The Boat of Bardmony to Balbrogie

Bardmony is a farm on the banks of the River Isla. The Ordnance Survey's map shows the crossing place under the name 'Boat of Bardmony', which indicates that a ferry took travellers across at least into the Middle of the nineteenth century, and possibly up to a century later. Louise and I left our car near the bridge and took the path along the flood defence (or levée?) that runs south of the river.

The floods have long since subsided and left behind a mixed detritus of coarse woody debris and an amazing jetsam of plastic bottles, balls, containers of mineral licks for farm stock.

Raising our eyes from the rubbish, we looked downstream, along this bank, bare of undergrowth in the winter, with groups of willow that are supplying the beavers with sustenance.

When we walked along this bank before Christmas there was a lodge here. The floods have washed the superstructure of branches away and the beavers have not returned.

Balbrogie was a grange of the nearby abbey of Coupar Angus. The Cistercian abbey was founded by King Malcolm IV in 1164 and has left its imprint on the history of the surrounding countryside. 

The name Balbrogie comes from the Gaelic Baile Brogain: 'Brogan's township'.

This island, just south of the confluence of the Rivers Ericht and Isla was the subject of an extraordinarily misleading news item on BBC Radio Scotland a couple of days ago.

A fishing ghillie, John Muller, described the destructive activities of the beavers and how they had killed the willows on the island. Where there were many willows, there were now only a few, he declared.

Looking at the island from all sides it was hard for us to see the justification for Mr Muller's claims. There were signs of fresh activity, but nothing dramatic. Any cutting will be more than made good by the pulse of new shoots when the spring comes. The bare, exposed banks of the Isla have resulted more from grazing by livestock over the centuries than any recent cutting by beavers.

This is the north end of the little island by Balbrogie, looking up the Ericht. The Isla flows away to the east. You can make out a recent blow out of the bank that must have resulted from the recent floods.

We walked back up the path, marvelling at the imaginative capacities of the ghillie. What could he have been talking about? His description of the beaver he had seen, with its fierce orange teeth, would have done Little Red Ridinghood proud!

By this time the silver light of the overcast day had given way to brilliant sunshine.

A management plan for the riparian Isla should be prepared. Litter should be removed and a programme of planting of willow arranged. Interestingly the farm leases of the Abbey of Coupar Angus nearly always included the requirement for the tenant to plant willow (as well as to drain the land).

Some years ago the WWF ran a Wild Rivers' project to restore Scotland's canalised rivers. There should be a revival of this project.

Winter Walks

Scottish Natural Heritage's project to trap all the free beavers in the catchment of the Tay means that we must be discreet about geography - or were these photographs taken in Bavaria?

The back entrance to a burrow in the same burn. The soil was very sandy and some of the bank was collapsing into the stream. I noticed that the farmer had given up cultivating as close to the stream bank as he used to. I guess that the weight of modern farm machinery was enough to destabilise the steep bank.

The sound of rushing water alerted me to the existence of this dam.

Floods and Thaws

Once again Morgan has reminded me, as if he needed to, that there had been no post on this blog for more than a week.

What more can I say, except that we are going through a welcome thaw, thought the ice is exchanged for flooding. Here are some photographs of the dams in the Burnieshed burn at Bamff. 

 The lowest of the Big Three. An overspill to the left of the picture is carrying a lot of water and contributing greatly to the reconfiguring of this rewilding stream.

Here is that long middle dam. This, more than the others, has been draped with rhododendron.

This is the first of the Big Three, looking at its northern end. The old fence straining post is more exposed than it was, but the dam has maintained its integrity, despite the volume of water behind it.

This photo shows the lowest of the Big Three from the path.

Felicity Martin asked how flooding affected beavers. The answer is that floods can affect beavers a lot. If the flood comes with enough warning they will make arrangements, move to higher burrows or shelters. The adults escort the young to places of safety.

In a sudden flood they may get caught and drowned inside their burrows, or washed away by the current. With any luck the animals will get out through a back entrance to the lodge or burrow and find some other shelter, or even build over the existing lodge. In places where floods are frequent, beavers may know of places that are safe in a time of flood.

