The Kintyre Way, long distance walking route, is set to receive £150,000 over the next three years which will allow upgrading and ongoing publicity work to continue. The funding includes contributions from Scottish Natural Heritage, Argyll and the Islands Leader, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Argyll and Bute Council and the East and West Kintyre Windfarm Trusts.

The funds will allow more of the 88 mile route, which runs from Tarbert to Southend, to become off road. Recent improvements mean that most of the route now runs along paths and forestry tracks, however the section from Campbeltown to Machrinhanish still runs along a fairly busy road, and is sometimes missed out by walkers keen to avoid too much tarmac. There are also some short sections where the opposite problem, boggy ground, will be improved through path maintenance.

The funds will also allow improved marketing of the route, the setting up of a volunteer group to help manage the Kintyre Way and biodiversity projects covering the length of Kintyre.

One of the biodiversity projects will be the Kintyre Way Big Cat survey where locals and visitors alike will be asked to report sightings of big cats along the Kintyre Way. Once the hot spots are identified the plan is to install some infra red cameras along the route and resolve once and for all the continuing mystery of the Kintyre Big Cats. Kintyre Way project officer, Owen Paisley is keen to hear of any new sightings and can be contacted via the Kintyre Way website.

The Kintyre Way has quickly gained popularity and is boosting tourism in this relatively undiscovered part of Scotland. In 2008 around 500 people walked the route bringing an estimated £100 000 into the Kintyre economy. Eventually it is hoped that 4000 people a year will walk the route, which will potentially inject almost a million pounds a year into Kintyre. To read a full description and see photos (but no big cat sightings yet!) of the route at Walkhighlands click here.

In response to crofter’s concerns that Sea Eagles are killing a large number of lambs in north west Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is to undertake a study into the causes of lamb mortality. The study, which is now underway, will monitor the activity of predators and the well-being and mortality of lambs in an area where a significant number of lambs have been lost in previous seasons. Last year crofters in the Gairloch peninsula reported that over 200 lambs had been lost between May and September and that they believed the majority had been killed by hungry Sea Eagles.

The project will closely track the movement and health of lambs in parts of the Gairloch Peninsula in Wester Ross, from birth until weaning. Radio tracking technology and fieldworker observation will be used to follow the fortunes of sixty lambs on two holdings in the area and an additional holding will be used for visual observations on hill ground.

The study aims to deliver a scientific measure of the true level of lamb mortality directly attributable to sea eagle predation as opposed to other causes. The information will be gathered via radio transmitters attached to the lambs to track their movements and signal any mortality rapidly after the time of death. Each death will be mapped and the carcass traced and recovered to allow post mortem tests to ascertain the exact cause of death.

SNH Head of Policy and Advice Ron Macdonald said, “Following our discussions with crofters, farmers and land managers SNH has responded to concerns about levels of lamb mortality in areas with sea eagles present by establishing this study. The project will deliver an unprecedented level of detail for mapping the extent and cause of lamb mortality in typical highland conditions which in turn will provide an assessment of sea eagle impact. The study will also provide recommendations on the management of stock and sea eagles so as to reduce potential conflict”.

The project aims to involve the local crofters as much as possible and will be dependent upon their help for aspects of shepherding. Willie Fraser, a local crofter and member of the project steering group said, “We welcome this study which we expect to provide a clear picture of the true impact of sea eagle predation on lambing flocks and the ratio of lamb losses which can be attributed to sea eagles in the Gairloch area. The most important outcome for crofters will be to help minimise this problem in the area and ensure the continued viability of sheep rearing as an economic activity in the west highlands.”

“We look forward to the conclusion of this study which should clarify the levels of lamb losses caused directly by sea eagles and enable appropriate measures to be drawn up to reduce the impact on crofting viability in this and other areas of the highlands.”

Funded by SNH, the study has been designed and agreed by a Steering Group consisting of local crofters, the RSPB, Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate, the State Veterinary Service and SNH. Its findings will provide robust scientific evidence alongside other SNH funded historic studies to establish the likely impact of sea eagle predation on lamb populations in the West Highlands.

SNH is also funding a programme of enhanced sea eagle nest surveillance to identify the type of prey being carried by adult birds to feed their chicks. The FERA study’s detailed mapping of lamb deaths will dovetail with this work being carried out by RSPB Scotland on behalf of SNH.

RSPB Scotland’s Alison MacLennan, conservation officer for Skye, Lochalsh and Wester Ross, said, “We hope that the study will shed light on the causes of lamb mortality in the Gairloch peninsula, address the worries and concerns of the crofting community, and help ensure that crofting continues to have a sustainable future.”

It will build on the valuable recent study also funded by SNH on the island of Mull – the most densely populated area of Scotland for sea eagles – which showed that a fraction of one per cent of all lambs that died were due to sea eagle predation.

“Going forward the results of this study will help us manage the range of factors that cause lamb mortality in Wester Ross and ensure that the right measures are put in place to underpin the vital contribution crofting makes to the economy and wildlife.“

The John Muir BirthplaceTrust is holding a series of events to mark the anniversary of John Muir’s birth, 171 years ago today. Born in Dunbar in 1838, Muir found fame as a passionate defender of wild land in the United States, but remains relatively unknown in Scotland. Muir moved to America as a child and following an extremely strict upbringing, he permanently lost his sight in one eye in an industrial accident and was totally blind for a period of time. After this traumatic event Muir became passionately interested in the outdoors and began to campaign quietly for its preservation.

