Pictures of Rannoch

As promised - pictures of Rannoch without his antlers!

Nature is Amazing!

Every year the male stags 'cast' their antlers, which basically means their antlers drop off. This is very important in the deer's annual cycle as it means broken antlers can be discarded and be replaced by new, bigger antlers which they need during the rut.

Our first male to cast is Rannoch, he cast his antlers just a couple of days ago on the 21st March. He will shortly start to grow his new antlers which will only take between 3 and 4 months!!

Rannoch looks a bit silly just now, but you wait and see.

We will pop up regular photos of Rannoch so you can see how his new antlers are coming on.

Yogi

Hop, skip or stroll....

..... but please don't stand on the frogs!

It's that time of the year when frogs search out any pond, pool or puddle to lay thousands of tiny eggs. If you are out and about exploring the woods in the next couple of weeks, particularly near ponds and lochs, please keep a watchful eye on the ground ahead. There may be a well camouflaged, smooth skinned amphibian crossing your path to find a suitable egg laying location.

Is it a frog or is it a toad? Frogs have smooth skin and toads have rough looking warty skin.

So keep on the look out, you may be lucky and see one.... or more!

Yogi

Spring has Sprung, surely?!

I'm convinced spring has arrived, yes its still a little chilly but the bird song in the woods today and frogs busily laying eggs in pools of water means, in my book, spring is here and that's something to get excited about!

Penninghame Pond was particularly nice this afternoon, woodpeckers, tree creepers and long tailed tits all flitting from tree to tree.

Another good trail to visit at the moment is Barhill Woods in Kirkcudbright. Its quite a short trail but if you stop to watch the birds and take photos like I do it could take around 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yogi

Visitor centres open this Thursday!

Just a quick note to remind you that our 3 visitor centres, Clatteringshaws, Kirroughtree and Glentrool re open for the 2010 season on Thursday the 11th March.

With the great weather we have been having recently you will soon be able to enjoy one of our many waymarked forest trails and then relax in our tea room with a well earned cup of tea and slice of cake! mmmmm perfect!

We look forward to seeing you soon

Yogi

Congratulations!

We are very excited by the arrival of some very cute looking baby goats (kids) at our wild goat park along the Queensway! They are very shy but you should get a glimpse from the car park.

We have taken a couple of pictures to share with you here.

All together now... aaaawwwwww!!! Cute huh!

Pictures all taken by Hugh Gunning our wildlife ranger.

Have a great weekend

Yogi

Harvesting at Glentrool

Just a quick post to let you know/remind you that there are a couple of harvestings sites in operation at glentrool at the moment.

One site is just above the visitor centre and will be active for roughly a month. The other site is along the Southern Upland Way, the south side of Loch Trool.

Please follow the advice on the ground and adhere to all warning signs and diversions. They are there for your safety and the saftey of our staff.

Enjoy your visit.

Yogi