*********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** On 19/11/03 at 22:42 Charles Tait <charles.tait@zetnet.co.uk> wrote: >While on the subject of trees just to say that much of the large areas >of plantings on the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland which were >created as a result of tax breaks in the 1980s are being cleared as they >are inappropriate and in fact now considered bad for the environment >there - it is a huge peat bog. > >All the evidence suggests that there never were forests in Orkney after >the Ice Age but that the vegetation was rather scrub which gave way to >grassland on the lower levels and heather moorland higher up. This may >already have been happening before the Neolithic farmers, perhaps with >some assistance from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. > >The climate is quite different to anywhere in Canada on account of the >different effect of the sea. At the same latitude in Canada there are >cold ocean currents, whereas here we have the NE Atlantic Slope Current >which warms our waters and leads to the rich seas to the west. The same >ocean gives us our maritime air, which is rarely very cold, but always >moist and when windy always laden with salt. > >While trees find this climate harsh, many other flora seem to thrive, so >that we end up with a very rich and diverse environment which depends on >the juxtaposition of farmland, moorland, sea coast and marshes for its >variety. It is not much use lecturing Orcadians on eating meat - cattle >are the best suited crop here. Anyway humans can't eat grass but cows >can. > >The long hours of daylight and sunshine in summer make up for the >relatively short growing season with the result that while orkney may >not be much good for trees it is great for grass, and any other plants >that like such conditions, like the 1,000s of wild flowers which grace >the verges, field edges, banks, cliffs, etc. > >The short-sighted folks who wish to use weedkillers as a means of making >their monocultures even more monochrome should really come and look. >Thing is they probably wouldn't see. It is a bit like when I am out and >about in Scotland or wherever. I might stop the car and consider a >photo or two, so I just look for a while and maybe take a picture and >maybe not depending on the light, etc. In the meantime several cars >will stop, folk will put a little box to their face press the button and >roar off. > >They never look at the view. Japanese folk will ask to be photographed >in front of the view, but never looking at it, although they usually do >look when the photo is taken. Often I will come back later or another >time and sometimes it might take many visits to get a shot worth >thinking about. > >Oh well reminds me of the poem "Oh what is life if we have not time to >stand and stare..." >-- >Charles Tait Photographic Limited, Kelton, St Ola, Orkney, UK KW15 1TR >Tel 01856 873738 Fax 01856 875313 Mobile 07785 220269 >All outgoing and incoming mail is checked by Norton Antivirus 2003 >email charles.tait@zetnet.co.uk >website http://www.charles-tait.co.uk > > > *********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE ***********