Forsinard

On the way north to Wick for a meeting of the Land Commission,  my colleagues and I diverted to visit the RSPB reserve at Forsinard, which is at the heart of what is called the "flow country".   

The Flow Country is now a World Heritage Site and we were fortunate to be taken up into the hills to hear about peat land restoration and to see both the success and the continuing problems, the latter largely from forestry , and what they call "sitka rain" - the windblown seeding of trees from the plantations.  

I had passed through here 11 years ago, on my way back from the travelling Cabinet meeting in  Wick  but today I was able to stand in the middle of the level crossing (having checked there were no trains due) and take this picture of the station at Forsinard, which doubles as the RSPB visitor centre.   

I was also able to fulfil  my ambition expressed in my blip when last here to walk for at least a brief period of time in the flow country itself. 

We drove to Forsinard via Glen Loth - not a road for the faint hearted,  but it does give amazing views of the Strath of Kildonan, which is one of my two extra photos.   The second is the view from where we walked and listened to our knowledgable RSPB and Flow Country hosts.