Alan Motion
@fairlieman.bsky.social
Retired Chartered Forester, arboriculturist. Captain at Balfron Golf Club. Likes to paddle a kayak occasionally. Stirlingshire 🏴
Wooden polychrome door in Pedro I Palace Real Alcázar de Sevilla, 1356. Carbon captured and stored.
October 29, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Wooden polychrome door in Pedro I Palace Real Alcázar de Sevilla, 1356. Carbon captured and stored.
The same can be said for the images below. Both are grassland.
October 29, 2025 at 8:28 AM
The same can be said for the images below. Both are grassland.
These are all taken in managed conifer plantation. Perhaps we should fell it all and allow it to "rewild"? I admire many rewilding initiatives. I also hate unthinned 1st rotation Sitka. But we need timber, and gotta start somewhere.
October 29, 2025 at 8:19 AM
These are all taken in managed conifer plantation. Perhaps we should fell it all and allow it to "rewild"? I admire many rewilding initiatives. I also hate unthinned 1st rotation Sitka. But we need timber, and gotta start somewhere.
Here I am, back in my favourite place for the penultimate guided walk of the year. Just an uneducated forester according to some, enjoying this nature-depleted landscape where every tree you see has been planted by others equally uneducated.
October 8, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Here I am, back in my favourite place for the penultimate guided walk of the year. Just an uneducated forester according to some, enjoying this nature-depleted landscape where every tree you see has been planted by others equally uneducated.
A few feathered friends from my trip to Shetland back in July. I love camera-shy Guillemot No 3.
September 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
A few feathered friends from my trip to Shetland back in July. I love camera-shy Guillemot No 3.
Dodging downpours today @BalfronGolfClub.
September 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Dodging downpours today @BalfronGolfClub.
Sunlight through paperbark maple, Acer griseum. I grew this from seed and planted it in 1999 when my red-haired lad was born.
August 12, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Sunlight through paperbark maple, Acer griseum. I grew this from seed and planted it in 1999 when my red-haired lad was born.
Well said. I'm not going to apologise for overseeing the planting, establishment and management of over 1m trees around Glasgow in the 90s, at a time when so many elms had been lost. Without the act of planting, these woodlands wouldn't exist.
August 5, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Well said. I'm not going to apologise for overseeing the planting, establishment and management of over 1m trees around Glasgow in the 90s, at a time when so many elms had been lost. Without the act of planting, these woodlands wouldn't exist.
@bsbibotany.bsky.social #Wildflowerhour #bythesea some Sea Rocket (Cakile maritime) and some Sea Sandwort (Honckenya peploides) I think. Both on Findhorn beach this week.
August 3, 2025 at 7:23 PM
@bsbibotany.bsky.social #Wildflowerhour #bythesea some Sea Rocket (Cakile maritime) and some Sea Sandwort (Honckenya peploides) I think. Both on Findhorn beach this week.
Took a walk into Glen Feshie today. Since Wildland took over and removed the intense deer browsing, the glen has undergone a rebirth. This is my tree of the day. A survivor from the past, amongst the new generation of Caledonian pine. Being there is good for the soul.
July 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Took a walk into Glen Feshie today. Since Wildland took over and removed the intense deer browsing, the glen has undergone a rebirth. This is my tree of the day. A survivor from the past, amongst the new generation of Caledonian pine. Being there is good for the soul.
A visit to Beauly and an encounter with the lovely Beauly sycamore. Sadly it's much older neighbour, the Beauly elm, collapsed 2 years ago, but its legacy is recorded by Isabel McLeish www.isabelmcleish.com/art/wych-elm.... You can view a 3d model of the 800yo elm here sketchfab.com/3d-models/be...
July 28, 2025 at 6:34 PM
A visit to Beauly and an encounter with the lovely Beauly sycamore. Sadly it's much older neighbour, the Beauly elm, collapsed 2 years ago, but its legacy is recorded by Isabel McLeish www.isabelmcleish.com/art/wych-elm.... You can view a 3d model of the 800yo elm here sketchfab.com/3d-models/be...
