Six Friends of Nevis Volunteers at Braveheart

15 Volunteers turned out to help with the Friends of Nevis Autumn Litter Pick and Curling Ponds clear up on Sunday 21st November, organised and led by Joy and Hughie. After an initial briefing volunteers split into smaller teams and covered the Glen from the Curling Ponds all the way up to the Upper Falls Car Park and also included Roaring Mill and the 'Heart Attack' Several bags of rubbish, fly tipped tarps and several glass bottles were cleared up. The levels of litter were not as much as in previous years, thanks in part to litter picks by NLP Rangers, JMT staff  and Friends of Nevis Volunteers through the busy summer season. Notable this year was some fly tipping at Sheep Fank near Lower Falls and roadside debris from a car fire / crash near Braveheart entrance. Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped!

Above: Close up of a male Goldfinch.

Mild and settled conditions on Saturday 13th November enabled BTO licenced bird ringers Kirsty and John to set up and run another of their popular drop in Bird Ringing sessions. 
When I came by in the late morning they had already had over 70 birds, quite a number of which were birds they had previously rung in previous years, including this handsome young male Goldfinch pictured above. This bird had been originally rung by the team in 2018, making it 3 years old, which is good longevity for a wild bird. By the end of the day they had recorded 88 new birds and 37 're-traps'. Species included Blue, Coal and Great Tits; Siskins; House Sparrow; Dunnock; Robin, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and a Great - Spotted Woodpecker.
If you have never seen wild birds close up it is well worth dropping in on one of their sessions both to see the birds and also learn about them from John and Kirsty who have a wealth of avian knowledge. Information regards the size, weight, sex and age of the birds is recorded and added to national records that inform our knowledge of the population size and spread of the various species.  Each bird is given a special ring on its leg with a unique code so that if it is ever re-caught it can be identified and information regards age and dispersion can be learned. Fitting the rings is delicate work and it takes many years for ringers to get their licenses. The next drop in session will be on Saturday 11th December, put the date in your diary!

Above Left: Fitting the correct sized ring on a young male Chaffinch's leg. Above Right: Accurately measuring primary feather length of a Goldfinch

Due to continuing uncertainty about holding the AGM indoors, this years AGM was carried out online using the Nevis Landscape Partnership's Zoom account. Approximately 24 people attended including faithful volunteers, Helen and Steve from Kent, who had stayed in one of the Glamping Pods at Glen Nevis Holidays. During their stay they kindly helped Rory and the Seasonal Ranger team remove two unused owl boxes and poles from Leanachan Forest. 
The usual AGM business was carried out including a Directors Report and Treasurers report followed by election of office bearers. This year our guest speaker was Jonathan Hart, Liaison Officer form Jahama Highland Estates. Jonathan's talk gave an insight into Jahama's complex and varied operation which stretches from Spey Dam, Glen Shero and Laggan in the east to Kinlochleven in the west (including of course Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis) together with the challenges and opportunities that it brings. 

After the morning's gales and rain the sun almost came out!

Despite gale force winds and horizontal rain four hardy volunteers ventured out for a day of cross drain clearing and path maintenance. As Kirsty, one of the Friends of Nevis volunteer trustees and long time volunteer put it: 'its great weather for clearing drains'.
Our first focus was to work on the link path leading from the Riverside Path up to Achintee. The cross drains on this section fill in fairly quickly but some excellent work from the Nevis Landscape Partnership Seasonal rangers earlier in the summer meant they weren't too bad and we were finished this section just after 11.30.
After stopping off to fill bird feeders at the Visitor Centre in preparation for next weeks Bird Ringing, we headed on to Lower Falls and the path to Paddies Bridge. By this time the rain bearing occluded front had passed over us and the rain eased off..blue sky was even spotted. Spectacular views of streams cascading off the flanks of the Ben and the Mamores was had. Looking down to the river also gave views of a group of  kayakers negotiating the white water rapids of the upper Nevis from Steall and over Lower falls

Regular Friends of Nevis Volunteer Kirsty and new Volunteer Matthew; Bria our four legged volunteer helps with digging out a silt trap

Volunteers Calum and Jenny in action