everything is looking so fresh and green so it was good to see it in November. Good to have you back.
We never see the places in the Summer either .Like you we don't like the heat or the crowds! we go Spring and Autumn to Scotland and stay local in North Yorkshire for the Winter days out.
Great vlog as always Ben, I'm just back from a week at Glenmore (next to the distillery). Planned to do Garbh Bhein but frightened off by the amount of snow up there! I'm hoping you'll be posting your experience of that hill soon.
Hiya - no blog from Garbh Bheinn I'm afraid as I was with someone else for that one. I wouldn't want to put anyone else through the faff involved in filming these ;-)
I live in Strontian and go to Ariundle quite a lot. Recently a lot of the conifers beside the river have been felled, which is good for the native species.
@@BenvironmentBlog So far they haven't, but since they have been cut down the birch living among them have grown like mad. Sadly they made a huge mess of felling them so a lot of the ground is now mud.
I can see now why you like autumn/winter so much. The colours are stunning Ben :) Would you ever consider moving to the Argyle area? You seem quite content there. Great film, peter.
Another interesting video without being blasted by the elements! Was wondering if you could use your knowledge and expertise to highlight the demise of our diminishing hedgerows in Perthshire/Fife. Over management (cutting) especially autumn/winter. This savage cutting leaves no berries for birdlife and reduces shelter for other species too. Problem seems worse than a decade ago, the hedges are making little recovery against these big whacker machines and I know they are not meant to cut between March and August but they do, even when hedges present no obstruction to stock, pedestrians or drivers.
A little gem that is.. ..still in my humble opinion, my keen eye says for instance those little holly look definitely browsed upon.. it'll take a quick visit by some deer to strip all the few seedlings.. Acidification could be a problem. Or lack of Jay birds. Wild boar? In my days as seabottom forester we had no succes in getting oak to rejuvenate. It turned out to be a chemical in poplar leaves.. these matters are very very complex and the science behind it waver thin. I really like your version of the window licker much better than ApexTwin's Cheers thanks for another great walk..
Interesting stuff. I couldn't tell you whether it applies to Ariundle though. The Forestry Commission / SNH reports acknowledge there's browsing going on but not to the same degree as elsewhere in Scotland. They're culling too of course.
Benvironment an amazing amount of artificial steps would be needed to get the system back in order.. or an amazing amount of time.. again thanks for showing me ..
Someone in my Facebook feed mentioned this woodland so I went searching for more info and found this video. How fun! I live in western Oregon in the Pacific Northwest and many of our forests look very much like Ariundle, only they cover far wider expanses. We do have horrific clear cutting issues in our state, but we also have great beauty. Your comments lead me to suggest several books to you, if you aren't already familiar with them. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer and a novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers. And while I'm at it, you might find The Wild Trees by Richard Preston fascinating as well, about the people who first "discovered" the ecology of the redwood forest canopy. I used to live in that part of California and many of the places and people overlap my own life, which made it even more interesting to me. Thank you for the lovely walk.
Hiya - thanks for the comment and the recommendations. I haven't properly read a book for....oooo....almost 20 years now I'm afraid but it's nice to have some in mind. Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, sadly, as we're playing catch-up by trying to restore woodlands and connect fragments together.
Your Vids are just like BBC documentaries!! . Morven summit camp,bone caves and Skye lookout vid! Fantastic information and top information too.Bothie information video is great too👍. ATB Ben.F
Thanks Fraser. Another couple yet to upload :)
Thank you Ben for taking us round the Ariundle Oakwood and giving us so much information. We have visited this wood severel times over the years while on holiday in Locharber . We have always visited it in early May when everything is looking so fresh and green so it was good to see it in November. Good to have you back.
It's the other way around for me. I always see these places in winter but never in summer!
We never see the places in the Summer either .Like you we don't like the heat or the crowds! we go Spring and Autumn to Scotland and stay local in North Yorkshire for the Winter days out.
Good to see you back after a long break
Fantastic video very informative glad found your channel
Thanks for stopping by ;-)
@@BenvironmentBlog very welcome and I subscribed
Great vlog as always Ben, I'm just back from a week at Glenmore (next to the distillery). Planned to do Garbh Bhein but frightened off by the amount of snow up there! I'm hoping you'll be posting your experience of that hill soon.
Hiya - no blog from Garbh Bheinn I'm afraid as I was with someone else for that one. I wouldn't want to put anyone else through the faff involved in filming these ;-)
Such a beautiful and unusual place thanks
Cheers :)
I live in Strontian and go to Ariundle quite a lot. Recently a lot of the conifers beside the river have been felled, which is good for the native species.
Have they planted anything to replace them, do you know? The problem with spruce is it seeds like mad, so it'll all be back for years to come :(
@@BenvironmentBlog So far they haven't, but since they have been cut down the birch living among them have grown like mad. Sadly they made a huge mess of felling them so a lot of the ground is now mud.
@@aldi3369 Yeah it never looks good after felling, but it'll recover soon enough. Good news about the birch though :)
Good stuff ben,interesting 👍
as usual v interesting info I rely must get to scotland more often!
Cheers :)
I can see now why you like autumn/winter so much. The colours are stunning Ben :) Would you ever consider moving to the Argyle area? You seem quite content there. Great film, peter.
ooops Not Argyle, I mean Lochaber :)
I'd consider either! But truth be told I'd find it hard to leave Fife now.
Thanks Ben 👌🏻
Another interesting video without being blasted by the elements! Was wondering if you could use your knowledge and expertise to highlight the demise of our diminishing hedgerows in Perthshire/Fife. Over management (cutting) especially autumn/winter. This savage cutting leaves no berries for birdlife and reduces shelter for other species too. Problem seems worse than a decade ago, the hedges are making little recovery against these big whacker machines and I know they are not meant to cut between March and August but they do, even when hedges present no obstruction to stock, pedestrians or drivers.
Hiya. Well that's not something I know anything about at the moment but thanks for bringing it to my attention.
A little gem that is.. ..still in my humble opinion, my keen eye says for instance those little holly look definitely browsed upon.. it'll take a quick visit by some deer to strip all the few seedlings.. Acidification could be a problem. Or lack of Jay birds. Wild boar? In my days as seabottom forester we had no succes in getting oak to rejuvenate. It turned out to be a chemical in poplar leaves.. these matters are very very complex and the science behind it waver thin.
I really like your version of the window licker much better than ApexTwin's
Cheers thanks for another great walk..
Interesting stuff. I couldn't tell you whether it applies to Ariundle though. The Forestry Commission / SNH reports acknowledge there's browsing going on but not to the same degree as elsewhere in Scotland. They're culling too of course.
Benvironment an amazing amount of artificial steps would be needed to get the system back in order.. or an amazing amount of time.. again thanks for showing me ..