The pencil sharpeners

I picked Tim up again this morning and we set off for home. Yesterday's sunshine had gone and we drove along the M9 under a gloomy sky. After stopping for a coffee at the Broch café in Strathyre - formerly a public toilet! -  we continued along Glen Dochart where I turned off to see one of my favourite spots, the bridge over the River Dochart on the road to Auchlyne. This is my Blip for today.

We walked down to the river and I was surprised to see a number of trees encased in sturdy wire cylinders. Closer examination showed them all to be aspens, Populus tremula. Among them were a number of young, recently planted aspens, also protected. We couldn't decide what these large trees were being protected from until we noticed several conical stumps - see extras. It was then that we realised that these trees had been gnawed and felled by beavers! 

The River Tay catchment area has long been populated by an expanding number of beavers which have either escaped or were released from captivity. Obviously they're coming up the River Dochart on their way to who knows where!