Heather Beetles 2015

Heather beetles in Dorset last week (image: Charles Hartley)

The last few weeks have been warm enough to wake up hibernating heather beetles across the U.K., and the first reports have started to come in to us about the mass dispersal of adult beetles. Thousands were spotted on the wing in Brownsea Island and Studland in Dorset, and customers at the House of Bruar near Pitlochry reported beetles flying en masse towards the end of last week. 

Heather beetles hibernate deep in the undergrowth during the winter, and they emerge when the average daily temperature exceeds around 8°C. Heather beetles have well developed wings and muscles, but they tend to let the wind do most of the work when it comes to dispersal. Depending on the prevailing conditions on the day, they can travel over long distances in search of new breeding habitats. While there is no precise information relating to how far beetles can travel, it is likely that they can fly for a several miles if the wind is behind them. 

Once settled in their new habitats, beetles will mate and lay eggs. Most of the adults will die by the time that the eggs hatch in June or July, and the real heather damage is caused by the larvae towards the end of the summer.

The Heather Trust is leading the way on research into heather beetles in Britain, and our projects in the Peak District and at Langholm Moor aim to provide gamekeepers and land managers with practical, hands-on answers to help them manage the effects of heather beetle damage. We have run a survey of heather beetle damage for several years, and we are now looking for information about heather beetles in 2015.

If you notice adult heather beetles dispersing over the next few weeks, please let us know by sending us an email or getting in touch by phone. More information on recognising beetles is available on the Trust's beetle page. We will be circulating our heather beetle survey forms to gather information about damage caused over the summer as the year progresses, and the results from these surveys help us to piece together more information about the nature of beetle outbreaks. 

Survey returns are plotted on a map, and we have just received one of the last returns from 2014; a mixed year for heather beetle damage from Cornwall to Wester Ross.

The Galloway Fisheries Trust

A fine sea trout: peatland  conservation has far-reaching
knock-on effects for fisheries management in the uplands

Our work on peatland has been gathering momentum over the past few months, and peatland conservation is now the theme for 2015’s Golden Plover Award for Moorland Management. It was useful to see some of the peatland issues raised by the Galloway Fisheries Trust during their recent open meeting and at a subsequent get-together at their office in Newton Stewart, particularly in discovering how healthy peat impacts on water quality for the protection and conservation of wild fisheries.

In the second half of the Twentieth century, huge areas of Dumfries and Galloway were planted up with commercial forestry, and several important bogs, mosses and flows were drained to make way for trees. This has had a dramatic effect on the way water moves through the landscape, and research indicates that water levels are now more inclined to “spike” suddenly after heavy rainfall as run-off passes straight off the hills and down into the rivers. Migratory fish prefer a more gradual release of water from catchments in order to move up river, and this effect is often associated with peatland which can soak up rain and slowly release it into the river systems.

Drained, damaged peatland is more likely to be eroded by rainfall, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that water discolouration is increased where peat formation has been damaged. This leads to darker water which is more likely to warm up during the summer months, and temperatures sometimes rise high enough to kill salmon in considerable numbers. Increased amounts of sediment in the river water can also smother salmon redds and interfere with the fish’s breeding cycles. When the upper layers of a peatland are drained they become oxidised and this can increase the acidic run-off which lowers the pH in rivers below the level at which fish (and the invertebrates they feed upon) are able survive.

The Galloway Fisheries Trust is engaged with several projects designed to restore functioning peatland, since water quality is a crucial part of fisheries management. Much of this work involves “re-wetting”, clearing trees and destroying drainage systems imposed when the forest plantations were first established. The Kilquhockadale Flow in the upper Bladnoch covers nearly 14,000 hectares and was entirely drained and planted up with Sitka around the 1970’s.  Recent work by GFT on this Flow has been looking at where the deep peats are located and how forestry plans can be changed to restore these peatlands.  On the Moss of Cree near Newton Stewart,  work is being done to establish the best and most cost-effective means of restoring damaged peatland.

Everybody benefits when peatland is healthy and functional, and we will be keeping in touch with the Galloway Fisheries Trust to learn more about the impact of peatland conservation on water quality.

Heather Management

After two years of research into heather management across the U.K, the Heather Trust is today publishing the first summary of our findings as a Members' Briefing available for download on the Trust's website.