The beaver that appeared in the Morton Lochs at Tentsmuir in Fife was probably washed down when the Tay was in flood. It was lucky in that it was able to find its way to shore and thus to Tentsmuir, though not so lucky in that it was trapped by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, taken to Edinburgh and then sent on to a wildlife centre in England, whence it escaped and is now thought to be living in the Thames.

Dusk around the Big Pond at Bamff

This afternoon I took a walk around the Big Pond enclosure here at Bamff. You can see the foot marks of beavers and the gnawed trunk of a fallen tree. It is as though a beaver had passed by and taken time off for a few bites at the bark.

 I had not been to look at this lodge for a while, but it seems to have grown a good deal since the autumn when I was last around here.

While waiting and photographing the lodge, I noticed gentle ripples in the open water in the photograph above. A moment later I caught a glimpse of a juvenile beaver, swimming away round the corner.

The importance of beavers in keeping waterways open for other animals can hardly be exaggerated.

Please ring the Zoo in Edinburgh (0131 - 334 9171 http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/ )and ask about Eric (or is she Erica?)

PS I forgot to wish you all a Happy New Year, please accept my belated greetings.

The Thaw, day 2 or may be 3

 The upper end of the Ditch/Burnieshed Burn is still iced over. Yesterday afternoon I took a walk along it. The place is a highway. Here are beaver tracks, but there are plenty of roe deer and fox tracks.

 This is a bit of a path that leads from a canal to a clump of willow. You may make out a beaver's front foot near my left boot and plenty of other foot marks as well. Besides these there are fox tracks. On the right you can make out the mark of a branch that has been dragged to the canal.

This is the same track that you saw in the last photograph, but looking further away towards the willows.

Dusk: I was surprised that my camera - an iPhone, could take such photos in the increasing dark. In the foreground is the path that beavers take over the dam and down into the stream.

A Happy New Year to my visitors!

Take a look at this: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/09/01131458

A Thaw

 A thaw at last! The beavers are out and about again. It seems to me that below about 5ºC they stay at home in their burrows and lodges but, once the temperature rises above freezing, they are out again on the quest for food. This beaver had been snipping a couple of small branches from a recumbent oak tree. 

Here is that middle dam along the Burnieshed Burn, below the drive.

Footmarks, including my left boot to give some idea of scale. We are all familiar with the enormous dog pads in a thaw that lead people to believe that they are looking at the spoor of a wolf. These beaver tracks looked enormous.

More tracks: a beaver's spoor with a fox's running diagonally into the ice covered pool. 

It looks as though the fox had been going to the open water for a drink. People often forget that a time of deep frost is also a time of drought. One of the services that beavers perform for other animals is to keep ponds and pools open for longer than would otherwise be the case, enabling these other creatures to find water to drink. In the case of wildfowl open water means a measure of security from predators such as foxes.

Another Press Release from Scottish Natural Heritage

This is the latest press release from Scottish Natural Heritage with comments from Louise Ramsay in red. The comments in blue are from me (Paul Ramsay)

Tayside beaver recapture

20-DEC-2010

We have produced this statement to clarify matters regarding our involvement in trapping feral beavers in Tayside.

A number beavers have either escaped or been deliberately released into the wild in Tayside. Unlicensed release of animals in an area where they would not ordinarily be found is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which is why the police are involved.

The position of SNH and the Scottish Government is questionable. The equivalent body in England to SNH is Natural England. In 2009 they published a document:

NECR002 - The feasibility and acceptability of reintroducing the European beaver to England.

This may be found at http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/naturalenglandshop/product.aspx?ProductID=0228d212-15d7-41bf-8152-047585ec0941.

The chapter on the legal position of the beaver is particularly illuminating.

Responsibility for the current situation, and the future fate of the feral beavers, lies entirely with those who failed to keep them in captivity and who have now failed to come forward and take responsibility for them.

This happened nearly ten years ago.  Why all the fuss now?  It would seem that the SRPBA has put its foot down. (They claim this as their victory on their website.) Do they run wildlife policy in this country then?

The national Species Reintroduction Forum agreed therefore that the most appropriate and responsible thing to do would be to recapture the Tayside feral beavers.

Membership of this forum includes conservationists, public agencies and wildlife charities, as well as farming, fishing, forestry and landowning interests (see full list at the end of this note).