Recent trip to Shetland and an excursion with Seabirds-and-Seals Original Noss Boat. Spectacular seabird colonies on Noss, here are a few gannets that posed obligingly.
June 26, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Recent trip to Shetland and an excursion with Seabirds-and-Seals Original Noss Boat. Spectacular seabird colonies on Noss, here are a few gannets that posed obligingly.
I had a visit to the Shetland Islands, never really had the desire to go to a treeless landscape, but was needed to help out. Whilst much is sheep-ravaged, the coastline and seabirds are quite spectacular.
June 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I had a visit to the Shetland Islands, never really had the desire to go to a treeless landscape, but was needed to help out. Whilst much is sheep-ravaged, the coastline and seabirds are quite spectacular.
June 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Spent a fine couple of days at Calgary, Mull over the weekend. The Island's residents were very accommodating.
June 3, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Spent a fine couple of days at Calgary, Mull over the weekend. The Island's residents were very accommodating.
Before the COVID pandemic the thought of a walk in the woods to smell the bluebells filled me with dread. As a forester hugely overworked, the woods were the last place I wanted to be. Retired now. My mojo is back. #Aberfoyle #QueenElizabethForestPark
May 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Before the COVID pandemic the thought of a walk in the woods to smell the bluebells filled me with dread. As a forester hugely overworked, the woods were the last place I wanted to be. Retired now. My mojo is back. #Aberfoyle #QueenElizabethForestPark
Lucky enough to see them around the Everglades on a trip in 2024. In Scotland you'll occasionally find one in a park grown as an ornamental.
May 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Lucky enough to see them around the Everglades on a trip in 2024. In Scotland you'll occasionally find one in a park grown as an ornamental.
Designated campsites yes. But large parts of the shore are no camping Apr-Oct. Take a jet ski right up the north end, you'll be ok.
May 10, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Designated campsites yes. But large parts of the shore are no camping Apr-Oct. Take a jet ski right up the north end, you'll be ok.
Today at Balfron GC, I'll never tire of the views. Spent quite a bit of time admiring the scenery because my golf wasn't worth looking at.
May 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Today at Balfron GC, I'll never tire of the views. Spent quite a bit of time admiring the scenery because my golf wasn't worth looking at.
Did you find the EDP headquarters? Very impressive.
April 13, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Did you find the EDP headquarters? Very impressive.
That's another 14 #stgaguides through cpd on Scotland's forest history. That makes 97 total, and £950 to #TreeAid. Great interaction. A nod to @dendrochronicle.bsky.social for keeping me right on medieval timber use. #Dunkeld #Birnam #Macbeth
March 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
That's another 14 #stgaguides through cpd on Scotland's forest history. That makes 97 total, and £950 to #TreeAid. Great interaction. A nod to @dendrochronicle.bsky.social for keeping me right on medieval timber use. #Dunkeld #Birnam #Macbeth
Swans at #HogganfieldLoch #Glasgow. In the early 90s this park was sterile mown grass. The mosaic of habitats now provides home to loads of wildlife. The late Ian Gibson @scottishbirding.bsky.social was largely responsible for the rewilding, before it was a thing.
March 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Swans at #HogganfieldLoch #Glasgow. In the early 90s this park was sterile mown grass. The mosaic of habitats now provides home to loads of wildlife. The late Ian Gibson @scottishbirding.bsky.social was largely responsible for the rewilding, before it was a thing.
I know I'm supposed to be retired, but one last survey of #StirlingUni campus after Storm Whatsitsname needed to be done (aren't storm names supposed to be memorable?). Great to see that the old oaks have all survived intact.
March 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I know I'm supposed to be retired, but one last survey of #StirlingUni campus after Storm Whatsitsname needed to be done (aren't storm names supposed to be memorable?). Great to see that the old oaks have all survived intact.
Landing gear down, air brakes applied.
March 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Landing gear down, air brakes applied.