The Briefing represents an enormous amount of research, and provides an extremely condensed overview of the various issues raised after an extensive tour of Britain's heather moorlands, from Exmoor to Sutherland.

Further Briefings will be published in the coming months to expand upon some of the key areas identified by this Briefing, including innovative new ignition patterns for heather burning, customised habitat management using machinery and the use of moorland-scale cutting techniques.

Moorland management is dynamic, progressive and very much "on the move". Burning produces the best quality heather regeneration, but the progress made by cutting over the past decade has made this management technique more practical and widely applicable than it has ever been before. Watch this space for more of the latest research into heather management for the 21st Century.

Prize Draw

The Heather Trust Country Market and Sporting Sale will return this year on 17th April, and already a range of exciting new lots has been donated – everything from a trip to a London diamond house to a day’s hind stalking at the stunning Glen Muick estate on Deeside. Much more information will be published in due course regarding the Auction itself, but we are very excited to offer another Prize Draw after the success of the Croick Draw in 2014.

We are delighted to announce that in 2015, we will be working with Hunting Experiences and the Buccleuch and Queensberry Arms Hotel in Thornhill to offer a fantastic trip for two to stalk roe in beautiful Dumfriesshire this year. Accomodation for the prize winners will be at the stunning Buccleuch and Queensberry Arms, recently described by the Shooting Gazette magazine as "stylish and comfortable", being set in "a stunning part of Scotland with long, wide valleys and dramatic hills providing seemingly endless vistas of unspoilt countryside" - what more could you ask?

Dumfries and Galloway offers the perfect balance between accessibility and seclusion, with Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle all within short driving distance. Over the past few years, south west Scotland has really come into its own as a sporting destination, now boasting some of the finest shooting and fieldsports anywhere in Britain, all set in wild, gorgeous countryside. The Prize can be taken any time at a date to suit the winners, providing a fantastic opportunity to explore this hidden corner of Scotland. Bucks or does are both available according to the season.

Tickets for the Prize Draw are now on sale on the Heather Trust website at £10 each, and the draw itself will take place on May 1^st 2015. All proceeds from the Prize Draw and Sale go to fund the important work of the Heather Trust, promoting the very best in integrated moorland management for sport, conservation and agriculture. For more information, visit www.auction.heathertrust.co.uk

Country Market and Sporting Sale 2015

Malcolm Hay and Duncan Grant outside Old Croick Manse with stalker Alasdair Sutherland.

Preparations are now underway for next year’s Country Market and Sporting Sale after the success of 2014’s event raised a record sum to fund the Heather Trust’s important work across Britain. We have already had some great feedback from happy bidders who won lots during the Sale which was held during the Spring, including a report from our new Chairman Antony Braithwaite, who enjoyed a trip to Wales fishing for sea trout in August. We’ve also heard news of a successful driven grouse day on Speyside and an exciting day of fishing on the River Ettrick, both from generous bidders who won Lots during the Sale.

The first Heather Trust Prize Draw was well supported across the board, and the holder of the winning ticket took his trip up to the stunning Croick Estate near Bonar Bridge on the 22^nd November for a week of sport and relaxation in Sutherland. Duncan Grant thoroughly enjoyed his week at the estate, which he shared with his wife and the former Heather Trust chairman Malcolm Hay. A day's woodcock shooting was laid on under the supervision of stalker Alasdair Sutherland, and two hinds were culled by the winning party. Reviews for the estate were glowing, particularly in relation the warmth and comfort of the manse itself.

Plans are already in motion for a new Prize Draw in 2015, and this will build on the success of the first, which attracted widespread attention to the Sale after coverage in the sporting press.

We are now looking for supporters of the Trust to give the Sale an extra boost and drive 2015’s Country Market on to new heights. Whether you have been a donor, a bidder or a sponsor in the past, we’d like to hear your ideas and suggestions for possible Lots as the Sale begins to take shape.

Our new Country Market and Sporting Sale Secretary Samantha Harrison is masterminding the proceedings for 2015 and is very keen to hear from members and well-wishers as the plans start to come together for next year. Lots can be as varied and diverse as stalking and fishing to food, drink and artwork, so if you think you can help to donate something to the Sale, please let us know by emailing info@heathertrust.co.uk

Golden Plover Award 2015

The Heather Trust and The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (Scotland)  will be presenting the Golden Plover Award for Moorland Management for a third time after an extremely successful year in 2014. For a second year, Savills will be the lead sponsor.