He went on to find fame as a botanist, geologist, mountaineer, ecologist and writer. During his explorations of the High Sierra and Alaska, Muir became aware of the threats to wild places and successfully campaigned for the establishment of National Parks to safeguard vast tracts of wild lands such as Yosemite Valley in California. In the course of his life, John Muir founded the Sierra Club and is widely regarded as a pioneer of the modern conservation movement.

Muir wrote several books, including The Story of my Boyhood and Youth and My First Summer in the High Sierra. His visionary accounts of his adventures in the High Sierra have inspired generations to explore and connect to wild places. Muir wrote eloquently of the spiritual benefits of spending time in natural world: “Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.”

Towards the end of his life Muir passionately opposed the damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley which he found every bit as stunning as the Yosemite Valley. After years of national debate, Woodrow Wilson signed the bill to dam the valley in December 1913. Muir felt a great loss from the destruction of the valley and died aged 75 in a hospital in Los Angeles of pneumonia on the 24th of December, 1914.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken to everything in the universe.” John Muir (1838- 1914)

“John Muir’s lifelong work to share his love of the natural world has never been more relevant to us today,” commented Stuart Brooks, Chief Executive for the John Muir Trust. “His appreciation of the beauty and significance of wild places remains fundamental to the protection of our fragile and ever more beleaguered world.” Details of the anniversary events being held by the John Muir Birthplace Trust can be found at their website.

Lochaber Geopark is offering a chance to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin during a guided walk to the Parallel Roads in Glen Roy in June and July.

The strange ridges on the hillsides of Glen Roy are thought to be the old shorelines of lochs whose water level changed dramatically due to an ice dam which may have been formed by a falling comet.

Darwin, who was born 200 years ago, visited Glen Roy in 1838 and after spending 5 days exploring, described it as a, “most remarkable area”. Darwin came to the conclusion that the lines were once the edge of an ancient and long gone sea, he was apparently mortified to be later proved wrong.

The guided walks follow where Charles Darwin walked trying to discover exactly what had happened in this remote and beautiful glen.
The first walk, takes place during the European Geopark Festival on 3 June 2009. Minibus leaves Tourist Information Centre in Fort William at 10am and 2pm. Adults £5.00 and Children £2.50. Booking essential by calling 01397 705922.

If you fancy exploring Glen Roy and seeing the parallel roads on a self-guided expedition, the walk up the Corbett, Carn Dearg, provides a strenuous but rewarding outing. For a full description click here.

Archaeologists working at a National Trust for Scotland garden in Argyll have found evidence of a monastic settlement dating to the 7th – 9th century AD. The news comes as Crarae Garden prepares to unveil the results of a seven year refurbishment project on Thursday 9 April.

As part of the refurbishment, archaeologists carried out important excavation work at the site, located 10 miles south of Inveraray. There was already evidence that Crarae has been a spiritual place for thousands of years – a Neolithic chambered cairn, Bronze Age burial mound and medieval church and graveyard are all nearby.

The most recent digs discovered that the church site and graveyard were surrounded by a wide ditch and a stone bank, similar to the monastic ‘vallum’ at Iona. Access to the site was via a wooden bridge over the ditch and along a kerbed and paved stone roadway up to the small church in the centre.

Radiocarbon dating suggests that the site dates back to the 7th – 9th century AD, making it contemporary with the Iona structures. Archaeologists also uncovered a possible timber building built in the same period that may have been a blacksmiths.

Derek Alexander, National Trust for Scotland Archaeologist said, “It is very exciting to discover the remains of a small monastic settlement at Crarae. The surrounding ditch and bank, and the radiocarbon dates when set alongside the placename evidence of ‘Killevin’ and the previous discovery of a 8th- 9th century cross in the graveyard, all point towards an important religious establishment. This was possibly an outlier related to the large early monastery sites on Iona or indeed on Lismore.”

The archaeological work was part of a major programme of re-development at Crarae Garden which began in 2002. Funded by the Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Argyll and Islands Enterprise, the £500,000 project involved cataloguing, mapping and numbering the nationally important plant collection, as well as improving footpaths, bridges and updating the way information about the garden was presented to visitors.

Visitors will now learn about Crarae’s similarity to a Himalayan gorge, with its stunning mix of rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias and azaleas. Like a glen in the Himalayas, Crarae has a tranquil and spiritual feel to it and the interpretation is sprinkled with references to elemental forces.

On 9 April, Beechgrove Garden’s Jim McColl is dropping by Crarae Garden to officially declare the refurbishment complete.

Head gardener Nigel Price said, “We are gearing up for a great season at Crarae this year. Now that our extensive refurbishment is complete, the garden is looking better than ever. We can’t wait to show off our fabulous new look to our visitors in 2009.”

Crarae Garden is open daily all year round. The visitor centre is open daily from 10am until 5pm. Entry costs £5.50 for an adult and £15 for a family. The event on 9 April gets underway at 11am.

Walkhighlands today launches a new series of Gaelic pronunciation podcasts covering the Corbetts, the Scottish mountains between 2500 and 3000 feet. Now all walkers can listen to a native Gaelic speaker giving the correct pronunciation of summits such as Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill, as well as the meaning or origin of the name. The 221 recordings add to those already available for the Munros and many other routes available free on the website.