Who are the national Species Reintroduction Forum? Many of the bodies on this forum are opposed to beavers.  No specialists in reintroductions or beavers were invited, other than the SWT who have now distanced themselves from this decision.

(See the following email from Simon Milne).

From: Simon Milne <smilne@swt.org.uk>

Date: 20 December 2010 12:50:24 GMT

To: Louise Ramsay <louise@bamff.co.uk>

Subject: Unlicensed Beavers

Louise

 

Just left a message on your answer-phone, and will try to call you later.  The issue of the feral beavers is indeed taxing. Things have moved on from the initial discussions at the Reintroductions Forum and SWT’s Council agreed line is:

1.    The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) believes that the European beaver should be re-established in the wild in Scotland.

 

2.    SWT opposes the unlicensed release (intentional or accidental) of beavers into the Scottish countryside because it is illegal to release to the wild any animal which is not normally resident in Great Britain.

 

3.    SWT recognises that given the presence of beavers living free in parts of the Scottish countryside, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to decide what, if anything, is to be done about this.

 

Simon

The reasons for supporting recapture are:

there was no consultation with local people;

The Scottish people were polled in the late 90s and 59% were in favour.  Informally, there was local consultation.  Many local people visited the beavers at Bamff whose dams lie along the Cateran trial: many attended talks and guided tours.

Furthermore, there has been no consultation about the removal of the  beavers to which many local people have become very attached.

there was no licence issued for their release;

It was an escape. But yes, it's true it wasn’t licensed.

there is no monitoring of their welfare, ecology or effects;

there is nothing to stop SNH monitoring them now.

there is no monitoring of animal or public health;

What? 

there is no plan or system of management in place; and

One could be made if it were thought necessary. 

there is no certainty that they are the appropriate species or type of beaver for Scotland.

Species can be tested without trapping.  (SNH know very well that it they are very unlikely to be the  wrong species).

You all know the” type” issue.

SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), in collaboration with the police and local landowners, are now trapping the beavers.

What? During this cold weather? I thought we had been told they weren’t.

We admire and respect the enthusiasm of people who are keen to see reintroductions of native animals to Scotland. We understand the strong ecological arguments in favour.

That's nice! Are SNH the 'wrong kind' of conservationists?

Like it or not, however, there are legal considerations that govern how this can be done, put in place by Parliaments to achieve the correct balance.

See NECR002.

We would also question whether public support for beaver reintroduction includes support for illegal and secret releases of animals to the wild.

This is a separate matter from the legal status of the beavers.

There is a licensed and carefully managed trial reintroduction of beavers underway at Knapdale in Argyll. This trial is being carried out by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, in accordance with international guidelines. SNH is coordinating the independent monitoring of the trial in partnership with a number of other bodies.

Some might say that the 'careful management' was one of gross over interference with the animals and may have contributed to the high mortality.

The European beaver is not listed as a protected species under domestic legislation because they are not ordinarily resident in Britain. We expect this would be reviewed if they were to be reintroduced permanently to Scotland.

It is quite possible that Scotland is breaking European law by not putting them on the “ordinarily resident” list now that they are breeding. ( See NECR002)

Origin of the beavers

The beavers that would once have inhabited Scotland were 'western form' European beavers. This is the specific form being used in the licensed reintroduction project currently underway in Argyll. They have come from Norway.

(And are inbred.)

If European beaver reintroduction is ever approved by the Scottish Government in the future, there could be the opportunity for Scotland to become a refuge for the western form of European beaver.

This is surely a most bizarre notion! There are 160,000 Eurasian beavers in Norway and Sweden, all descended from the may be 200 survivors in Telemark. Why would the United Kingdom be necessary as a refuge for the western form of the European beaver?

There are Bavarian beavers in the Thames and the Tamar as well, that have escaped from zoos and enclosures. 


Perhaps SNH's plan is to restore the beaver to England by stealth, as those caught in the Tay escape from captivity in those licensed zoos?

The origin of the Tayside beavers is uncertain. Most are believed to be from Bavaria. This means they are most likely 'eastern form' European, or a blend of eastern and western form.

The group knows this issue pretty well. Duncan Halley’s paper in Mammal Review is the last word on this subject.  The Kitchener Paper that SNH is going on is based on three skulls in the archaeological record.

