Dùn Coillich
sits alongside iconic Schiehallion in undulating open country.
Our vision when we took on the land at the outset was to create a nature-rich landscape and to support a thriving ecosystem. This transformation is underway…
Visit www.rannochnature.info for a deep dive into all things Dùn Coillich from our very own natural history expert Richard Paul!
The largely treeless hillside is now slowly but surely being colonised by native trees once again.
Hen harriers breed. Black grouse display on the lek in the shadow of Schiehallion.
Endangered water voles use our drainage channels and boggy areas. Adders bask in the sunshine.
Pine martens, badgers and foxes are regularly caught on camera traps.
Meet the residents
Your introduction to just some of the special species that now call Dùn Coillich home.
Birds
Over a hundred different species of birds have so far been recorded at Dùn Coillich, including 24 on the Conservation Red list and 32 on the Amber list. Get to know just some of our favourites…
Black grouse
A large and distinctive game bird, males are called blackcocks and females greyhens. One of the highlights of the Dùn Coillich year is when they gather at the lek, an open area where males perform a courtship dance and make their distinctive bubbling calls to attract females. The strongest males hold the central ground in the lek, winning the attention of the females! Whilst on the lek the males often produce a bubbling sound that can travel great distances.
Hen harrier
The males, with elegant light grey plumage and distinctive black wing tips, can be mistaken for gulls. Brown females have a white rump giving them the name ‘ringtail’. Hen harriers are ground nesters making them vulnerable to predators, including dogs. Our harriers are precious to us and to do our best to protect them we sometimes have to close paths to minimise disturbance. Although a schedule 1 protected bird, harriers are still subject to persecution – populations have also suffered decline through habitat loss. It’s a delight to see ‘our’ hen harriers hunting low over the ground with wings held in a shallow V shape – and even better to witness the spectacular aerial courtship display in spring, giving them the well-deserved title of ‘sky dancers’.
Stonechats and whinchats
A welcome sound at Dùn Coillich is the call of the male stonechat – two stones being knocked together! Frequenting the area near the Allt Mor burn he may be seen sitting on the broom or bog myrtle now recolonising the site. Dùn Coillich also has notably high numbers of breeding whinchats. This small chat migrates between tropical Africa and northern Europe and was the fourth most common breeding bird recorded in our 2021 ecological survey. Whinchats favour grassy areas with low scrub – which is plentiful here!
Winter thrushes
Fieldfare and redwings are both in decline and on the Conservation Red List – So it’s fabulous to see them swooping on the rowan, holly and hawthorn berries at Dùn Coillich. They help with natural regeneration – after gorging on berries they will often roost up on the open hill, dispersing the seed around the site! Although they breed in Scandinavia and Iceland these birds fly south to escape the harsh northern winters, with redwings often migrating at night with a distinctive flight call. Fieldfares can arrive in their hundreds in September and are easily recognised by their ‘cha, cha’ calls.
Invertebrates
Making space for water and allowing multiple species of plants protection from browsing is allowing the return of some stunning residents…
With insects on the decline due to habitat loss – including vital pollinators – we’re inviting as many as we can to find a home with us.
DRAGONS AND DAMSELS
Work to restore and create ponds at Dùn Coillich has resulted in an increase in some of our most resplendent residents. Dragon and damselflies only take flight after spending months or even years as larvae submerged in water. Eventually they will crawl up vegetation before the exoskeleton splits along the back allowing the adult to emerge. An aerial predator with remarkable agility, the dragonfly catches insects in midair with its feet, locating them with its superb eyesight and quickly dispatching them with their scoop-like jaw. You can tell if you are looking at a damsel or a dragon by looking at their wings: dragonfly wings are fixed, whereas damselflies will fold their wings down their backs when at rest.
