MOY MATTERS (17)
The Moy sub-committee (MSC) urgently requires more volunteers to serve on it. If you live in Moy, Lynebeg, Dalmagarry or Ruthven and can spare a couple of hours every couple of months to help the community and to generate ideas to help improve where we live, please contact either Marian Hendy, John Clarke or Linda Armit, or e mail Ed Cameron-Mackintosh at edwardc-m@strathdearn.org for more info.
Did anyone spot the error in Moy Matters in the last newsletter? Below is what should have been written!
MOY MATTERS (16)
1. Nature Walk: a small group enjoyed a walk round Loch Moy with Tara our ranger. Moy is very rich in wildflowers including some rare species. The total number of species identified by Tara is 46! We are hoping to arrange another community event next year with Colin from Forestry Land Scotland (FLS) to explain and show some of the work they are doing to protect some of the rarer species in our area.
2. Ranger:Tara finished at the end of October. Here is an excerpt from her August/September report:
Visitors: Although the weather was still good until mid-September, this was not reflected in visitor numbers. This may have been due to schools going back and a colder spell in late August/early September which discouraged people from visiting. The 14th of August had particularly good weather and 11 cars were parking in the car park and along the road. This was the busiest day from the past 2 months.
Visitors are more often walking now rather than using the loch with the colder weather, but swimmers and paddle boarders are still about. There have been a few instances of large and small groups camping, and they have been good at cleaning up after themselves.
On one occasion in early September a ‘danger- unstable structure’ sign from the island was found on the loch side.
Litter : Litter levels over August and September have been very low. Rubbish is normally small bits of plastic that have been missed but disposable BBQ grills are quite often found. These are easily missed as they quickly rust and blend in very well with leaf litter.
Fishing wire, floats and hooks have been commonly found over the past months. It is understandable that these can be easily lost, caught in bushes, or missed by fishermen, but it is often large amounts of wire and bright floats. There is always the danger of wildlife, pets and small children getting caught in wire or hooks.
Lynebeg has been largely litter free, with only the occasional piece of rubbish found.
Fires: Fires are far rarer with the ‘no fire’ signs but are still occurring. Throughout August charred spots from BBQs appeared in the most commonly used sites by the loch side, despite signs also stating ‘gas BBQs only’. Twice large groupers of campers have had a large fire and there have been remains from two or three fires where no one was seen to be spoken to. The signs are frequently removed. One is attached to a tree with cable ties, which have been cut off twice and the sign has been lost. The larger sign attached to a stake has been hidden in the woods off the path 4/5 times but has always been located. I would be unsurprised if it was used as firewood at some point. When fires have been lit the signs have either been missing or completely ignored.
Wildlife :There is such an abundance of wildlife at loch Moy including roe deer, red squirrels, common lizards and wood ants. As autumn begins, the wildflowers have died back and mushrooms have sprung up all over site. To date I have counted 20+ different species. Some highlights include Angel wings and Cauliflower mushrooms, as well as the classic red and white Fly agaric.
3. Harvesting operations: FLS have informed us that there will be a couple of harvesting coupes starting shortly. Moy Moss should start before Christmas and Lynebeg in the Spring (dependent on A9 dualling work)
As always we would love you to keep your ideas coming to us so please get in touch with any of the MSC members to share your ideas or give any feedback.
Remember…..The MSC has been established by Strathdearn Community Development (SCD) “to identify projects for funding through the Strathdearn share of the Moy Windfarm Communuty Benefit Fund” The members are Marian Hendry (marianhendry@strathdearn.org), John Clarke and Linda Armit.
