Spies, Signs and Secret Squirrels

On Tuesday I had a visit from Steve the local Scottish Wildlife Trust Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels Officer. Red Squirrel aren’t always that easy to see- I’ve had just two glimpses of them since I’ve been working here. However, there are signs of them all over the park and I had a very instructive walk learning how to ID squirrel-eaten hazel nuts and squirrel-stripped spruce cones.

We’re looking at running some surveys to see which parts of the park the squirrels are using and then potentially setting up a ‘Squirrel-Watch’ point with feeders and a viewing screen. If you’d like to help out, see some squirrels, and could spare a few minutes to check a survey box while you’re walking round the park then leave a comment or drop a quick email to haddovso@btconnect.com to get involved.

One thing you definitely notice as you walk round the park is the amount of fungi springing up everywhere. Several of the dead or dying trees out in the park are covered in bracket fungus, big pale mushrooms or pale yellow Honey Fungus, making them look like the oozing swamp from a fantasy adventure movie. The lawns in front of the house are another good spot, with rare Waxcaps and coral fungus in the grass. If you want to find out more, experts from Plantlife are running a Fungi walk around the gardens and grounds from 1-3.30pm this Saturday, more details at http://www.plantlife.org.uk/things_to_do/activities/aberdeenshire_guided_fungi_walk or contact scotland@Plantlife.org.uk.

Unsolved at Haddo

For something completely different, how do you feel about becoming a spy this Sunday? Haddo are holding a couple of events as part of the Unsolved Festival- mystery tours, talks with crime writers and storytelling workshops held in National Trust properties across Aberdeenshire.

Here at Haddo, we’re hosting Operation Espionage- an event run by proper ex-intelligence and military officers (I’m told you can tell, should you be able to tell with a spy..?). Starting with a map and a few clues, you follow the spy trail around the park, meeting contacts and avoiding surveillance from suspicious characters hiding in the woods…

Once you’ve had some practice at being a proper spy, you can help David our local ranger and become a wildlife detective with Live and Deadly. Grab your detective booklet, follow the trail and solve the clues to unravel the deadly crime scene and claim your prize!

For more information about the Unsolved Festival, and the events at Haddo see http://www.nts.org.uk/Unsolved/WhatsOn/Diary/ and follow the links for Sunday’s ‘Operation Espionage’ and Saturday and Sunday’s ‘Live and Deadly’ events.

Project Update

View from the portacabin window this week

The regeneration work is still creeping towards a finish. Benches are starting to appear, the weather has helped some of the grassed areas green up much more quickly that I had expected, and there’s turf going down in places where the seeding hasn't quite taken. The asphalting hasn't started (a bit delayed by half term and the wet weather) but there's a nice selection of kit parked outside the office window (and delighting quite a lot of 6 year old boys) just waiting for it to start...