In pictures: Invasive plants killed off in Corrieshalloch Gorge
Invasive non-native plants have been cleared from crags of a 60m (197ft) deep gorge in the Highlands. Corrieshalloch, south of Ullapool, was created by meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last ice age about 11,000 years ago, and has a 45m (148ft) waterfall.The mile-long canyon takes its name from Gaelic for "ugly hollow".National Trust for Scotland (NTS) received funding for the work which involved contractors abseiling into the gorge.
The plants removed or killed off included Japanese knotweed, rhododendron ponticum and American skunk cabbage.The species, brought to the UK from other parts of the world for planting in gardens, can smother native plants and damage fragile habitats.NTS said the work at Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve was part of its wider efforts to conserve native species.
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BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
In pictures: Invasive plants killed off in Corrieshalloch Gorge
Invasive non-native plants have been cleared from crags of a 60m (197ft) deep gorge in the Highlands. Corrieshalloch, south of Ullapool, was created by meltwater from glaciers at the end of the last ice age about 11,000 years ago, and has a 45m (148ft) mile-long canyon takes its name from Gaelic for "ugly hollow".National Trust for Scotland (NTS) received funding for the work which involved contractors abseiling into the gorge. The plants removed or killed off included Japanese knotweed, rhododendron ponticum and American skunk species, brought to the UK from other parts of the world for planting in gardens, can smother native plants and damage fragile said the work at Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve was part of its wider efforts to conserve native species.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Droppings of Springwatch bird being analysed
The droppings of one of this year's BBC Springwatch stars will be analysed as part of a conservation have been treated to glimpses of the pied flycatcher at the National Trust-owned Longshaw Estate in the Peak District during the show, hosted by Chris Packham and Michaela said the flycatchers have been one of the highlights of the programme's first visit to bird is on the amber list of conservation concern after a sharp decline in its numbers since the turn of the millennium, so researchers will be testing its poo to see how populations can be given a boost. Teams from Liverpool John Moores University and National Trust rangers and volunteers will be looking at the impact the choice of nesting site has on pied flycatcher breeding will be tested for diets and bird hormones to gauge their stress well as analysing droppings, the microclimates at each nestbox are being logged and birds are being tagged to see where they visit and if they are competing with other species like blue tits and great project, which featured on Springwatch on Wednesday, will help with woodland management across the UK to help populations of the migratory summer visitors begin to recover. Principal researcher Dr Danni Hinchcliffe said the project would build on existing evidence from Longshaw "to support the maximum breeding success for these very special birds".She added: "I hope what we discover here will be useful for designing and developing more places that are as attractive to pied flycatchers as the woodlands at Longshaw."Conservation efforts like the nestboxes set up at Longshaw since 2014 have already helped stabilise numbers of the Mark Bull, who has worked on the nesting box project since it started more than a decade ago, said 2024 was the "most successful breeding season yet", with more than 300 pied flycatchers hatched from nestboxes said: "Our data tells us that some birds return to the same box they were born in to raise their young, but little is known about why these birds make decisions about where to nest and if certain conditions improve the success of the nests."We hope this fascinating research project will provide some of those answers." Packham told the BBC watching the pied flycatchers had been one of his memorable moments of 2025 so said: "The wildlife's been sensational."We've got live long-eared owl for the first time, they're a really tricky bird to find."We've had, for the first time ever, live short-eared owl - very, very beautiful birds, with six youngsters. One of them met a grizzly end, but that's the way life works."Pied flycatchers, red starts, and then, of course, down on the river, we've got our dippers."We've been getting cracking views of the badgers as well. Derbyshire is a top part of the country, no question about that, and some great wildlife to go with it."
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Endangered willow gloves fungus not yet growing in new Cumbria site
A critically endangered fungus reintroduced to the UK, were it had been extinct, is still not growing but scientists say it is too early to suggest a project to save it has of the fungus known as willow gloves were moved from the Scottish borders to woodlands in Cumbria in March last year. Natural England fungi specialist Matt Wainhouse said this type of relocation had not been tried before and had not been specimens had since been eaten by rodents and others would not grow but Mr Wainhouse said this "doesn't mean the fungi is dead or that this has failed - it's just too early to tell". The fungus was recorded in Cumbria in the 1800s and grows on dead trees, feeding off another fungus called willow glue which lives inside decaying are usually found in woods with very wet soils and Dr Wainhouse said the loss of these habitats in the UK had probably led to the loss of the fungus. Willow gloves are extinct in England and Wales but were rediscovered in two sites in Scotland in the 2010s. One of those sites was one tree in a forest and is "so precarious", Dr Wainhouse said. Last year, Dr Wainhouse and his colleagues moved parts of the fungus in a single day from the Scottish borders to three woodlands in Cumbria rich in willow trees, including Finglandrigg team hoped it would prosper in a new location and eventually become a "much more resilient population", he team tried different methods of transportation including moving part of the Scottish fungus along with a section of the tree it was attached to. Attempts to also grow the fungus in a lab have been unsuccessful."It would not grow," said Dr Wainhouse. "There is something about the host - the willow glue - that triggers the growth."The outdoors specimens are regularly monitored by volunteers at the Cumbria fungi group but no new growth has been seen there either."It's a long game," Dr Wainhouse said. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
