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A Day in the Life of a Mountain Ranger

“Mountain Ranger” is an unequivocally cool job title. And for Dave and Jim, the RSPB’s Mountain Rangers for the summer season, it’s a dream job. Sydney Henderson, Cairngorms Connect Communications and Involvement Manager heads out to find out what it's all about. 

We meet in the Cairngorm Mountain carpark, above the early-morning mist which blankets Glenmore Forest Park. With bags packed with emergency equipment, spare dog leads and lunch, we head up the path towards Cairngorm Mountain, at a pace that quickly leaves me out of breath.

IMG_0737Image (above): Dave (right) and Jim (Left) in their new office for the summer. 

Tasked with patrolling the high tops of RSPB Abernethy National Nature Reserve, Dave and Jim are part of the solution to growing visitor pressures in the Cairngorms National Park.

Dave explains, “We know visitor pressures are increasing, but at the moment, we just don’t really know the precise impacts of visitor behaviour on the fragile habitat of the high tops of the reserve. Through looking at data from sites like Strava and anecdotal evidence we are aware that disturbance is increasing in areas important for species such as Ptarmigan and Dotterel.”

“Most people don’t set out to disturb wildlife or sensitive habitats, it’s more a case of not being aware of what ‘responsible access’ looks like. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve as Mountain Rangers, supported by NatureScot, through the Better Places Green Recovery Fund. We can provide that face-to-face contact for people enjoying the Nature Reserve, helping people to access the landscape safely and responsibly.”

The morning stays relatively cold and cloudy, and we don’t see many people out on the hills, beyond a couple of brightly coloured backpacks moving along paths in the distance. We peer into the mist with open ears, for any sight or sound of dotterel. A summer visitor to the Cairngorms, dotterels are unusual in that the adult female is brighter than the male - an indication of their role-reversal in raising the young. Worryingly, numbers have plummeted in Scotland and this iconic species is on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern Red List.

Disturbance from visitors, whether international or not, is putting this species even more at risk. In particular,  dogs off leads are proving a considerable concern. Repeated stress caused by close encounters with a perceived predator, such as a dog, can cause ground-nesting birds to abandon the nest and vulnerable eggs or even chicks. During the summer, when birds are breeding, it’s essential that dogs are kept on leads, however harmless or well-behaved your pet is. 

dotterelImage (above):  Image: Female Dotterel. Credit: rspb-images.com

We move on, down the butterwort-carpeted path to Loch A’an. Dave and Jim regularly pause to identify plants. They are collecting information, keen to better understand their new “office” in an environment that is still not fully known. We pause on the shores of Loch A’an for lunch and to dissect a short-eared owl pellet Jim  finds in the undergrowth.

Two of the once-distant backpacks have come closer, and a couple joins us on the shores of the Loch. Dave and Jim are in their element starting up a conversation and answering questions. The couple seem equally surprised to meet other people deep in the Cairngorms, and to discover they are on a National Nature Reserve, with sensitive habitats. We rub our fingers on juniper and smell the gin-citrus-pine scent while we chat about dotterel, before the couple move on to their own lunch spot.

Both keen hill walkers, Dave and Jim are comfortable and knowledgeable in this landscape. Jim shares his excitement for the opportunity to combine two of his passions – hill walking and people engagement.

“It’s a fantastic way to be out in the landscape, and also chatting to folk about responsible access and the habitat restoration happening here."

“I’m really looking forward to a summer in the mountains and working to help people look after this special landscape. It doesn’t take much to be a responsible visitor, just follow three main guidelines:

  • Dogs on leads during the summer season when rare birds are vulnerable
  • Taking your rubbish home with you
  •  Don’t light a fire - use gas stoves to cook."

At the shelter stone, in the corries at the head of Loch A’an, we sadly discover several examples of irresponsible access. Crawling under the giant stone, which perches on top of smaller neighbouring rocks to create a hollow cave, we find evidence of a fire, abandoned camp gear, and quite a lot of general rubbish. It’s a disheartening sight, a blip in the beauty of the Loch A’an basin. Jim and Dave gather as much as they can into their rucksacks and document the scene with their phones – about as much as they can do for now.  They’ll be back, with empty rucksacks to remove the rest of the rubbish.

We head back, along the loch shore, in silence and feeling slightly disheartened. As the clouds move across the sky, Jim sees the positive side – that hopefully their presence on the ground will help reduce this kind of irresponsible access.  

IMG_0739Image: Smashed glass and debris in the entrance to the shelter stone.

 Today has been a quiet day for the rangers – but even a quiet day is useful for recording data on how people are accessing the high areas of the National Nature Reserve. It’s also their first week of the job, and valuable in easing them in to, what is likely to be, another very busy summer.

I leave them both back in the carpark at around 5pm. Dave is off the play football and Jim’s planning an evening trail run. I head home to sit down for several hours – you can tell whose job involves hiking mountains and whose is usually desk-based. 


 
We are grateful to Nature Scot, for supporting this project through the Better Places Green Recovery Fund.  For more advice on responsible access in the Cairngorms, please see the Cairngorms National Park Outdoor Access Advice. 

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