the Forth Naturalist and Historian Volume 28 2005 Naturalist Papers 5 Dunblane Weather 2004 – Neil Bielby 13 Surveying the Large Heath Butterfly with Volunteers in Stirlingshire – David Pickett and Julie Stoneman 21 Clackmannanshire’s Ponds – a Hidden Treasure – Craig Macadam 25 Carron Valley Reservoir: Analysis of a Brown Trout Fishery – Drew Jamieson 39 Forth Area Bird Report 2004 – Andre Thiel and Mike Bell Historical Papers 79 Alloa Inch: The Mud Bank that became an Inhabited Island – Roy Sexton and Edward Stewart 105 Water-Borne Transport on the Upper Forth and its Tributaries – John Harrison 111 Wallace’s Stone, Sheriffmuir – Lorna Main 113 The Great Water-Wheel of Blair Drummond (1787-1839) – Ken MacKay 119 Accumulated Index Vols 1-28 20 Author Addresses 12 Book Reviews Naturalist:– Birds, Journal of the RSPB ; The Islands of Loch Lomond; Footprints from the Past – Friends of Loch Lomond; The Birdwatcher’s Yearbook and Diary 2006; Best Birdwatching Sites in the Scottish Highlands – Hamlett; The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Book – Toms; Bird Table, The Magazine of the Garden BirthWatch; Clackmannanshire Outdoor Access Strategy; Biodiversity and Opencast Coal Mining; Rum, a landscape without Figures – Love 102 Book Reviews Historical–: The Battle of Sheriffmuir – Inglis 110 :– Raploch Lives – Lindsay, McKrell and McPartlin; Christian Maclagan, Stirling’s Formidable Lady Antiquary – Elsdon 2 Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 28 Published by the Forth Naturalist and Historian, University of Stirling – charity SCO 13270 and member of the Scottish Publishers Association. November, 2005. ISSN 0309-7560 EDITORIAL BOARD Stirling University – M. Thomas (Chairman); Roy Sexton – Biological Sciences; H. Kilpatrick – Environmental Sciences; Christina Sommerville – Natural Sciences Faculty; K. Sankey – DAICE; Marilyn Scott, Computer Sciences. Non University – W. Inglis, Dunblane; K. Mackay, Cambusbarron; M. Dickie, Stirling; Colin Castle, Scottish Natural Heritage and Lorna Main, Stirling Council. Honorary Secretary: Lindsay Corbett, the University Biological Sciences, and 30 Dunmar Drive, Alloa, FK10 2EH. Journal Editor: N. Dix, 7 Laurelhill Place, Stirling, FK8 2JH. ISBN 1-898008-62-0 Single copies may be taken of single articles provided due acknowledgement is made and the copies are for non-profit education or private use. Supported by BP in Scotland. Cover: front– John Adair. A Map of Clackmannanshire 1681. Reproduced by permission of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland. Cover: back– The Large Heath Butterfly. Roy Sexton. Printed by Meigle Colour Printers Ltd., Tweedbank Industrial Estate, Galashiels. Set in Zapf Calligraphic on Edixion 100 gsm and cover Aconda Gloss 250 gsm. Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 28 3 THE FORTH NATURALIST AND HISTORIAN The Forth Naturalist and Historian (FNH) is an informal enterprise of Stirling University. It was set up in 1975 by several University and Central Regional Council staff to provide a focus for interests, activities and publications of environmental, heritage and historical studies for the Forth area, comprising now local authority areas Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannan - shire. The promotion of an annual environment/heritage symposium called Man and the Landscape has been a main feature, and this year, the 31st, Landscapes by Design. The annual Forth Naturalist and Historian has since 1975 published numerous papers, many being authoritative and significant in their field, and includes annual reports of the weather, and of birds in the locality, plus book reviews and notes. These volumes provide a valuable successor to that basic resource The Transactions of the Stirling Field and Archaeological Society , 1878-1939. Four year contents/indexes are available, and selected papers are published in pamphlet form, while others are available as reprints. A major publication is the 230 page Central Scotland – Land, Wildlife, People 1994, a natural history and heritage survey, and used in the form of a CD-Rom, Heart of Scotland’s Environment (HSE). Other FNH and associated publications still in print include – Mines and Minerals of the Ochils , Airthrey and Bridge of Allan , Woollen Mills of the Hillfoots , The Ochil Hills – landscape, wildlife, heritage – an introduction with walks, Alloa Tower and the Erskines of Mar , and the Lure of Loch Lomond a journey round the shores and islands. Several of these are in association with Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society. FNH publications are listed on the internet British Library (BLPC) and by booksellers e.g. Amazon, Bol, Barnes and Noble. Offers of papers/notes for publication, and of presentations for symposia are ever welcome. Honorary Secretary Lindsay Corbett, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, and 