Alan Motion

I was surveying today in a corner of Tentsmuir Forest, and was accompanied most of the day by one. It would land on a branch right beside me, then flit away and return. Lovely wee things.

We’re delighted to announce Paul Brannen and Professor Peter Bonfield OBE have been awarded Honorary Fellowships, recognising their outstanding leadership in sustainable forestry, timber and climate action.

Read more: charteredforesters.org/paul-brannen...

Fraser fir for me this year, and the best needle retention I've had. Maybe this year I won't still be hoovering up needles in June.

A Long-tailed tit sitting on a branch of Scots pine.

A Long-tailed tit earlier this year at Anagach Wood, Grantown-on-Spey. I went looking for crossbills and crested tit without success, but this little fella made up for it.

Ah, you might be best sticking to the traditional waxed jacket! I spent my time surveying, so only pretend forestry work.

That's a great pic of the dugs.

I've had a Cascada jacket for about 15 years, working in woodlands. It's full of little holes in the outer fabric from brambles but still waterproof. Also same trousers, shredded, and repaired with sail tape. Still do the job.

A grand, ornate balustrade and staircase within St Leonard's Hall, Pollock Halls, University of Edinburgh.

Poster with the words Nurture Grow Thrive, promoting the value of becoming a Chartered Forester.

Here we go, @theicf.bsky.social professional exams, 50 applicants hoping to progress to #CharteredForester within the grand setting of St Leonard's Hall. My 24th year as part of the exam team and a privilege to be involved with such a professional group of people #forestry #arboriculture

@bsbibotany.bsky.social late for #wildflowerhour but very early for spring!

Good point. Toffee apples play havoc with the teeth.

I do mostly agree with you, Scotland is into 3rd rotation Sitka plantation still using clearfell. It's crap & dangerous but £ talks. Forestry needs to be, can be much better, but we need to produce timber. Please stop denigrating the entire industry when there are many of us who do actually care.

Carving a tumshie lantern, that alone deserves a toffee apple from yer first stop oot guysing.

Hardly trying to "rubbish your point." Simply pointing out that the two examples are vastly different because the management policy is different. Yours is not the only option. Neither is Sitka plantation. But both have a place, each with their inherent weakness.

The obvious point is if you want to manage land purely for nature, then @irishrainforest.bsky.social pic is a good example. If ur objective is to maximise timber production or wheat or turf for golf, it will look significantly different. Depends on objectives. None has exclusivity.

Wooden polychrome door in Pedro I Palace Real Alcázar de Sevilla, 1356. Carbon captured and stored.

The same can be said for the images below. Both are grassland.

Red squirrel pair on opposite sides of the stem of a Scots pine tree in a managed forestry plantation

Great spotted woodpecker on a Scots pine tree in managed forestry plantation

Nuthatch on the stem of Scots pine in managed forestry plantation

Jay on a Sitka spruce branch in managed forestry plantation

These are all taken in managed conifer plantation. Perhaps we should fell it all and allow it to "rewild"? I admire many rewilding initiatives. I also hate unthinned 1st rotation Sitka. But we need timber, and gotta start somewhere.

shelves with books about trees and forests

This #GreenLibrariesWeek we are celebrating the amazing ecosystems of trees and forests with the Open Shelves display in the General Reading Room. Meet remarkable trees or explore the interconnected life of our woodlands. www.nls.uk/whats-on/ope...

The UKFS isn’t just for foresters. That’s why we created the UKFS for Non-Foresters online course designed to help allied professionals understand and apply the principles of sustainable forestry 🌲

Start learning today: silvestor.org.uk/non-forester...

Here I am, back in my favourite place for the penultimate guided walk of the year. Just an uneducated forester according to some, enjoying this nature-depleted landscape where every tree you see has been planted by others equally uneducated.

4 points seems very generous to the World No 1 who was staring an unenviable record in the face. He beat his nearest rival in singles. Apart from that he was sh1te. But the USA gave us a competition today, and that made this Ryder Cup.

Well said. I know what they mean by "nature depleted conifer" but it's no different from "nature depleted - towns, villages, farms, grouse moors,broadleaved plantations, or Woodland Trust Offices. Get a grip WT.

Dunlin with open bill sitting in grass

Fulmar in flight against a backdrop of dark cliffs

Great skua, locally known as Bonxy, standing on cropped grass, Shetland

7 Guillemots standing in line along a cliff edge

A few feathered friends from my trip to Shetland back in July. I love camera-shy Guillemot No 3.

Striped fairway against a dark forbidding sky with a hint of a rainbow

Dodging downpours today @BalfronGolfClub.

Big sporting estates certainly. Clearance for agriculture and intensive grazing/burning is why Scotland (and Ire) have never recovered our natural forests.

Complicated but I'd add, population density (of UK) higher than most Eur countries historically = greater demand. Also island nations very heavily dependent on timber for ships. And, mountainous areas of Eur used forests as protection from avalanche, so never cleared hillsides.

Scotland has so much to be proud of. But there’s something missing – something extraordinary...

More info www.scotlandbigpicture.com/lynx-to-scotland
🎶 by Beluga Lagoon, 🎬 SCOTLAND:The Big Picture

I worked on this project ensuring that the surrounding trees and woodlands were protected. My father taught in the old Curriehill School before moving to Currie High on its opening. He taught there for 50 years mainstream and nightschool. He's excited to see the new building!

What is also needed is certainty of Scot Gov policy so that nurseries like this know there's an outlet for those trees in 3 years time. Cutting the forestry budget without forewarning is far from helpful.

A branch of paperbark maple tree with peeling orange bark, backlit by the sun. Buchlyvie Scotland.

Sunlight through paperbark maple, Acer griseum. I grew this from seed and planted it in 1999 when my red-haired lad was born.