Princess Anne presents Jubilee Diamond Wood Plaque to Trees for Life

Alan Watson Featherstone of Trees for Life receives the
Diamond Wood commemorative plaque from
HRH The Princess Royal.
Photo: Woodland Trust Scotland.

Trees for Life has been honoured with a commemorative plaque from HRH The Princess Royal to mark its creation of a Diamond Wood in Inverness-shire to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The conservation charity is planting the 60-acre Jubilee woodland of native trees at its Dundreggan Estate, to the west of Loch Ness in Glen Moriston.

The initiative is part of a Woodland Trust project to create 60 new Diamond Woods across the UK, each at least 60 acres in size, to symbolise the 60 years of The Queen’s reign.

The commemorative plaque was presented to Trees

Ltl Acorn 6210 Water Resistance Tests

Ltl Acorn 6210MMX

Don't all die of shock. This is what we've all been waiting for.
A 6210 with a water tight case.

Camera under test: 

Ltl Acorn 6210MG S/N 202001037 – This test camera is the re-designed case as of October 2012

Purpose of test: 

To determine its resistance to water ingress during heavy rainfall with at least a ten degrees centigrade drop in case temperature during the first five minutes from the start of the test.

Reason for test:

The camera case is a sealed unit at normal air pressure but with any sudden drop in external case temperature (e.g. cold heavy rain following heating by sun), the air inside starts to contract and form a vacuum. As the vacuum increases any weakness in the case seals will cause the seal to break down at some point and

The Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) - National tree of Scotland?

Scots Pine - Pinus sylvestris

Scots Pine - Pinus sylvestris

Glen Affric NNR
Scots Pine forest in the foreground with plantations on
lower middle ground; and behind is the open hill ground
left by centuries of tree felling and deer over population. 

From an article in The Scotsman by Scott Macnab

The Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) is also known as the Scots fir, the Guithais (Gaelic), Ochtach (Old Irish) and Giumais (Irish).

A petition lodged at Holyrood calls on MSPs and the Scottish Government to work in tandem with the country’s heritage and environmental bodies to take the proposal on.

It has already met with a 
positive response from the Scottish Wildlife Trust, but officials say there is currently no mechanism to create the new national symbol.

Petitioner Alex Hamilton said: “I believe that the vision of the future of Scotland should include a

Scottish Wildcat Association October 2012 Newsletter

SNH action plan for wildcats

Scottish Natural Heritage, the Government agency responsible for nature in Scotland, announced the formation of a new conservation action group for the wildcat, put together with the intention of forming a national action plan to bring them back from the brink.

The group includes a wide cross section of groups who can all play a hand and bring a range of expertises to the table, besides ourselves at the Scottish Wildcat Association the group also includes Forestry Commission Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Cairngorms Wildcat Project, Highland Foundation for Wildlife, Highland Wildlife Park, Oxford University, Scottish Gamekeepers Association and leading wildcat expert Dr Andrew Kitchener.

Before the first meeting of the group we (the SWA)

Ltl Acorn 6210 and 5210 Trail Cameras News Update

Ltl Acorn 6210MMX and 5210A

In this post:
Trigger Speeds and Reaction Times
MMS Modules
6210 Case Re-design
6210 Software Version update
5210 Software Version update
Future Tests and Reviews
6210 Availability

It looks as if the new updated 6210 is almost available, at long last; but I'm going to qualify that by pointing out that I can only report what I'm told.

Several times it seemed as if the camera would be ready and then the manufacturers have had to make fine adjustments to the case mould. I also know that there is completely updated software for this camera and all these improvements take time to get right.

Post Update 22.10.12: The new 6210 will be here

Badger cull: not in this farmer's name | Steve Jones | guardian.co.uk

Badger cull: not in this farmer's name

'Farmers vilify badgers but TB is mainly transmitted
cow to cow.'   Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

This article was published in The Guardian last Friday and I'm re-publishing it here to provide as much extra coverage as possible.

If only everyone could see it this way.  RB
...................................

I farm in the cull area, and I know that killing badgers will not stop bovine TB – the answer lies in better farming practice


The government justifies a badger cull by claiming it's to help farmers. I have 35 years' livestock management experience, and I live in the heart of the Forest of Dean – the cull area – and I disagree. Killing badgers isn't the long-