30 Dunmar Drive, Alloa, FK10 2EH. Tel: 01259 215091. Fax: 01786 494994. E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.fnh.stir.ac.uk 4 Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 28 Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 28 5 DUNBLANE WEATHER REPORT 2004 Neil Bielby I have been recording the weather since 1994 and all averages etc. refer to the last ten years. The weather station is my suburban back garden in Ochiltree, Dunblane. This is situated 50 metres to the east of the Dunblane Hydro ridge, 100 metres a.s.l., in a shallow, sheltered valley. I record daily rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, barometric pressure, cloud cover and wind direction and speed (Beaufort Scale). All except the maximum daily temperature are recorded at 09.00. A brief description of the day’s weather is also recorded along with exceptional and unusual weather phenomena across the UK. 2004 was slightly warmer and wetter than normal. The average minimum temperature was 0.49°C above the mean at 4.76°C with the average maximum temperature 0.25°C above the mean. Measurable precipitation fell on 254 days totalling 1135.6 mm for the year, 3.7 % above average. There were 57 air frosts, 11 less than the norm, with snow lying on 11 mornings. In the UK temperatures were 1.2°C above average with average sunshine and above average rainfall. January The weather was a mixture of short wintry spells separated by longer mild, often wet periods. It was slightly wetter and warmer than average with precipitation falling on 28 days. There were 15 night frosts but only two days when the daytime temperature did not rise above freezing. The large garden pond was frozen for 17 days and snow lay on the ground on 8 days. The cold spell at the end of December continued into January with a thin covering of snow lying until the 4th. The weather was calm with a sunny day on the 2nd. A SW airstream then developed bringing a spell of milder, wetter weather. Heavy rain during the daytime on the 8th turned to heavy showers through the night to record a 24 h total of 24 mm at 09.00 on the 9th. Strong SW 6-7 winds on the night of the 10th/11th were accompanied by frequent heavy showers, the latter continuing for the next two days giving a 60 h total of 43.9 mm. A few days of calm weather with good amounts of winter sun followed until the weather turned milder and wetter from the 18th-24th. Night frosts returned on the 25th with –5.5°C, the coldest night of the month, being recorded at 09.00 on the 28th. On the 28th a bitterly cold N 5 wind developed during the afternoon along with the odd snow flurry as an arctic blast swept south over Britain. Dunblane only received 6 mm of snow but from Aviemore north and down the east coast of Britain blizzard conditions deposited up to 30 cm with many roads, including trunks, blocked. It quickly turned mild again on the 30th with rain most of the day. However, a very moist depression 6 Neil Bielby crossing England on the 31st deposited snow on its northern edge from the Borders to Tayside as it collided with the cold air over N. Scotland. With a NE 4 blowing blizzard conditions again ensued and by 17.00 6 cm was lying in Dunblane although amounts were negligible on the Carse of Stirling. February was slightly warmer but much drier than average with precipitation the second lowest in 10 years, being only 46 % of the mean. There were 16 dry days, 15 air frosts and snow lay on three mornings. Average air pressure was the highest in 10 years and the 12.2°C recorded on the 3rd was also the highest daytime temperature during this period. Eight cm of lying snow quickly melted as the wind changed from NE 1 to SW 3 around noon on the 1st. This heralded a spell of wet and windy weather from the SW with a continuous line of fronts, their origins deep in the South Atlantic, crossing Britain during the next five days. 35.6 mm of rain fell during this period (Capel Curig had over 400 mm, twice its Feb. monthly average!) which was accompanied by unseasonably mild weather. Temperatures peaked at 12.2°C on the 3rd with Lossiemouth recording 16.7°C the same day (a new Feb. high) and Gravesend reaching 18°C the following day. The wind was often strong and blustery, reaching SW 7 on the 3rd and SW 8 in exposed places on the 6th when speed limits on the Forth Road Bridge were reduced to 40 mph. The weather turned wintry again on the 7th as arctic winds were drawn in from the NW. Snow showers during the day eventually led to an accumulation of 8 cm by 21.00. The cold NW airstream slowly moderated during the 8th and a rapid rise in temperature during the night of the 9th/10th saw the disappearance of the lying snow, as 7°C was recorded at 09.00 on the 10th. A spell of quiet weather then ensued as high pressure built to 1030 mb over the next two days giving calm but often cloudy weather.