Golden-ringed dragonfly
If you are out on the open hill at Dùn Coillich in late spring or early summer, you will often catch a flash of yellow from the lovely golden-ringed dragonfly. This large and striking dragonfly breeds in acidic streams, with the larvae spending up to five years underwater before the adult emerges to forage over open moorland. For all its lovely looks it is a voracious predator, feeding on large insects such as beetles, wasps, bees and other dragonflies.
Pearl-bordered & small pearl bordered fritillaries
Once widespread across Britain these beautiful butterflies have seen acute decline in recent decades – both are listed as priority species on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Dùn Coillich offers precious habitat, with pearl-bordered fritillaries thriving in open deciduous wood pasture and mosaics of grass, bracken and light scrub. Caterpillars feed on violets which thanks to reduced browsing pressure have chance to thrive again at Dùn Coillich. More widespread, the small pearl-bordered fritillary has still undergone a severe decline in England, making Scottish habitats such as Dùn Coillich even more valuable. Keep an eye out for them on the wing from May to August.
Wood ants
Dùn Coillich is proud to host an impressive wood ants’ nest – although it’s probably a remnant of a much bigger population when the original Caledonian pine forest covered so much of Scotland. The ants collect honeydew from aphids in the rowan tree beside their nest – the tree which has probably enabled their continued existence here. There are likely to be several queens in the nest – unusual for social insects – and even other species of insect such as beetles which avoid attack by producing secretions.
Mammals
We love capturing sightings of our larger residents on camera traps, and as we add more cameras, we get more evidence of who we’re sharing Dùn Coillich with! Scat surveys give us an insight into more elusive characters, and dedicated research projects help us to delve even deeper. Here’s a snapshot…
Badgers
We have several badger clans if the camera sightings and trails are anything to go by! Setts can be found at higher altitudes, and there is also evidence of satellite setts, used by the boar (male), when the sow (female) has cubs. These nocturnal animals are opportunistic omnivores and although 60% of their diet is earthworms they will turn to snails, blackberries, raspberries and other animals when food is in short supply, such as during drought, for example. They often change sett bedding, a familiar sight at Dùn Coillich, and use latrines for scent marking. Although social animals badgers forage alone and have a powerful bite thanks to a sagittal crest on their skull which allows a large surface area for attachment of the jaw muscles.
Pine marten
Although seldom-seen, pine martens have clearly made themselves at home here given the copious amounts of scat on the trails. It’s a welcome return given they almost became extinct in the UK due to persecution. Since becoming a protected species in 1988 they are now spreading from their northwest Scottish stronghold and are even returning to England and Wales. Members of the weasel family, pine martens are formidable hunters. Opportunistic feeders they will take small mammals, birds, eggs, honey, nuts and berries. As the only member of the weasel family with semi-retractable claws – which keeps them sharp for climbing trees – they are clearly making the most of habitats high and low here at Dùn Coillich.
Water vole
Once common across the UK, water vole populations have plummeted in recent decades due to habitat loss and predation by the non-native American mink. We have our own floating mink raft designed to Scottish Invasive Species Initiative specifications, which has so far suggested we are mink-free. Water voles – the ‘Ratty’ of Wind in the Willows fame – make burrows in banks and create ‘lawns’ of short grass in front. We’ve been delighted to discover these endangered mammals finding sanctuary around our burns, with multiple burrows showing distinctive 45 degree cuts in surrounding grass and latrines containing piles of unusual oblong-shaped droppings.
Reptiles
Spotting a reptile is a memorable experience, and with some UK species in serious decline it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to protect vital habitat here at Dùn Coillich. Meet two of our scaly residents…
Adder
The UK’s only venomous snake, the adder is a protected species which can be spotted basking at Dùn Coillich. Look for the distinctive zig-zag down the back and a red eye, with males a silverly grey and females light or reddish-brown. The snake, which feeds on lizards, ground-nesting birds and small mammals, hibernates between October and March and emerges in spring, when male adders compete to breed in a rearing ‘dance’. Adders are ovoviviparous, meaning eggs hatch within the female and she gives birth to live young.
