Sarah Watts
@sarahwatts.bsky.social
Upland ecologist and manager of nature recovery at #Corrour, PhD researcher at the University of Stirling, and Chair of the Mountain Woodland Action Group. Treeline woodland, restoration ecology, arctic-alpine plants, #HighMountainTrees #MountainFlowers
My best botanical day of the year! While hillwalking in the #Cairngorms we discovered a new, unrecorded population of the ultra rare Marsh Saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus). This beautiful upland plant is a protected species & only found at a few sites in Scotland. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
August 3, 2025 at 7:20 PM
My best botanical day of the year! While hillwalking in the #Cairngorms we discovered a new, unrecorded population of the ultra rare Marsh Saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus). This beautiful upland plant is a protected species & only found at a few sites in Scotland. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
Making the most of flower power! This week at #Corrour we have been repeat #monitoring to determine if our tall herbs and upland calcareous grasslands are continuing to recover after a reduction in deer densities on the estate. It's wonderful to study these lovely plants in a dynamic landscape!
August 1, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Making the most of flower power! This week at #Corrour we have been repeat #monitoring to determine if our tall herbs and upland calcareous grasslands are continuing to recover after a reduction in deer densities on the estate. It's wonderful to study these lovely plants in a dynamic landscape!
An interesting early morning start joining #forestry #PhD researcher Ben Wilson from @stir.ac.uk recording the #moths found in light traps set up at Loch Ossian woods on #Corrour. My favourite find of the day couldn't help but be the large & very charismatic Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)!
June 23, 2025 at 11:49 AM
An interesting early morning start joining #forestry #PhD researcher Ben Wilson from @stir.ac.uk recording the #moths found in light traps set up at Loch Ossian woods on #Corrour. My favourite find of the day couldn't help but be the large & very charismatic Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)!
Here's the delighted face of someone who has just said "This looks exactly like Carex rariflora habitat"...moments before finding Carex rariflora (Mountain Bog-sedge)! We've got our eye in on this Nationally Rare high-altitude plant & the special places it occurs. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
June 22, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Here's the delighted face of someone who has just said "This looks exactly like Carex rariflora habitat"...moments before finding Carex rariflora (Mountain Bog-sedge)! We've got our eye in on this Nationally Rare high-altitude plant & the special places it occurs. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
Lovely time botanising in the #Cairngorms finding Alpine Speedwell (Veronica alpina), Alpine Cat's-tail (Phleum alpinum), Alpine Foxtail (Alopecurus magellanicus), & a new record of Scottish Pearlwort (Sagina x normaniana) last recorded at this site 24 years ago!
#WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
#WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
June 22, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Lovely time botanising in the #Cairngorms finding Alpine Speedwell (Veronica alpina), Alpine Cat's-tail (Phleum alpinum), Alpine Foxtail (Alopecurus magellanicus), & a new record of Scottish Pearlwort (Sagina x normaniana) last recorded at this site 24 years ago!
#WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
#WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers
How many #montane #scrub enthusiasts can you fit around a relict montane willow? We found out on a #Mountain #Woodland Action Group field trip to #Dalnacardoch Estate last week, while discussing exciting potential options for #regeneration & #restoration alongside landscape-scale deer management.
June 20, 2025 at 9:25 AM
How many #montane #scrub enthusiasts can you fit around a relict montane willow? We found out on a #Mountain #Woodland Action Group field trip to #Dalnacardoch Estate last week, while discussing exciting potential options for #regeneration & #restoration alongside landscape-scale deer management.
The ultra-mega-rare #Alpine Catchfly (Silene suecica) is only found in two sites in Britain! We were absolutely delighted to see it in full flower today while botanising in the #Cairngorms; growing on a very unusual high-altitude serpentine rock rich in magnesium. #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour
June 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The ultra-mega-rare #Alpine Catchfly (Silene suecica) is only found in two sites in Britain! We were absolutely delighted to see it in full flower today while botanising in the #Cairngorms; growing on a very unusual high-altitude serpentine rock rich in magnesium. #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour
Here's a plant that only occurs at one single place in the ENTIRE WORLD!! How special to see the #endemic Scottish Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum subsp. scoticum) in the #Cairngorms showing off its lovely long petals today, also alongside Cyphel (Cherleria sedoides). #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour
June 15, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Here's a plant that only occurs at one single place in the ENTIRE WORLD!! How special to see the #endemic Scottish Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum subsp. scoticum) in the #Cairngorms showing off its lovely long petals today, also alongside Cyphel (Cherleria sedoides). #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour
Delighted to have completed Phase 3 of our multi-year #peatland #restoration project at #Corrour with Peatland ACTION! The 245ha at Loch na Lap brings our total for this particular project to 648ha, & our overall peatland restoration area on the estate up to 870ha. Works by Barker and Bland.