The Golden Plover Award was launched in 2013 to celebrate the very best in sustainable and progressive moorland management which balances a number of different enterprises. The inaugural winner was Edinglassie in Strathdon, an estate which has supported some of the most advanced and groundbreaking research into grouse production during the past twenty years.

In 2014, Finzean Estate on Deeside was presented with the Award at the Scottish Game Fair at Scone after a close fought struggle with two other runners up from Angus and Sutherland. Finzean Estate impressed the judges with a wide spread of balanced, sustainable enterprises spanning a range of interests from grouse shooting and capercaillie conservation to a successful farm shop and a thriving forestry concern.

Heather Trust Director Simon Thorp said that working with the GWCT to run the Award was an opportunity to showcase the very best that moorland management has to offer in Scotland. “The Golden Plover Award celebrates balanced and integrated management in which a number of goals are achieved by the careful, sensitive use of our uplands. The award in 2015 will have a particular focus on peat and peatland conservation, and this is a great opportunity to highlight some of the best land management devoted to what is increasingly seen as a crucially important habitat”.

Adam Smith, the GWCT’s Director for Scotland, welcomed the collaboration with The Heather Trust that brought two independent organisations together who are both working to improve the standards of moorland and upland management throughout Scotland. “The Award will highlight the role that applied research has in improving the quality of moorland management in Scotland. This allows the best management practices to be identified and transferred to other land managers.”

Applications for the 2015 award will be are welcomed from any owner or manager of land in any part of Scotland who can demonstrate a real commitment to sustainable moorland or upland management. Applications from the remoter parts of Scotland are encouraged, as are applications from individuals; this is not just an award for estates.

More information is available on the Golden Plover Award page, and application forms are available by request. Applications close on 27th February 2015, and the Award will be presented at the Scottish Game Fair on 3^rd July 2015.

Advisory Visit to Corehead

Black grouse are a key species at Corehead

The Heather Trust was recently invited to visit Corehead Farm, one of the Borders Forest Trust's (BFT) properties North of Moffat. The farm includes the spectacular Devil’s Beeftub, an iconic feature of the Southern Uplands which lies at the top of Annandale where the hills run together to form a deep and extremely steep sided hollow.

The Borders Forest Trust bought Corehead in 2009 and began to plant up large areas of the site in a bid to recreate the historic Ettrick Forest which once lay right across the Southern Uplands. Using native tree species, a huge amount of planting has taken place during the intervening years and a major part of the process has involved stock-proof exclosures to protect the young trees.

Relieved from grazing, some interesting things have been happening to the heather where it still survives after centuries of sheep, and we were called in to consult on progress with the project so far, as well as provide some advice for the future of the heather. The site also provides a home to a small population of black grouse, and while the project aims to improve biodiversity across the board, these birds provide a useful focus for habitat work.

After several years without any grazing, some parts of Corehead are looking excellent and an area of steep ground we visited could soon provide some excellent habitat for ring ouzels, which already breed in the area. Encroaching bracken will need to be controlled, and the nature of the ground is such that helicopter spraying may be the only workable solution.

Elsewhere, there are potentially serious problems with under-grazing within the exclosures, and much of the heather which has recovered as a result of excluding livestock now risks being smothered by molinia grass and star moss, both of which can dominate vegetation. In an ideal world, these plants could be selectively grazed and controlled by native hill breed cattle, but the trees must get precedent and any attempt to control the grasses would surely come at the expense of the new trees.

Corehead is a fascinating project, and while the farm will never be dominated by heather, low heather coverage is sure to be a key issue in the project’s future. During our walk, we discovered a juvenile black grouse feather which suggests that there has been successful breeding in 2014, and while the local population of birds has been badly suppressed by habitat fragmentation, commercial woodland and overgrazing, there is some sign of promise in the new plantations. 

With some judicious predator control and ongoing habitat management, this area of the Borders could support a healthier population of birds, and the potential for heather recovery gives the hill a sunny outlook, despite being steeped in thick cloud on the day of our visit.