Bavarian beavers can be carriers of a parasite tapeworm which is potentially harmful to human health and up until now has not been found in Great Britain. If any of the Tayside feral beavers are carrying this parasite, it could become established in the Scottish wildlife.

We are looking into this just now, but suspect that this is a storm in a teacup. I will post more on this later.

Is SNH clutching at straws? 

The parasite does not occur in Norway, and so Norwegian beavers are not known to be carriers.

Since nobody has admitted responsibility for the Tay beavers, there is also a chance that the North American beaver could be present. There are increasing numbers of records of these occurring in Europe.

We’ve seen this before. As before, it is vanishingly unlikely, but could be checked by genetically testing hairs. One sample from each colony would settle the subject.

Although it is unlikely that North American animals are present, we are not keen to take the risk.

These are all very valid reasons why the beavers in Tayside could not become part of the licensed reintroduction trial, and why they should be recaptured.

None of them is valid.

Also, at the end of the trial period the Scottish Government will decide whether it is appropriate and/or desirable to have beavers in Scotland. If they do they will extend the reintroduction beyond the trial phase. Alternatively, they may decide it's not appropriate and to abandon the reintroduction altogether.

If the Argyll trial is deemed a failure, (and no doubt this is what the SRPBA would like), then the Tayside beavers may turn out to be the only chance of a reintroduction this side of 2050.  Scotland would look like a very unfriendly place to wildlife compared to all its European neighbours. I don’t get the impression that this would draw a true picture of attitudes in Scotland.

The recapture of the Tayside beavers would by then be a much more expensive and onerous task than it is at present.

As for the scale of the task, we will learn more about this as the trapping exercise progresses. Evidence suggests there are between seven and 20 beavers loose in Tayside. Bait testing indicates that trapping them is feasible.

Welfare is a key consideration. The area being trapped initially has been used by three beavers; two kits and their mother. The kits are about 18 months old and welfare advice tells us they are capable of survival without their mother.

If welfare of the beavers really was a consideration SNH would leave them alone.

The beaver hunting season in Norway runs from October to April, confirming that this is the most appropriate time to trap them. We want to avoid trapping after dependent baby kits' might appear around mid-spring.

Trapped beavers will be handed over to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for holding and re-housing. As part of this RZSS will be wildlife parks and zoos around the UK that have suitable enclosures to house beavers.

Capturing beavers is not something we ever thought we would have to be involved in, nor is it something we would want to be spending resources on, particularly in such times as these.

However to take no action, and allow the feral beavers to remain in the wild, would be to ignore well established wildlife legislation and international species reintroduction guidelines. It would also set a very dangerous precedent; and possibly even encourage other illegal animal releases.

I don’t think the Belgians worried about this when they welcomed and protected their illegally introduced beavers.

That is not something that SNH, or any government organisation, can do.

In that case, are they trapping and removing all the grey squirrels, mink,, etc. and removing Japanese knotweed, Chinese balsam etc etc.  And if not why not? These and other non native species cost the British people around  1.7 billion every year. 

Ends.

NOTES

Scottish Natural Heritage is the Government's adviser on all aspects of nature and landscape across Scotland. Our role is to help everyone understand, value and enjoy Scotland's nature now and in the future. For further information on SNH, please visit our website at www.snh.gov.uk

The national Species Reintroduction Forum had its first meeting in May 2009. It is chaired by SNH and has a membership representing a range of stakeholders from land use, conservation and science sectors. The overall role of the Forum is to contribute to broad scale, strategic issues relating to species reintroductions in Scotland. Current membership includes: Association of Scottish Fishery Boards; Scottish Government; British Association for Shooting and Conservation; National Farmers Union Scotland; Scottish Gamekeepers Association; Scottish Rural Property and Business Association; British Waterways; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; Scottish Environment Protection Agency; Scottish Water; Royal Zoological Society of Scotland; Scottish Natural Heritage (Chair); Scottish Wildlife Trust; Forestry Commission Scotland.

Most of these bodies know nothing about beavers. Some are hostile, others indifferent.  SRPBA claim this as their victory. (See their website).  SWT, one of only two conservation bodies on the forum has pulled back to a fence sitting position.

For further information: Calum Macfarlane, SNH Inverness, 01463 725020