June 11, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Delighted to have completed Phase 3 of our multi-year #peatland #restoration project at #Corrour with Peatland ACTION! The 245ha at Loch na Lap brings our total for this particular project to 648ha, & our overall peatland restoration area on the estate up to 870ha. Works by Barker and Bland.
How wonderful to receive these photos from the @treesforlife.bsky.social Dundreggan tree nursery who have been growing montane willows for us. These precious plants are to become our future seed stand for Whortle-leaved Willow on #Corrour; a high-altitude specialist listed as Endangered in Britain.
May 6, 2025 at 12:25 PM
How wonderful to receive these photos from the @treesforlife.bsky.social Dundreggan tree nursery who have been growing montane willows for us. These precious plants are to become our future seed stand for Whortle-leaved Willow on #Corrour; a high-altitude specialist listed as Endangered in Britain.
One of my very favourite jobs of the year: #monitoring our #montane #willows at #Corrour! These Downy Willow saplings were planted two years ago & they're flourishing, all on the open hill without the use of fencing. I'm looking forward to surveying some of our other planting sites next week. 🤗 🤩
May 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
One of my very favourite jobs of the year: #monitoring our #montane #willows at #Corrour! These Downy Willow saplings were planted two years ago & they're flourishing, all on the open hill without the use of fencing. I'm looking forward to surveying some of our other planting sites next week. 🤗 🤩
I had a fantastic #fieldwork day this week planting Downy Willow (Salix lapponum) saplings for an experiment designed by PhD student Rory Abernethy @stir.ac.uk. Their growth & survival will be assessed as part of #research on Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland.
April 24, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I had a fantastic #fieldwork day this week planting Downy Willow (Salix lapponum) saplings for an experiment designed by PhD student Rory Abernethy @stir.ac.uk. Their growth & survival will be assessed as part of #research on Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland.
I had a very interesting, unique & fun day of sunny #fieldwork this week on Ben Ledi with our University of Stirling 1st year PhD student Rory Abernethy who is studying Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland. We were tagging trees for a planned experiment @stir.ac.uk.
April 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I had a very interesting, unique & fun day of sunny #fieldwork this week on Ben Ledi with our University of Stirling 1st year PhD student Rory Abernethy who is studying Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland. We were tagging trees for a planned experiment @stir.ac.uk.
I had a very productive & enjoyable day of #fieldwork last week promoting #montane #willow #conservation! Great to join a team from @hutton.ac.uk & Catkin Ecology working in Glen Lochay to collect cuttings for creating new local provenance seed stands from five threatened willow species!
April 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I had a very productive & enjoyable day of #fieldwork last week promoting #montane #willow #conservation! Great to join a team from @hutton.ac.uk & Catkin Ecology working in Glen Lochay to collect cuttings for creating new local provenance seed stands from five threatened willow species!
