August 2009

LAST month I mentioned the highs and lows of working with nature. Well, July has been a perfect and somewhat extreme example of the rollercoaster effect.

A tinge of browning heather has turned into a full-scale heather beetle attack. It has devastated both young and old heather over square kilometres of the moor. What should by now be a landscape bathed in purple, is a dull red brown and the affected area is increasing day by day. It’s not the beetle itself that does the damage though. They emerge from the ground in spring and lay their eggs, which then hatch into an army of heather-hungry larvae. It is extremely saddening to see for many reasons; however, it has happened and we have to get on and deal with it. Historically, Langholm has been susceptible to heather beetle and has lost a lot of heather as a result.

On a more positive note, I have been delighted by the response of the Buccleuch Estate, the Farm Manager and the shepherds, as they have acted quickly to remove the sheep from the worst affected area; ironically, this was the only area that was not affected by over-grazing, as this was our best heather we hard burnt a lot, which had spread out the sheep. But, due to the beetle attack, the only food now available for the sheep is the fresh, young heather emerging on the burnt sites, which is quickly destroyed when stock is left to graze on it. Spraying the beetled area with an insecticide is not an option, as it would kill all insects, good and bad. The only thing we can do is resume heather burning in October because in Scotland – unlike in England – it is not possible to burn out of season. The law is currently being reviewed and, last week, we were able to show first hand to a visiting group from Scottish Government how critical it is to give land managers more flexibility to maintain healthy moorland.

The harriers are now fully fledged and the five chicks are testing their wings with lots of aerial tomfoolery. They will soon leave the moor, as will our harrier experts, Aly McCluskie and Paula Keane, who have been monitoring the birds’ progress since March. This year, the offspring have been wing tagged with a yellow and a green disc on each wing; these should be visible with binoculars and will help to record returning birds. The diversionary food has been taken well. The hide watches recorded a high level of pipits being bought back to the nest, with the diversionary food coming a close second, but no grouse chicks. We invited several independent interest parties to come to do a hide watch, so that they could see, firsthand, how the diversionary food is taken from the nearby feeding posts.

It has taken a while to get to the high of the rollercoaster. But, after walking many miles within the grouse blocks and along the transects, Project chief scientist, Damian Bubb, and Sidney (a pointer), can report that our grouse count has doubled this year.