Adder bites
Adders are only likely to bite if trodden on or picked up and they should never be disturbed. Although venom is generally not dangerous, bites can be painful and affect the young, ill or old more seriously. Bites can also be harmful to dogs – so medical/vet attention should be sought immediately in any case of an adder bite.
Common lizard
Our heathlands, moorlands and grasslands provide a haven for the common lizard, where it’s often seen basking in sunny spots. Adults emerge from hibernation to mate in the spring, with females giving birth to live young in July. Colours are varied but often brown and grey, with males tending to orange or yellow undersides with spots whereas females are plain and pale underneath. They can shed their tails when attacked, which carry on wiggling to distract predators!
Trees & other plants
One of the most dramatic changes in the last two decades has been the march of trees and flourishing of wildflowers across the landscapes of Dùn Coillich. The huge amount of work that went into tree planting in the early years of the site’s restoration is now reaping rewards with rapid growth. Regeneration has also added many more trees to the mix.
Supplementary planting also continues, with specific projects for wild apple protection underway and an ambition to plant areas of montane scrub. Ground cover plants are also returning with 279 species in just one survey. We have particular pride in these three plant heroes…
Montane scrub
A zone of small trees above the main forest altitude but below mountain tops, montane scrub has come under severe pressure from deer and sheep browsing and is severely threatened in Scotland. Efforts are underway to protect and restore it from Cairngorms Connect, Corrour Estate and Trees for Life, for example – and Dùn Coillich is playing its part. Mountain willow (Salix arbuscula) has been found on the site and with ideal habitat – wet ground with high pH – in calcareous flushes we are well placed to host more in our outcrops of Dalradian limestone.
Scots pine
The ‘icon’ of Dùn Coillich, the Scots pine features in our logo and forms a distinctive landscape feature. The dominant tree of the Caledonian pine forest which once covered much of the Highlands, only two percent of that forest now remains, with isolated ‘granny pines’ providing a vital seed source for modern propagation efforts. Both planted and naturally regenerating Scots pine can now be seen across Dùn Coillich. Regenerating non- native Sitka spruce is a potential competitor with the native Scots pine and our volunteers are valiantly removing any spruces that pop-up through the heather.
Wild apple
If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise…..and if your image of a ‘crab or wild apple’ is the small tree often planted in orchards and gardens you’ll certainly find our magnificent specimen a sight to behold! The stunning tree is a wild Malus sylvestris, one of ten species being helped by the Scottish Plant Recovery project. With no cultivated apples in the vicinity the tree has avoided the hybridisation threatening our native species – meaning seeds collected from the tree will allow propagation of genuine wild apple progeny and help protect native populations for the future.
Land & people
Archaeology
Dùn Coillich’s history is as much about people as it is landscape – and the community’s connection with the land here goes back for millennia.
An archaeological survey carried out in 2004/5 identified 41 archaeological sites, including hut circles, field systems, tracks and shieling huts. These sites indicate habitation and agricultural activity since prehistoric times.
Permanent habitation was probably restricted to the eastern side of Dùn Coillich beside the Allt Goulandie, with the presence of isolated sheiling huts further up the hill suggesting that the ‘hill’ ground was probably just used for seasonal grazing.
The hut-circles along the Allt Glengoulandie indicate human occupation in late prehistoric times, from approximately 1500 BC to AD 500, whilst surviving field systems here demonstrate agricultural activity in medieval or post-medieval times.
Geology
The majority of the rocks at Dùn Coillich are Dalradian schists but there are also significant outcrops of Dalradian limestone: an ancient hard limestone which plays host to lime-loving flowers such as rock rose, globe flower, wild strawberry and thyme, worth seeking out in spring and summer.
Look out too for outcrops of the famous Schiehallion boulder bed which is found in various areas at Dùn Coillich. These are thought to have originated in Greenland, where ice eroded boulders and pebbles of pink granite before carrying them in icebergs to Scotland. When the ice melted, the granite rained down onto the sea floor where it consolidated in sediment to form the boulder bed.
