DH took a day off work on Wednesday to help me celebrate my birthday. After checking the mountain weather forecast we decided against going up a hill and headed for a bimble around the woods at Culbin.
Culbin Forest was once a vast area of shifting sand dunes and was the largest area of open sand dunes in Britain covering 3,100 hectares. The land was purchased by the Forestry Commission in the 1920s and afforestation began. The forest helped to reduce the drift of the 7 km long sand bar, which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Today the mature plantations of Scots and Corsican pines are dotted with birches loads of forest floor plants, fungi, lichen and insects.
The sunshine was perfect for lots of activity at the dragonfly pond.
In fact the dragonflies were so active I only managed to photograph this one Black Darter as it rested briefly on the ground.
Black Darter Sympetrum danae
Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)
We dropped down to the Gut, the narrow shoreline managed by the RSPB. Ths is an area of salt marsh, mudflats and sand dunes.
Poles were placed along the beach during the second World War to prevent enemy gliders from landing.
By now it was time for a brew and a cup of soup. Not only did I cook my own birthday meal (ok, just a cup of soup), but I lit the fire to cook it on! This was the first time DH had seen my hobo stove in action and he was impressed by how quick I got it up and burning! I lit it with my fire steel using birch bark as tinder which was flipped into a few birch shavings and dried grass. The fuel was wee, thin sticks of dry, dead gorse from the sand dunes. Almost instant heat! Magic!
As we approached Findhorn Bay we heard a constant low, mournful singing and were delighted to see over one hundred seals resting on the sand bar. I counted 131, but am sure I missed some of the calves. We had endured about one hour of rain by this point, and seeing and hearing the seals lifted my spirits again and made the long walk on the sand worthwhile.
See more ramblings and photaes of the day here
Culbin Forest was once a vast area of shifting sand dunes and was the largest area of open sand dunes in Britain covering 3,100 hectares. The land was purchased by the Forestry Commission in the 1920s and afforestation began. The forest helped to reduce the drift of the 7 km long sand bar, which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Today the mature plantations of Scots and Corsican pines are dotted with birches loads of forest floor plants, fungi, lichen and insects.
The sunshine was perfect for lots of activity at the dragonfly pond.
In fact the dragonflies were so active I only managed to photograph this one Black Darter as it rested briefly on the ground.
Black Darter Sympetrum danae
Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)
We dropped down to the Gut, the narrow shoreline managed by the RSPB. Ths is an area of salt marsh, mudflats and sand dunes.
Poles were placed along the beach during the second World War to prevent enemy gliders from landing.
By now it was time for a brew and a cup of soup. Not only did I cook my own birthday meal (ok, just a cup of soup), but I lit the fire to cook it on! This was the first time DH had seen my hobo stove in action and he was impressed by how quick I got it up and burning! I lit it with my fire steel using birch bark as tinder which was flipped into a few birch shavings and dried grass. The fuel was wee, thin sticks of dry, dead gorse from the sand dunes. Almost instant heat! Magic!
As we approached Findhorn Bay we heard a constant low, mournful singing and were delighted to see over one hundred seals resting on the sand bar. I counted 131, but am sure I missed some of the calves. We had endured about one hour of rain by this point, and seeing and hearing the seals lifted my spirits again and made the long walk on the sand worthwhile.
See more ramblings and photaes of the day here