Fantastic weather this weekend for a round of the epic "Fisherfield 6" in the North-West Highlands, featuring plenty of sunshine, wind, deer, mountains, ridges, scrambling, bog, big river crossings, & some very remote Scots Pine indeed. 🔭🤩🥰💪🏔️☀️
April 7, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Fantastic weather this weekend for a round of the epic "Fisherfield 6" in the North-West Highlands, featuring plenty of sunshine, wind, deer, mountains, ridges, scrambling, bog, big river crossings, & some very remote Scots Pine indeed. 🔭🤩🥰💪🏔️☀️
We've begun a #riverwoods #restoration trial at #Corrour through the Loch Abar Mòr partnership. These small unfenced seed islands are intended to provide cover & nutrients along the river where seed sources are currently lacking. I'll be #monitoring their progress! #naturerichLochaber
April 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM
We've begun a #riverwoods #restoration trial at #Corrour through the Loch Abar Mòr partnership. These small unfenced seed islands are intended to provide cover & nutrients along the river where seed sources are currently lacking. I'll be #monitoring their progress! #naturerichLochaber
Rainy day roadside botanical safari staring the stunning arctic-alpine Purple #Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) this weekend at Ben Lawers! #WildflowerHour #NTSBenLawers #botany #
March 30, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Rainy day roadside botanical safari staring the stunning arctic-alpine Purple #Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) this weekend at Ben Lawers! #WildflowerHour #NTSBenLawers #botany #
We've planted more trees in our bespoke #montane #willow seed stand at #Corrour! These arctic-alpine Downy Willow are cuttings from wild plants on the estate. The stand has clones from 92 individuals to upscale seed production for the local area. It's the largest stand for this species in Britain!
March 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
February 11, 2025 at 12:11 AM
A memorable long-gap discovery for me was Carex x biharica (C. echinata x canescens) on Ben Lawers in 2019, last seen in the 1890s. It's so difficult to make new finds here given the massive botanical focus at this special site. At 1047m it was a GB altitudinal record for the taxon too! 😍🤩🏔️
January 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
A memorable long-gap discovery for me was Carex x biharica (C. echinata x canescens) on Ben Lawers in 2019, last seen in the 1890s. It's so difficult to make new finds here given the massive botanical focus at this special site. At 1047m it was a GB altitudinal record for the taxon too! 😍🤩🏔️
📢 We're recruiting for an exciting #PhD in #paleoecology "Montane mosaics in Scotland: understanding the past to inform the future". At University of St. Andrews + University of Aberdeen, #Corrour & Mar Lodge Estate. For more details (see ‘staff-led proposals’): www.st-andrews.ac.uk/geography-su...
January 22, 2025 at 3:41 PM
📢 We're recruiting for an exciting #PhD in #paleoecology "Montane mosaics in Scotland: understanding the past to inform the future". At University of St. Andrews + University of Aberdeen, #Corrour & Mar Lodge Estate. For more details (see ‘staff-led proposals’): www.st-andrews.ac.uk/geography-su...
Lovely to see Buxbaumia viridis, a rare #moss on the European Red List & "Schedule 8" of the Wildlife & Countryside Act. Found on rotting logs & stumps of Scots Pine & other conifers in the Eastern Scottish Highlands. Difficult to spot because you're looking for these centimetre-long capsules!
January 12, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Lovely to see Buxbaumia viridis, a rare #moss on the European Red List & "Schedule 8" of the Wildlife & Countryside Act. Found on rotting logs & stumps of Scots Pine & other conifers in the Eastern Scottish Highlands. Difficult to spot because you're looking for these centimetre-long capsules!
Don't worry I know....I also hold the British altitudinal record for Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) at 731m (photo below). At much higher altitudes the non-native conifer we are far more likely to find is Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis); the highest record of Sitka is 1210m on Braeriach!
January 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Don't worry I know....I also hold the British altitudinal record for Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) at 731m (photo below). At much higher altitudes the non-native conifer we are far more likely to find is Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis); the highest record of Sitka is 1210m on Braeriach!
Hi Ben, thanks for your post on #HighMountainTrees! The 1160m Scots Pine from Cairn Lochan was an older (2003), vague record. In July 2023 Jim McIntosh, Andrew Painting & I recorded one also at 1160 on Ben Macdui, so I'm taking the later as the highest confirmed Pine record in Scotland (for now!) 👇
January 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Hi Ben, thanks for your post on #HighMountainTrees! The 1160m Scots Pine from Cairn Lochan was an older (2003), vague record. In July 2023 Jim McIntosh, Andrew Painting & I recorded one also at 1160 on Ben Macdui, so I'm taking the later as the highest confirmed Pine record in Scotland (for now!) 👇
Stunning #winter mountaineering day in the #Cairngorms - this year in the hills has got off to a wonderful start! 🤩☀️😎❄️🏔️
January 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Stunning #winter mountaineering day in the #Cairngorms - this year in the hills has got off to a wonderful start! 🤩☀️😎❄️🏔️