Bio Blitz Day

Lower Clyde Greenspace are organising a Bio Blitz Day for Saturday 5th June at the Bishop's Glen to tie in with BBC 's Springwatch Wild Day Out. Between 10am and 2.30pm come along and discover (or rediscover if you've not been there for a while) this fantastic informal country park on the towns back door. Learn about the New GREEN GYM project, take part in a range of hands on environmental activities, bring your own bike and join in a led mountain bike session between 10:30 and12:30 or join myself for a less strenuous guided walk around the glen from 13:00 to 14:00.

Bring your own picnic and make a day of it!

See you in the glen!!

Exciting Times

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your summer over the weekend!!

Exciting news on Frogwatch-all the adult frogs have vanished and we have our first hatchlings!

The forest is now bursting into life all around us and you are taking to the forest in fantastic numbers. Some of these numbers were those of you who took part in the Sport Relief Event at the West Bay - well done for taking part and raising so much money!! especially well done to CLANN and St Mun's Primary School for all your hard work.

Also you may have noticed some path works going on at the back of the Bishop's Glen - this marks the first phase of an exciting new partnership between The Forestry Commission and Argyll & Bute Council with the main aim of linking the Bishop's Glen to FC land, making it easier for people to access a greater range of recreational opportunities on their doorstep.

Watch this space for further exciting developments on this and other projects....


See you around the forest.

Frogwatch

No doubt about it now, signs of spring are all around, Crocus, Daffodil, Snowdrop, bluebell shoots and of course ....frogs by the hundred taking advantage of almost every drainage ditch and puddle. The puddle where this picture was taken had nothing in it last week, now there are over 100 frogs and is completely covered in frog spawn. I'll be keeping a close eye to see how this develops over the coming weeks so please join me on Frogwatch (or start your own at a puddle near you!!) .

Any plans for Sunday 28th March?

No, then why not join CLANN, St Mun's Primary School and the FC Rangers for a Sport Relief Event. Starting at the West Bay park there will be a 1 mile run along the promenade and back and a slightly longer 3 mile event for those who want to stretch their legs a bit further. Watch this space for times and details.

Hope to see you there, if not see you around the forest.

Going Live!

After more than a year of hard work by the team and a lot of much appreciated input from local people, the new Dunoon's Forests web pages have gone live this week.

Check them out at www.forestry.gov.uk/dunoonsforests and please let us know what you think.

These vibrant new pages will enable visitors and locals alike to see exactly what the forests that stretch between Dunoon and the southern end of the Cowal Peninsula have to offer, whatever their area of interest. These pages will be regularly updated so if you happen to have any photographs that you have taken on your trips into the woods and would like to share them then please do send them to us.

Those of you who have been out and about this week will have noticed that the higher trails have been difficult to access because of the snow(again!) but the lower trails such as those at Ardyne are beginning to take on a real spring like appearance. In fact we've had to trim & thin quite a bit at Ardyne ready for the season ahead.

No Cuckoos as yet but I have heard much Woodpecker activity and had a really quite close encounter with a large female buzzard who swooped down to grab a small mammal of some sort not less than 8ft from me.

A good forecast for the weekend ahead so hopefully I'll see you in the forest.

Spotted

Despite still having to scrape the van windows in the morning, it would appear that we are drawing ever closer to spring. I have been reliably informed (though yet to see photos) that Snowdrops and even Bluebell shoots have been spotted in the woods!! It must be time to start listening out for the first Cuckoo!

Not Quite Spring

Well, that's January pretty much gone already!

It's been a busy start to what promises to be an equally busy year in Dunoon's Forests. The team have been out and about checking trails, car parks etc (do stop us and say "Hello" if you see us about) to make sure they're good to go for anyone visiting the forest.

The wildlife is also beginning to make itself more evident once again. On my stroll from Innellan to Toward last weekend I spotted 3 Buzzards, 2 Jays, 4 Roe Deer, a Redwing and this sizeable spider's web. I even met a couple of people on bikes. No sign of the first Spring flowers just yet! (unless you've seen otherwise?)

Just a reminder that there are currently harvesting works ongoing by the Blue Lochan above Innellan, so please lookout for any warning signs, diversions or trucks on the forest roads.

It looks like it might be a bit wetter and windier this weekend - but don't let that stop you getting out there - go on, you know you want to!!

See you around the forest.

Open for business

Greetings, and welcome to the first blog of 2010.

With the snow and ice finally gone, the tracks and trails of Dunoon's Forests are once again open and waiting for you!! The weather forecast for this weekend looks spectacular - if maybe still a little cold so why not get out there and enjoy some walking, biking, riding or whatever you fancy.

If you take your camera with you, feel free to send us your pics for possible inclusion in our new Dunoon's Forests web pages which are due to go live very soon.- watch this space.

See you around the Forest.

Happy Trails!